Orlické Foothills (also called Orlicko Foothills or Podorlicko Foothills; , ) are foothills of the Orlické Mountains range and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic and Poland. It is located in the Hradec Králové, Pardubice and South Moravian regions of the Czech Republic, and a small part extends into the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.
The Orlické Foothills is a mesoregion of the Central Sudetes within the Bohemian Massif. The mesoregion extends along the Orlické Mountains. The territory is rugged with many hills and other distinctive landforms. The mesoregion is further subdivided into the microregions of Náchod Highlands, à ½amberk Uplands and Moravská Tà Âebová Uplands.
The highest peaks of the Orlické Foothills are:
The geological bedrock consists mainly of Permian sedimentary rocks and Cretaceous sandstones and spongolites. The valleys are filled with Neogene sedimentary rocks. In the south there are Carboniferous sedimentary rocks (greywackes and conglomerates). Near Moravská Tà Âebová is a deposit of jaspers and agates.
The Orlické Foothills has an area of , of which is in the Czech Republic. Within the Czech Republic, it has an average elevation of . The territory has an elongated shape from the north to the south, which is about long and about wide.
The area is densely interwoven with many watercourses. The Orlické Foothills is drained by the rivers Tichá Orlice, Divoká Orlice, DÃÂdina and Moravská Sázava. There are no significant bodies of water.
The most populated towns in the territory are Náchod, Kudowa-Zdrój, Lanà ¡kroun, Moravská Tà Âebová, Letohrad and à ½amberk. The eastern half of Nové MÃÂsto nad Metujàalso extends into the Orlické Foothills.
A part of the protected landscape area of Orlické hory extends into the Orlické Foothills. The forest cover of the area is below average for the Czech Republic. The valleys of the foothills are home to some endangered plant species that have spread here from the Orlické Mountains.