ENGADINE (Ger. Engadin; Ital. Engadina; Latin, Engia dm a), the name of the upper or Swiss portion of the valley of the Inn, which forms part of the Swiss canton of the Grisons. Its length from the Maloja plateau (5,935 ft.) at its south-western end to Martinsbruck (3,406 ft.) at its north-eastern extremity is about 6o m. Up to and including St. Moritz (6,037 ft., the highest) all the villages (save Sils-Baseglia) at its south-western end are higher than the Maloja plateau itself. The uppermost portion of the valley contains several lakes, such as those of Sils, Silvaplana and St. Moritz. But both the Maloja plateau and the south western half of the lake of Sils belong to the commune of Stampa in the Val Bregaglia, and are included in the Bregaglia administra tive district, so that Sils is the first village included in the Enga dine. The rest of the Engadine forms the districts of the Upper Engadine with 11 communes, and of the Inn (i.e., the Lower Engadine), subdivided into the Ob Tasna, Remus, and Unter Tasna circles, and containing 12 communes. The combined pop ulation (193o) is 17,26o, most of whom are Protestants. The capital of the Upper Engadine is Samaden, and that of the Lower Engadine, Schuls. The valley is reached by many passes. The Maloja (5,935 ft.) is the route from Chiavenna and the Lake of Como to the Upper Engadine, which is also reached from Coire by the Julier (7,5o4 ft.) and the Albula passes (7,595 ft.) as well as from Tirano in the Valtellina by the Bernina pass (7,645 ft.). On the other hand, the Lower Engadine is ac cessible from Davos over the Fliiela pass (7,838 ft.) and from Mals at the head of the Adige valley (or the Vintschgau) by the Ofen pass (7,071 ft.), while from Martinsbruck, the last Swiss village, a road leads up to Nauders (5 m.), whence it is 27 m. by road down the Inn valley to Landeck, or 171 m. over the Reschen Scheideck pass (4.902 ft.) to Mals in the Vintschgau.
The Upper Engadine is not mentioned until 1139, when the bishop of Coire was the great lord, with the Planta family at Zuz as his bailiffs. The valley obtained its freedom from both in 1486 (Planta) and in 1526, when the temporal powers of the bishop were abolished. In 1367 it joined the newly founded League of God's House or Gotteshausbund (see GRIsoNs), one of the three Raetian Leagues, which lasted till 1799—I 801, when the whole Engadine became part of Canton Raetia of the Helvetic Republic, which, in 1803, altered its name to that of Grisons or Graubunden, and then first entered the Swiss Confederation. In the Upper • Engadine the "Referendum" existed as between the different villages composing a bailiwick (Hochgericht). The Lower Engadine formed from the 9th century onwards (with the Vintschgau) a separate county, which was gradually absorbed in that which be came the county of Tirol. The limit between the Upper Engadine and the Tirolese Lower Engadine was definitively fixed in 1282 at the Punt' Ota just above Brail. In 1363 Tirol came into the possession of the Habsburgers, whose power was stemmed in 1499 at the battle of the Calven gorge (above Mals), though it was only in 1652 that the Lower Engadine bought up the remaining rights of the Habsburgers. But the castle of Tarasp (acquired by them in 1464) was excepted: the lordship was given by them in 1687 to the Dietrichstein family, who held it till 18o1, when Austria ceded it to France, which, in 1803, handed it over to the Swiss Confederation; it was incorporated in 1809 with the Canton of the Grisons. This long connection with Tirol accounts for the fact that Tarasp is still mainly Roman Catholic, while the lonely Swiss valley of Samnaun (above Martinsbruck) has given up its Prot estantism and its Ladin speech owing to communications with Tirol being easier than with Switzerland. The upper Spol valley (Livigno) is Italian (see VALTELLINA).
The Upper Engadine consists of a long, straight, nearly level trough of 26 m., varying from a mile to half a mile in breadth, through which flows the Inn. On the south-east this trough is limited by the glacier-clad Bernina group (culminating in the Piz Bernina, 13,304 ft.) and the range rising between the Inn val ley and that of Livigno to the south-east, while on the north-west the boundary is the extensive Albula group (culminating in Piz Kesch, 11,228 ft.). On its north-west rises the last bit of the Albula group (culminating in Piz Vadret, 10,584 ft.) ; and on the north the Silvretta group (culminating in Piz Linard, 11,201 ft.), while to the east and south are the ranges on either side of the Ofen pass (culminating in Piz Sesvenna, 1 o,568 ft.). In the Upper Engadine the villages are on the floor of the valley, but in the Lower Enga dine many are perched high above the bed of the river on terraces, and are cut off from each other by deep valleys.
The mineral waters of St. Moritz (q.v.) were known in the i6th century, and long formed the great attraction of the region. In the i9th century the Upper Engadine came into fashion as a great "air-cure," and now Maloja, Sils, Silvaplana, Campfer and St. Moritz are all well known. Owing to its great elevation, the scen ery of the Upper Engadine has a bleak, northern aspect. Pines and larches alone flourish, garden vegetables are grown only in sunny spots, and there is no tillage. The Alpine flora is very rich and varied. But snow falls even in August. The villages are built entirely of stone (as also in the Lower Engadine), chiefly to guard against destructive fires that were formerly frequent in this nar row, wind-swept valley. The wealth of the inhabitants consists in their hay meadows and pastures. The lower pastures support large herds of cows, while the higher are let out (in both parts of the valley) to Bergamasque shepherds, who come thither every summer with their flocks. In the Lower Engadine the chief attrac tion is formed by the mineral springs at Schuls below Tarasp, which are much frequented during the summer. The wild gorge of Finstermunz separates the last Swiss village, Martinsbruck, from the first Tirolese village, Pfunds, the gorge being passable only on foot.
The Swiss National park, an area of 54 sq.m., is in the Lower Engadine.