Satellite image of the Carpathians

The Carpathian Mountains are the eastern wing of the great Central Mountain System of Europe, curving 1500 km (~900 miles) along the borders of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and northern Hungary. Image File history File links Carpathians-satellite. ... Image File history File links Carpathians-satellite. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...

The Carpathians names in central european languages are: German: Karpaten; Czech, Polish, and Slovak: Karpaty; Serbian: Karpati; Hungarian: Kárpátok; Romanian: Carpaţi; Ukrainian: Карпати (Karpaty). The Serbian language is one of the standard versions of the Å tokavian dialect (former standard was known as Serbo-Croatian language). ...

Name

The name is most likely derived from the Carp, a Dacian tribe, attested in Late Roman Empire documents (Zosimus) until 381 as living on the Eastern Carpathian slopes. Alternately, the name of the tribe may have been derived from the name of the mountains. The name 'Karpetes' may ultimately be from the PIE root *sker-/*ker-, from which comes the Albanian word 'karpë' (rock), perhaps by way of a Dacian word which meant 'mountain', 'rock', or 'rugged'. The Carpi or Carpians were a Dacian tribe that were originally located on the Eastern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, in what is now Bacău county, Romania. ... Dacia, in ancient geography the land of the Daci, named by the ancient greeks Getae, was a large district of Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathians, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisa, on the east by the Tyras or Nistru, now... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine... For the pope of this name see Pope Zosimus Zosimus, Greek historical writer, nourished at Constantinople during the second half of the 5th century A.D. According to Photius, he was a count, and held the office of advocate of the imperial treasury. ... A slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie à la mode A pie is a baked dish, with a baked shell usually made of pastry that covers or completely contains a filling of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheeses, creams, chocolate, custards, nuts, or other sweet or savoury ingredient. ... The Dacian language was an Indo-European language spoken by the ancient people of Dacia. ...

In late Roman documents, the Eastern Carpathian Mountains were reffered to as Montes Sarmatici. The Western Carpathians were called Carpates. The name Carpates is first recorded in Ptolemy's Geography. Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece. ...

In the Scandinavian Hervarar saga, which describes ancient Germanic legends about battles between Goths and Huns, the name Karpates appears in the predictable Germanic form Harvaða fjöllum (see Grimm's law). Hervarar saga ok Heidhreks is a fornaldarsaga from the 13th century using material from an older saga. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... The Huns were a group of Central Asian nomadic tribes, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century. ... Grimms law (also known as the [First] Germanic Sound Shift; German: Erste Deutsche (Germanische) Lautverschiebung) was the first non-trivial systematic sound change ever to be discovered; its formulation was a turning-point in the development of linguistics, enabling the introduction of rigorous methodology in historical linguistic research. ...

In official Hungarian documents of the 13th and 14th centuries, the Carpathians are named Thorchal or Tarczal, or the latinate Montes Nivium.

Geography

(2) Inner Western Carpathians , Tatra, Poland

(2) Inner Western Carpathians , Tatra, Poland

The Carpathians begin on the Danube near Bratislava. They surround Transcarpathia and Transylvania in a large semicircle, sweeping towards the south-west, and end on the Danube near Orşova, in Romania. The total length of the Carpathians is over 1500 km. the mountain chain's width varies between 12 and 500 km. The greatest width of the Carpathians corresponds with its highest altitudes. The system attains its greatest breadth in the Transylvanian plateau, and in the meridian of the Tatra group (the highest range, with Gerlachovský štít, at 2655 m (8705 feet) above sea level in Slovak territory). It covers an area of 190 000 sq. km, and, after the Alps, is the most extensive mountain system in Europe. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (838x629, 215 KB) Summary West Carpathian, Tarta, Dolina 5 Stawow Polskich, Poland, Marek Silarski Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (838x629, 215 KB) Summary West Carpathian, Tarta, Dolina 5 Stawow Polskich, Poland, Marek Silarski Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (819x614, 156 KB)GFDL ,Tatra view from Rysy, Zakopane, Poland, Marek Silarski File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (819x614, 156 KB)GFDL ,Tatra view from Rysy, Zakopane, Poland, Marek Silarski File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Danube (German: , Slovak: Dunaj, Hungarian: , Croatian: Dunav, Serbian: Дунав/Dunav, Bulgarian: Дунав, Romanian: , Ukrainian: , Latin: Danuvius) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... Bratislava (until 1919: PreÅ¡porok in Slovak, Pressburg in German and English, Pozsony in Hungarian, Požun in Croatian) is the capital of Slovakia and the countrys largest city, with a population of some 450,000. ... Zakarpattya or Transcarpathia (Закарпатська область, Zakarpats’ka oblast’ in Ukrainian) is an oblast (region) of Ukraine. ... Transylvania (Romanian: Transilvania or Ardeal; Hungarian: Erdély; German: Siebenbürgen; see also other languages) forms the western and central parts of Romania. ... OrÅŸova (Hungarian: Orsova, German: Orschowa) is a port town on the Danube river in southwestern Romanias Mehedinti county. ... Tatras Tatra mountains or Tatras or Tatra (in Polish and Slovak Tatry, which is a plural proper noun) is a mountain range on the border of Poland and Slovakia, the highest part of the Carpathian Mountains. ... Gerlachov Peak or Gerlachovský Peak (Slovak: Gerlachovský Å¡tít meaning peak of [the village] Gerlachov) or - based on the colloquial or old name- Gerlach Peak (Slovak:Gerlach) is the highest peak of the Tatra mountains, of Slovakia and of the whole Carpathians. ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ...

Although commonly referred to as a mountain chain, the Carpathians do not actually form an uninterrupted chain of mountains. Rather, they consist of several orographically and geologically distinctive groups, presenting as great a structural variety as the Alps. The Carpathians, which only in a few places attain an altitude of over 2500 m, lack the bold peaks, extensive snow-fields, large glaciers, high waterfalls and the numerous large lakes which are common in the Alps. No area of the Carpathian Range is covered in snow year-round, and there are no glaciers. The Carpathians at their highest altitude are only as high as the Middle Region of the Alps, with which they share a common appearance, climate, and flora. Orography is the average height of land, measured in geopotential meters, over a certain domain. ... Austrias longest glacier, the Pasterze, winds its 8 km (5 mile) route at the foot of Austrias highest mountain, the Grossglockner A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... In Botany a Flora (or Floræ) is a collective term for plant life and can also refer to a descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. ...

The Carpathians are separated from the Alps by the Danube. The two ranges meet only in one point: the Leitha Mountains at Bratislava. The river also separates them from the Stara Planina, or "Balkan Mountains", at Orşova, Romania. The valley of the March and Oder separates the Carpathians from the Silesian and Moravian chains, which belong to the middle wing of the great Central Mountain System of Europe. Unlike the other wings of the system, the Carpathians, which form the watershed between the northern seas and the Black Sea, are surrounded on all sides by plains, namely the Pannonian plain on the south-west, the plain of the Lower Danube (Romania) on the south, and the Galician plain on the north-east. Stara Planina, Rhodope, Rila and Pirin Mountains The Stara Planina (Old Mountain) or Balkan mountain range is an extension of the Carpathian mountain range, separated from it by the Danube River. ... OrÅŸova (Hungarian: Orsova, German: Orschowa) is a port town on the Danube river in southwestern Romanias Mehedinti county. ... Prussian Silesia, 1871, outlined in yellow; Silesia at the close of the Seven Years War in 1763, outlined in cyan (areas now in Czech Republic were Austrian-ruled at that time) Silesia (-Latin, Polish: ÅšlÄ…sk, German: Schlesien, Czech: Slezsko) is a historical region in central Europe. ... Moravia in relation to the current kraje of the Czech Republic Moravia (Czech and Slovak: Morava, German: Mähren, Polish: Morawy, Hungarian: Morvaország) is an historical region in the east of the Czech Republic. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... The Pannonian plain is a large plain in central/south-eastern Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea (see below) dried out. ... It has been suggested that Galicia and Ludomaria be merged into this article or section. ...

Convention on the protection of the Carpathians

A Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians [1] was signed in 2003 between the seven participating States, following an international consultation process facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Divisions

Main article: Divisions of the Carpathians Map of the main divisions of the Carpathians. ...

Horizontal division

• Outer Carpathians (= Outer Western Carpathians and Outer Eastern Carpathians, usually incl. the corresponding Outer Carpathian Depressions)
• Inner Carpathians (= Inner Western Carpathians, Inner Eastern Carpathians and all the remaining Carpathians)

A major part of the western and north-eastern Outer Carpathians is traditionally called Beskids. Beskidy Mountains (Beskid Mountains, Beskidy, Beskydy, Beskids) is a series of Czech Republic, northwestern Slovakia, and southern Poland, along the border between Poland and the Czech Republic and Slovakia. ...

Vertical and general division

Map of the Carpathian subdivisions

What follows is a practical outline of the Carpathian subdivisions (clockwise from the west, numbers refer to the map): Image File history File links Annotated version of image file http://commons. ... Image File history File links Annotated version of image file http://commons. ...

• Western Carpathians:
  • 1 Outer Western Carpathians
  • 2 Inner Western Carpathians
• South Eastern Carpathians (= Eastern Carpathians in a wider sense):
  • Eastern Carpathians:
    • 3 Outer Eastern Carpathians
    • 4 Inner Eastern Carpathians
  • 5 Southern Carpathians (also known as Transylvanian Alps):
    • Bucegi Mountains Group
    • Făgăraş Mountains Group
    • Parâng Mountains Group
    • Retezat-Godeanu Mountains Group
  • 6 Romanian Western Carpathians:
    • Apuseni Mountains (rarely not considered part of the Carpathians at all)
    • Poiana Ruscă Mountains (sometimes considered part of the Southern Carpathians)
    • Banat Mountains (sometimes considered part of the Southern Carpathians)
  • 7 Transylvanian Plateau (sometimes not considered part of the Carpathians at all)
  • 8 Serbian Carpathians (sometimes considered part of the Southern Carpathians, or not considered part of the Carpathians at all)
• Outer Carpathian Depressions (they surround the Carpathians and are normally considered part of the corresponding adjacent above main groups)

The geological border between the Western and Eastern Carpathians runs approximately along the line (south to north) between the towns Michalovce - Bardejov - Nowy Sącz - Tarnów. In older systems the border runs more in the east – at the line (north to south)along the rivers San and Osława (PL) – the town of Snina (SK) – river Tur'ia (UA). Biologists, however, shift the border even further to the east. Southern Carpathians (also called Transylvanian Alps; in Romanian: Carpaţii Meridionali) are located between the Prahova river in the east and the Timiş river and Cerna river in the west. ... Categories: Stub | Mountains of Romania ... The FăgăraÅŸ Mountains viewed from the train The FăgăraÅŸ Mountains: view from Vânătoarea lui Buteanu peak (2507 m) FăgăraÅŸ Mountains are the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania. ... The Apuseni Mountains is a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Carpathians. ... Transylvanian Plateau is an plateau in central Romania almoast entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Western branches of the Carpathian Mountains. ... Michalovce (German: Großmichel, Hungarian: Nagymihály, Romani: Nadymihaya, Yiddish: Mikhaylovets or Mykhaylovyts) is a city on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Motto: Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada Miejska Nowego SÄ…cza Mayor Józef Antoni Wiktor Area 57 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 85,700(2001 est. ... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada Miejska Tarnów Mayor MieczysÅ‚aw BieÅ„ Area 72,4 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 121 300 - 1675/km² Founded City rights - 1330 Latitude Longitude 50°02 N 21°00 E Area code +48 14 Car plates KT Twin towns - Municipal Website... The San or Sian (Ukrainian: Сян, Sian). ... Oslawa River near Zagorz Oslawa River near Mariemont hill, Zagorz, Poland The OsÅ‚awa, germ. ... Snina (Hungarian: Szinna) is the easternmost town in Slovakia placed at the confluence of the Cirocha river and the small river Pčolinka in the valley between the Beskydy foothills and the Vihorlat mountain. ...

The border between the Eastern and Southern Carpathians is formed by the Predeal Pass, south of Braşov and the Prahova Valley. Predeal (Hungarian: Predeál) (population:6,735) is a city in Romania, in Braşov county. ... BraÅŸov (Hungarian: Brassó, German: Kronstadt) is a city in Romania, residence of BraÅŸov county. ... Prahova Valley (Romanian: Valea Prahovei) is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiului Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. ...

The Ukrainians sometimes denote as "Eastern Carpathians" only the Ukrainian Carpathians (or Wooded Carpathians), i.e. basically the part situated largely on their territory (i.e.to the north of the Prislop Pass), while the Romanians sometimes denote as "Eastern Carpathians" only the other part, which lies on their territory (i.e. from the Ukrainian border or from the Prislop Pass to the south).

Also, the Romanians divide the Eastern Carpathians on their territory into three simplified geographical groups (north, center, south), instead of Outer and Inner Eastern Carpathians. These are:

• Carpaţii Maramureşului şi ai Bucovinei (Carpathians of Maramureş and Bucovina)
• Carpaţii Moldo-Transilvani (Moldavian-Transylvanian Carpathians)
• Carpaţii de Curbură/Carpaţii Curburii

MaramureÅŸ (Hungarian: Máramaros) is a county (judeÅ£) in the MaramureÅŸ region, northern Romania, in the North of Transylvania with the capital city at Baia Mare (population: 149,735). ... Bukovina (Bucovina in Romanian; Буковина, Bukovyna in Polish), on the slopes of the Carpathian mountains, comprises an historic province now split between Ukraine. ...

See also

• List of mountain peaks in Romania