| Tatra Mountains | |
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View from above Morskie Oko
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| Countries | Poland, Slovakia |
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| Highest point | Gerlachovský štít |
| - elevation | 2,655 m (8,711 ft) |
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The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry either in Polish and in Slovak, Tátra in Hungarian), are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains. Tatras occupy an area of 750 km² (290 mi²), of which the greater part (600 km²/232 mi²) lies in Slovakia, with the highest peak Gerlach at 2,655 m (8710 ft), located north of Poprad. In turn, summit Rysy (2,499 m/8200 ft), located in the north-western part of Tatras, is the highest mountain in Poland.
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The Tatras are a mountain range of a corrugated nature, originating from the Alpine orogeny, and therefore characterized by a relatively young-look lay of the land, quite similar to the landscape of the Alps, although significantly smaller. It is the highest mountain range within Carpathians. It consists of the internal mountain chains of:
The overall nature of the Tatras, together with their easy accessibility, makes them a favorite with tourists and researchers. Therefore, these mountains are a popular winter sports area, with resorts such as Zakopane, called also "winter capital of Poland", Poprad and the town Vysoké Tatry (The Town of High Tatras) in Slovakia created in 1999, including former separate resorts: Štrbské Pleso, Starý Smokovec, and Tatranská Lomnica. The High Tatras, with their 24 (or 25) peaks exceeding 2,500 m above sea level, together with the Southern Carpathians, represent the only form of alpine landscape in the entire 1200 km length of arc of the Carpathians.
The Tatras should be distinguished from another Slovak mountain range, the Low Tatras, Slovak: Nízke Tatry, located south of the Tatras. Sometimes, Tatras is a term used either for the Tatras and for the Low Tatras.
The Tatras lie in the temperate zone of Central Europe. They are an important barrier to the movements of air masses. Their mountainous topography causes one of the most diverse climates in that region.
The average wind speed on the summits is 6 m/s.
On 19 November 2004, large parts of the forests in the southern Slovak part of the High Tatras were damaged by a strong wind storm.[1] 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 is fully recovered.
Temperatures range from −40 °C (−40 °F) in the winter to 33 °C (91 °F) in warmer months. Temperatures also vary depending on altitude and sun exposure of a given slope. Temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) last for 192 days on the summits.
Highest precipitation figures are recorded on the northern slopes. In June and July monthly precipitation reaches around 250 mm (10 in). Precipitation occurs from 215 to 228 days a year. Thunderstorms occur 36 days a year on average.
Maximum thickness on the summit amounts to:
Peaks are sometimes covered with snow or ice throughout the year. Avalanches are frequent.
The Mountains have a diverse variety of plant life. They are home to more than 1,000 species of vascular plants, about 450 mosses, 200 liverworts, 700 lichens, 900 fungi, and 70 slime moulds. There are five climatic-vegetation belts in the Tatras.
The distribution of plants depends on altitude:
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, marmot, snow vole, brown bear, wolf, Eurasian lynx, red deer, roe deer, and wild boar. Notable fish include the brook trout and alpine bullhead.
The endemic arthropod species include a caddis fly, spider Xysticus alpicola[2] and a springtail.
Orla Perć it is considered the most difficult and dangerous public path in the entire Tatras, a suitable destination only for experienced tourists and climbers. More than one hundred unprepared individuals have lost their lives on the route since it was first established. The path is marked with red signs.
The highest point in the Tatra Mountains with access by labeled trails is Rysy.
Tatras were used at the 18th and 19th centuries for sheep grazing and mining. Many trees were cut down to make way for humans. Although these activities were stopped, the impact is still visible. Moreover, there are new problems: pollution from the industrialized regions of Kraków, Ostrava and Orava as well as the existence of a casual tourism cause substantial damage.
The Slovak Tatra National Park (Tatranský národný park; TANAP) was founded in 1949 (738 km²), and the contiguous Polish Tatra National Park (Tatrzański Park Narodowy) was founded in 1954 on an area of 215.56 km².[3] Both areas were added to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve list in 1993.
The 1999 film Ravenous was filmed in the Tatras Mountains.[4]
In 2006, the Bollywood film Fanaa, portraying places in Kashmir, was filmed at Zakopane, mainly because of the risks associated with insurgency in Kashmir, as well due to some similarities in a mountain landscape.