An uplift is a geological process caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. Uplift may be continental or isostatic. Uplift may create volcanism, mountain building events, rocky formations, and plateaus over very long periods of time. The building of mountain ranges is called orogeny.

Uplift is responsible for the shapes of some geological basins, valleys, mountain lakes, canyons and it may alter soil patterns and affect earthquake intensity.

The Llano Uplift is a geographical location named after its uplift features. The Himalaya were (and are still being) formed by the collision of two continental plates, the Indian and Eurasian Plates.

Subsidence, the opposite of uplift, is a decrease in elevation.