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The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry in both Polish
Polish language

Polish , an official language of Poland, has the largest number of speakers of any West Slavic languages. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner through most of Poland, and it has a regular orthography....
 and Slovak
Slovak language

The Slovak language , sometimes incorrectly called ?Slovakian?, is an Indo-European languages that belongs to the West Slavic languages .The Czech and Slovak languages are Mutual intelligibility which means that even after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Czech may be used in all official proceedings and documents in Slovakia, and vice ver...
), constitute a mountain range
Mountain range

A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by mountain pass or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or Fold mountains...
 which forms a natural border between Slovakia
Slovakia

Slovakia . It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements....
 and Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
. They occupy an area of 750 km˛, the major part (600km˛) of which lies in Slovakia.






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Tatry Panorama01xxx
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry in both Polish
Polish language

Polish , an official language of Poland, has the largest number of speakers of any West Slavic languages. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner through most of Poland, and it has a regular orthography....
 and Slovak
Slovak language

The Slovak language , sometimes incorrectly called ?Slovakian?, is an Indo-European languages that belongs to the West Slavic languages .The Czech and Slovak languages are Mutual intelligibility which means that even after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Czech may be used in all official proceedings and documents in Slovakia, and vice ver...
), constitute a mountain range
Mountain range

A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by mountain pass or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or Fold mountains...
 which forms a natural border between Slovakia
Slovakia

Slovakia . It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements....
 and Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
. They occupy an area of 750 km˛, the major part (600km˛) of which lies in Slovakia. The highest mountain is Gerlach at 2,655 m, located in Slovakia. The north-western peak of Rysy
Rysy

Rysy is a mountain in the crest of the High Tatras, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Rysy has three peaks: the middle at ; the north-western at ; and the south-eastern at ....
 (2,499 m) is the highest Polish mountain.

The Tatras consist of:
  • Western Tatras
    Western Tatras

    The Western Tatras are mountains in the Tatras, part of the Carpathian Mountains, located on the Poland-Slovakia borders. The mountains border the High Tatras in the east....
     (Slovak: Západné Tatry, Polish: Tatry Zachodnie, )
  • Eastern Tatras
    Eastern Tatras

    The Eastern Tatras form part of the European Tatra Mountains range in Poland and Slovakia.The Eastern Tatras consist of the High Tatras and the Belianske Tatras ranges....
     (Východné Tatry, Tatry Wschodnie), which consist of:
    • High Tatras
      High Tatras

      High Tatras or High Tatra are a mountain range on the borders between Slovakia and Poland. They are a part of the Eastern Tatras Mountains....
       (Vysoké Tatry, Tatry Wysokie)
    • Belianske Tatras
      Belianske Tatras

      Belianske Tatras is a mountain range in the Eastern Tatras in North Central Slovakia. Eastern Tatras are part of the Tatra Mountains, which are part of the Carpathian Mountains....
       (Belianske Tatry, Tatry Bielskie)


The Tatra Mountains are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe....
. Although considerably smaller than the Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, they are classified as having an alpine landscape. Their high mountain character, combined with great accessibility, makes them popular with tourist and scientists.

Description

The area is a well-known winter sports area, with resorts such as Zakopane
Zakopane

Zakopane is a town in southern Poland with some 28,000 inhabitants , situated in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 . The town, a place of Gorals culture and informally known as "the winter capital of Poland," lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, the only alps mountain range in the Carpath...
, the "Winter Capital" of Poland, Poprad
Poprad

Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains. It is the biggest town of the Spi? region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia....
 and the town (Mesto) Vysoké Tatry
Vysoké Tatry (town)

Vysok? Tatry , informally Mesto Vysok? Tatry , is a town at the feet of the Slovak part of High Tatras in Slovakia including all the major resorts in that region....
 in Slovakia (in English literally (Town of the High Tatras); created in 1999 and including the former separate resort
Resort

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
s Štrbské Pleso
Štrbské pleso

?trbsk? pleso is a picturesque mountain lake of glacial origin and a top tourist destination in the High Tatras, Slovakia.?trbsk? pleso is now part of the neighborhood of ?trbsk? Pleso ....
, Starý Smokovec
Starý Smokovec

Star? Smokovec is a part of the town of Vysok? Tatry in northern Slovakia in the Tatras. Its name is pronounced approximately "Star-EE Smoke-oh-vets", meaning "Old Smokovec"....
, and Tatranská Lomnica
Tatranská Lomnica

Tatransk? Lomnica is a town in the Slovakian part of the High Tatras mountains. It is a skiing and hiking resort best known for the cable car to Lomnick? ?t?t, one of the steepest in Europe and remarkable for its lack of support pylons between the two stations ....
), and The High Tatras, with their 24 (or 25) peaks over 2500 m above sea level, are, together with the Southern Carpathians
Southern Carpathians

The Southern Carpathians , also called the Transylvanian Alps, are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side....
, the only mountain ranges with an Alpine
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
 character in the whole 1200km length of the Carpathian Mountain range.

Strbske Pleso
The Tatras should be distinguished from another Slovak mountain range, the Low Tatras (in Slovak Nízke Tatry), situated south of the Tatras. Sometimes, however, the term 'Tatras' is used freely to refer to both the Tatras and the Low Tatras.

Landscape

The Tatra Mountains (especially the High Tatras) are known to have undergone four glaciations. The most extensive transformations were caused by a glacier 100–230 m thick; the most apparent features of this process are the numerous cirques and mountain lakes. The mountains were shaped by glacial erosion, which formed many alpine cliffs, some up to 1,000 m high.

Climate

The Mountains lie in the temperate zone of Central Europe
Central Europe

Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern Europe and Western Europe Europe. In addition, Northern Europe, Southern Europe and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe....
. They are an important barrier to the movements of air masses. Their mountainous topography causes the most diverse climate in that region.

The effects of global warming in the Tatra Mountains started to be visible around the 1980s.

Winds
The average wind speed on the summits is 6 m/s.
  • southerly winds on the northern side
  • westerly winds at the base of Tatra (Orawa-Nowy Targ Basin)
  • foehn winds (Polish: halny
    Halny

    Halny ? a foehn wind that blows in southern Poland and in Slovakia in the Carpathian Mountains. The most turbulent halny blows in Podhale, coming from the South, down the slopes of the Tatra Mountains; in Slovakia, on the other side of the mountains, it comes from the North....
    ) most often occur between October and May. They are warm and dry and could cause extensive damage.


Temperature
Temperatures range from -40 °C in the winter to 33 °C in warmer months. Temperatures also vary depending on altitude and sun exposure of a given slope. Temperatures below 0 °C last for 192 days on the summits.

Precipitation
Highest precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)

File:MeanMonthlyP.gifIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of Atmosphere water vapor that is deposited on the earth's surface....
 figures are recorded on northern slopes. In June and July monthly precipitation reaches around 250 mm (10 in). Precipitation occurs for 215 to 228 days a year. Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm

File:FoggDam-NT.jpgA thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its effect: thunder....
s occur 36 days a year on average.

Snow cover
Maximum thickness on the summit amounts to around 320 cm (125 in) in March. Peaks are sometimes covered with snow throughout the year. Avalanches are frequent.

Flora

The Mountains have a diverse variety of plants. They are home to more than 1,000 vascular plants, about 450 moss
Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1?10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations....
es, 200 hepatics, 700 lichen
Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiosis association of a fungus with a Photosynthesis partner , usually either a green algae or Cyanobacteria ....
s, 900 fungi, and 70 slime moulds. There are five climatic-vegetation belts in Tatras:

The distribution of plants depends on altitude:
  • up to 1,300 m: Carpathian beech
    Beech

    Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe and North America.The leaf of beech trees are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5–15 cm long and 4–10 cm broad....
     forest; almost no shrub layer, herb layer occupies most of the forest floor
  • to 1,550 m: Spruce
    Spruce

    A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth....
     forest; shrub layer poorly developed, mosses are a major component
  • to 1,800 m: Mountain Pine
    Mountain Pine

    Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine is a high-altitude European pine, found in the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathian Mountains, northern Apennine Mountains and Balkans mountains from 1,000 m to 2,200 m, occasionally as low as 200 m in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high as 2,700 m in the south of the range in Bulgari...
    , numerous herbs
  • to 2,300 m: high altitude grasslands
  • from 2,300 m up: Subnivean
    Subnivean

    Subnivean refers to a zone that is in or under the snow layer. It can form when latent heat from the ground melts a thin layer of snow above it, leaving a layer of air between the ground and the snow....
     - bare rock and almost no vegetation (mostly lichens)


Fauna

The Tatra Mountains are home to many species of animals: 54 tardigrades, 22 turbellarians, 100 rotifers, 22 copepods, 162 spiders, 81 molluscs, 43 mammals, 200 birds, 7 amphibians and 2 reptiles.

The most notable mammals are the Tatra chamois
Tatra chamois

The Tatra chamois is a subspecies of the Chamois of the Rupicapra genus. Tatra chamois lives in the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia and Poland and, unknown to many, the Low Tatras in Slovakia....
, marmot
Marmot

Marmots are members of the genus Marmota, in the rodent family Sciuridae .Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Carpathian_Mountains, Tatra_Mountains, and Pyrenees in Europe, the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada...
, snow vole
European Snow Vole

The European Snow Vole or Snow Vole is a species of rodent in the Cricetidae family....
, brown bear
Brown Bear

The Brown Bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It weighs 100 to 700 kg and its larger populations such as the Kodiak bear match the Polar bear as the largest extant land predator....
, wolf, Eurasian lynx
Eurasian Lynx

The Eurasian lynx is a medium-sized Felidae native to European and Siberian forests, where it is one of the predators. The Eurasian lynx is the biggest of the lynxes, ranging in length from 80 to 130 cm and standing about 70 cm at the shoulder....
, red deer
Red Deer

The Red Deer is one of the largest deer species. The Red Deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor and parts of western and central Asia....
, roe deer
Roe Deer

The European Roe Deer is a deer species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caspian Sea coastal regions. There is a separate species known as the Siberian Roe Deer that is found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia....
, and wild boar. Notable fish include the brook trout
Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the Salmonidae family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail....
 and alpine bullhead.

The endemic species include the caddis fly, spider and wingless springtail
Springtail

Springtails form the largest of the three lineages of modern Hexapoda that are no longer considered insects . The three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal mouthparts, but they do not appear to be more closely related to one another than to insects, which have external mouthparts....
.

Human involvement


The Tatra Mountains were used in the 18th and 19th centuries for sheep grazing and mining and many trees were cut down to make way for human exploitation. Although these activities were stopped, the impact is still clearly visible. Moreover, there are new problems. Pollution from the industrialized regions of Kraków
Kraków

Krak?w , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007 ....
, Ostrava
Ostrava

Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic, however it is the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. It is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence....
 and Orava
Orava

Orava may mean:* Orava , a region in Slovakia and Poland* Orava River in Slovakia* Orava , a castle in Slovakia* Orava , a reservoir in Slovakia...
 and uncontrolled tourism are damaging the mountains.

The Slovak Tatra National Park (Tatranský národný park; TANAP) was founded in 1949, and the contiguous Polish Tatra National Park (Tatrzanski Park Narodowy) was founded in 1954. Both areas were added to the UNESCO
UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
 Biosphere Reserve list
World Network of Biosphere Reserves

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves was established at the International Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Seville in 1995.This complete list of Biosphere Reserves is from the UNESCO Web site ....
 in 1993.

On 19 November 2004, large parts of the forests in the southern part of the High Tatras were damaged by a strong wind storm. Three million cubic metres of trees were uprooted, two people died and several villages were totally cut off. Further damage was done by a subsequent forest fire, and it will take many years until the local ecology
Natural environment

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all life and non-living things occurring nature on Earth or some region thereof....
 is fully recovered.

Mountain peaks

Eastern Tatras
Eastern Tatras

The Eastern Tatras form part of the European Tatra Mountains range in Poland and Slovakia.The Eastern Tatras consist of the High Tatras and the Belianske Tatras ranges....


  • Gerlachovský štít - 2654 m (Slovakia)
  • Lomnický štít
    Lomnický štít

    Lomnick? ?t?t is one of the highest and most visited mountain peaks in the High Tatras mountains, in Slovakia. Connected by Aerial tramway to Tatransk? Lomnica, its summit is 2634 metres above sea level, making it the second highest peak in the High Tatras after the Gerlachov Peak....
     - 2634 m (Slovakia)
  • Ladový štít - 2627 m (Slovakia)
  • Pyšný štít - 2623 m (Slovakia)
  • Kežmarský štít - 2556 m (Slovakia)
  • Rysy
    Rysy

    Rysy is a mountain in the crest of the High Tatras, lying on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Rysy has three peaks: the middle at ; the north-western at ; and the south-eastern at ....
     (middle peak) - 2499 m (Slovakia/Poland)
  • Kriván
    Kriván (peak)

    File:Slovakia 1, 2, 5 euro cent.pngKriv?n is a mountain in the High Tatras, Slovakia, that dominates the upper part of the former Liptov County....
     - 2495 m (Slovakia)
  • Slavkovský štít
    Slavkovský štít

    Slavkovsk? ?t?t is a mountain peak in the High Tatras mountains in Slovakia. Its summit is 2452 metres above sea level. It can be reached by foot on a walking trail in about four and a half hours from Star? Smokovec....
     - 2452 m (Slovakia)
  • Batizovský štít
    Batizovský štít

    Batizovsk? ?t?t is a double-peak 2,448 metres high mountain in the High Tatras in Slovakia. It is named after the village of Batizovce because until 1947, it lied within its cadastral area....
     - 2448 m (Slovakia)
  • Svinica (Slovak); Swinica (Polish)
    Swinica

    Swinica or Svinica is a mountain in the main crest of the High Tatras, on the Polish-Slovak border. The main peak is at 2,301 m AMSL. A marked trail leads through the summit....
     - 2301 m (Slovakia/Poland)
  • Široká - 2210 m (Slovakia)
  • Havran - 2151 m (Slovakia)
  • Velká kopa - 2052 m (Slovakia)
  • Brestová - 1934 m (Slovakia)
  • Sivý vrch - 1809 m (Slovakia)
  • Osobita - 1687 m (Slovakia)


Tatra Mountains Western Side 2
Western Tatras
Western Tatras

The Western Tatras are mountains in the Tatras, part of the Carpathian Mountains, located on the Poland-Slovakia borders. The mountains border the High Tatras in the east....


  • Bystrá
    Bystrá (mountain)

    Bystr? is the highest mountain in the Western Tatras in Slovakia, near the Poland border. It is 2,248 meters high and surrounded by the valleys of Kamenist?, Rackova and Bystr?....
     - 2248 m (Slovakia)
  • Baranec - 2184 m (Slovakia)
  • Banikov/Banówka - 2178 m (Slovakia)
  • Klin (Slovak)
    Klin (mountain)

    Klin is a peak in the High Tatras, on the border between Slovakia and Poland. Its summit is at 2,176 m AMSL....
    /Starobocianski Wierch (Polish) - 2176 m (Slovakia/Poland)
  • Volovec - 2064 m (Slovakia/Poland)
  • Kasprov vrch/Kasprowy Wierch - 1,987 m (Slovakia/Poland)
  • Giewont
    Giewont

    Giewont is a mountain massif in the Tatra Mountains of Poland, and is 1894 metres AMSL at its highest.It comprises three peaks :*Small Giewont - ...
     - 1894 m (Poland)


Notable people

Ludwig Greiner
Ludwig Greiner

Ludwig Greiner was an influential 19th-century forest and lumber industry management expert who improved the effectiveness of woodland valuation methods in the Kingdom of Hungary and trained a whole new generation of foresters in a comprehensive approach to the management of natural resources....
 identified Gerlachovský Peak as the summit of the Tatras, Carpathians
Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe....
.

Bibliography

Ján Lacika, Tatras (2nd edition), Bratislava 2006. ISBN 80-88975-95-6.

Colin Saunders and Renáta Nárožná, "Walking in the High Tatras" (2nd edition), Cicerone Press (Milnthorpe) 2006. ISBN 9781852844820.

External links

  • - municipal website
  • - municipal website
  • - Slovak Tatra National Park
  • - Polish Tatra National Park


Commercial tourism-oriented websites

  • - tourist information and accommodation(mainly Slovak side)
  • -travel guide (mainly Slovak side)
  • - travel guide (mainly Polish side)


Mountaineering

  • - mountaineer's notes
  • - website of the Volunteer Tatra-Mountain Rescue Service


Photography



Films