Microtus arvalis has a large range extending from Spain across much of western, central and eastern Europe to the Middle East and central Russia (Shenbrot and Krasnov 2005). Isolated populations exist in Iberia, Guernsey and the Orkney Islands. It is absent from much of southern Europe, Fennoscandia, northern Russia, Iceland and the British Isles (with the exception of the Orkney Islands, where it was introduced prehistorically). The species occurs from sea level to 2,600 m (Spitzenberger 2002).