Template:Short description Template:Infobox mountain The Beskids or Beskid Mountains (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), Template:Langx ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})) are a series of mountain ranges in the Carpathians, stretching from the Czech Republic in the west along the border of Poland with Slovakia up to Ukraine in the east.<ref name=":0">Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Beskyds</ref>

The highest mountain in the Beskids is Hoverla, at Template:Cvt.<ref name=":0" />

EtymologyEdit

The origin of the name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has not been conclusively established. A Thracian or Illyrian origin has been suggested;Template:Citation needed however, as yet, no theory has majority support among linguists. The word appears in numerous mountain names throughout the Carpathians and the adjacent Balkan regions, like in Albanian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. According to linguists Çabej and Orel, it is possibly derived from Proto-Albanian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (meaning 'the mountain pastures').<ref>Çabej, E. (1976). Studime Gjuhësore I, Studime Etimologjike në Fushë të Shqipes, A-O. Priština: Rilindja, page 68</ref><ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref> The Slovak name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} refers to the Polish Bieszczady Mountains, which is not a synonym for the entire Beskids but one single range, belonging to the Eastern Beskids. According to another linguistic theory, it may be related to Middle Low German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, meaning 'watershed'.<ref>Zbigniew Gołąb. The Origins of the Slavs: A Linguist's View. Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1992 p. 342. "The Germanic etymology of Bieszczad // Beskid was proposed by Prof. Jan Michał Rozwadowski (1914:162, etc.). He derives the variant beščad from Germc. biskaid, which is represented by MLG besche (beskêt) Trennung and by Scandinavian bêsked, borrowed from [...]"</ref>

Historically, the term was used for hundreds of years to describe the mountain range separating the old Kingdom of Hungary from the old Kingdom of Poland. In 1269, the Beskids were known by the Latin name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'Beskid Mountains of Poland'.<ref>Kazimierz Zarzycki, Zbigniew Głowaciński (1986): Bieszczady (p. 7)</ref>

DefinitionEdit

The Beskids are approximately Template:Convert in length and Template:Convert in width. They stand mainly along the southern border of Lesser Poland with northern Slovakia, stretching to the Moravia and Czech Silesia regions of the eastern Czech Republic and to Carpathian Ruthenia in western Ukraine. Parts form the European Watershed, separating the Oder and Vistula basins in the north from the Eastern Slovak Lowland, part of the Great Hungarian Plain drained by the Danube River.

Geologically all of the Beskids stand within the Outer Western Carpathians and the Outer Eastern Carpathians. In the west they begin at the natural pass of the Moravian Gate, which separates them from the Eastern Sudetes, continue east in a band to the north of the Tatra Mountains, and end in Ukraine. The eastern termination of the Beskids is disputed. According to older sources, the Beskids end at the source of the Tisza River, while newer sources state that the Beskids end at the Uzhok Pass at the Polish–Ukrainian border.

SubdivisionsEdit

File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, e.svg
Western section of Western Beskids, marked in red and labeled with E
File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, f.svg
Northern section of Western Beskids, marked in red and labeled with F

Multiple traditions, languages and nationalities have developed overlapping variants for the divisions and names of the Beskid ranges. According to the divisions of the Carpathians, they are categorized within:

Western BeskidsEdit

Central BeskidsEdit

Eastern BeskidsEdit

Eastern Beskids are divided into two parallel ridges: Wooded Beskids and Polonynian Beskids.

InfrastructureEdit

The Beskids are currently rich in forest and coal. In the past they were rich in iron ore, with important plants in Ostrava and TřinecTřinec Iron and Steel Works.

There are many tourist attractions, including historic wooden churches (see Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland, Carpathian Wooden Churches of Slovakia, and Wooden Churches of Ukraine) and the increasingly popular skiing resorts.

A number of environmental groups support a small but growing population of bears, wolves and lynx in the ecosystem of the Beskidy mountains. The Central Beskids include the Polish Babia Góra National Park and the adjacent Slovak Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area.

GalleryEdit

See alsoEdit

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CitationsEdit

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General and cited sourcesEdit

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External linksEdit

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