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Tatra mountains

Tatras
Tatras

Tatra or Tatras (in Polish and Slovak Tatry, which is a word in plural) is a mountain range on the border of Poland and Slovakia, the highest part of the Carpathian Mountains. The major part and all the highest peaks of the mountains is situated in Slovakia. The highest peak is the Gerlachovský stit, with 2,655 m, located in Slovakia.

The area is a well known winter sport area, with resorts such as the (Town of) High Tatra - in Slovak (Mesto) Vysoké Tatry (created in 1999 and including the former separate resorts Štrbské pleso, Starý Smokovec, and Tatranská Lomnica) and Poprad in Slovakia, or Zakopane in Poland.

The Tatra(s) consists of the "Western Tatra(s)" (Slovak Západné Tatry, Polish: Tatry Zachodnie) and the "Eastern Tatra(s)" (Slovak: Východné Tatry, Polish: Tatry Wschodnie). The Eastern Tatra(s), in turn, consists of the High Tatra (Vysoké Tatry, Tatry Wysokie) and the "Belianske Tatra(s)" (Belianske Tatry, Tatry Bielanskie). The High Tatras, with its 24(or 25) peaks higher than 2,500 m above sea level provide the only mountains with an Alpine character in the whole of the 1,200 km length of the Carpathian Mountain range.

The Tatra(s) should be distinguished from another Slovakian mountain range, the Low Tatra(s) (in Slovak Nízke Tatry), situated south of the Tatra(s). Sometimes, however, the term Tatras freely refers to both the Tatra(s) and the Low Tatra(s).

The Tatra(s) National Park (TANAP) in the Tatra(s) was founded in 1949.

On 19 November 2004, a great portion the forest in High Tatras was damaged by a wind blast of more than 100 mph. 3 millions of cubic metres of wood have fallen down, 2 people have died and many villages in High Tatras were cut off from the rest of the world.

External link

Tourist website: http://www.tatry.sk/Priroda/priro_en.html

  • Go-Zakopane.com - interactive Travel Guide to Tatra Mountains http://www.go-zakopane.com/
  • - a page dedicated to help to renew the Tatras http://slovak.vysoketatry.cz/kalamita/

Panoramic view from the Rysi (2,499m): http://merzhase.de/hightatras/rysi/




Last updated: 02-11-2005 05:43:41
Last updated: 02-22-2005 02:38:43