Carpathian Mountains
This article is about a terrestrial mountain range. For a lunar range, see Montes Carpatus |
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 northern
Hungary.
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 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
Proto Indo-European root
*sker-/
*ker-, from which comes the
Albanian word 'karpë' (rock), perhaps by way of a
Dacian word which meant 'mountain', 'rock', or 'rugged'.
In late Roman documents, the Eastern Carpathian Mountains were referred to as Montes Sarmatici. The Western Carpathians were called
Carpates. The name Carpates is first recorded in
Ptolemy's
Geography.
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).
In official
Hungarian documents of the 13th and 14th centuries, the Carpathians are named
Thorchal or
Tarczal, or the latinate
Montes Nivium.
|
(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 1,500 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 2,655 m (8,705 feet) above sea level in Slovak territory). It covers an area of 190,000 km², and, after the
Alps, is the most extensive mountain system in Europe.
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 2,500 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.
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.
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).
Main article: 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.
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):
*
Western Carpathians:
**
1 Outer Western Carpathians:
***
Austrian - South-Moravian Carpathians***
Central Moravian Carpathians***
Slovak-Moravian Carpathians***
West-Beskidian Piedmont***
Western Beskids***
Central Beskids***
Eastern Beskids***
Podhale-Magura Area**
2 Inner Western Carpathians:
***
Slovak Ore Mountains***
Fatra-Tatra Area***
Slovak Medium Mountains***
Lučenec-Košice Depression***
Mátra-Slanec Area*
South Eastern Carpathians (= Eastern Carpathians in a wider sense):
**
Eastern Carpathians:
***
3 Outer Eastern Carpathians:
****
Central Beskidian Piedmont****
Low Beskids****
Eastern Beskids****
Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians****
Eastern Subcarpathians***
4 Inner Eastern Carpathians:
****
Vihorlat-Gutin Area****
Bistriţa Mountains****
Căliman-Harghita Mountains ****
Giurgeu-Braşov Depression ****
Rakhiv Massif and
Maramureş Mountains****
Maramureş Depression****
Rodna Mountains**
5 Southern Carpathians (also known as
Transylvanian Alps):
***
Făgăraş Mountains Group***
Parâng Mountains Group***
Retezat-Godeanu Mountains Group**
6 Romanian Western Carpathians:
***
Apuseni Mountains***
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):
***
Transylvanian Plateau***
Mureş-Turda Depression***
Făgăraş Depression***
Sibiu Depression **
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.
The border between the Eastern and Southern Carpathians is formed by the
Predeal Pass, south of
Braşov and the
Prahova Valley.
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
*
List of mountain peaks in Romania*
Orographic map highlighting Carpathian mountains*
Hiking trails in Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains*
Carpathian Mountains Images
