Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park
| Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Lake Sant Maurici
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| Nearest city | Lleida |
| Coordinates | 42°35′13″N 0°58′28″E / 42.58694°N 0.97444°ECoordinates: 42°35′13″N 0°58′28″E / 42.58694°N 0.97444°E |
| Area | 141 km2 (54 sq mi) |
| Established | 1955 |
| Governing body | Spanish Ministry of Environment. managed: Catalan Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food, and the Environment |
Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (Catalan: Parc Nacional d'Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici), is one of the fourteen Spanish national parks, and the only one located in Catalonia.
A wild mountain region in the Pyrenees, with peaks rising to 3017 m (Besiberri Sud) and with nearly 200 lakes, many of them of glacial origin, the park comprises a core area of 141 km2 and a buffer zone of 267 km2 surrounding the park. The park's name in Catalan is Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici, freely translated as "The winding streams and St. Maurice lake".
The park has an elevation range of 1600 to 3000 metres and contains four major vegetation zones: lower montane, upper montane, subalpine and alpine.
The fauna includes Pyrenean chamois, marmot, ermine, roe deer, among other mammals and numerous birds (black woodpecker, common crossbill, lammergeier, golden eagle).
The park was created in 1955 after Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, first Spanish national park in the Pyrenees in 1918. Its administrative seats are in Espot and Boí. The park is mainly located in the comarques of Pallars Sobirà and Alta Ribagorça.
The national park comprises 40,852 hectares (100,950 acres), divided into two different levels of protection: the core area and the buffer zone surrounding the park. This buffer zone creates a gradation from the inner side, more strictly protected than the external parts of the park.
The core area is located in the comarques of Pallars Sobirà and Alta Ribagorça, and includes the main entrances of the park:
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Wikipedia