Beskids

Beskids
Beskidy (pl) Beskydy (cs/sk)
Eastern Beskids in Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine
Highest point
Peak	Hoverla
Elevation	2,060 m (6,760 ft)
Coordinates	48°09′36″N 24°30′01″E / 48.16000°N 24.50028°E / 48.16000; 24.50028
Dimensions
Length	600 km (370 mi)
Width	70 km (43 mi)
Geography
Map of the Beskid ranges
Countries	Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ukraine
Regions	Silesia, Lesser Poland, Moravia and Carpathian Ruthenia
Range coordinates	49°25′00″N 20°15′00″E / 49.416667°N 20.25°E / 49.416667; 20.25Coordinates: 49°25′00″N 20°15′00″E / 49.416667°N 20.25°E / 49.416667; 20.25
Parent range	Western and Eastern Carpathians
Borders on	Sudetes and Tatra Mountains

The Beskids or Beskid Mountains (Polish: Beskidy, Czech and Slovak: Beskydy, Rusyn: Бескиды (Beskidy), Ukrainian: Бескиди (Beskydy)) is a traditional name for 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.

The highest mountain in the Beskids is Hoverla, at 2,061 m metres (6,762 ft), located in the Ukrainian Chornohora range.

The origin of the name beskydy has not been conclusively established. A Thracian or Illyrian origin has been suggested, 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 bjeshkë. The Slovak name Beskydy 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 beshêt, beskēt, meaning watershed.

Historically the Beschad Alpes Poloniae, first mentioned in a 1269 deed and called Poloniae Alpe Biesczade in the 17th century, denoted the mountain ranges which separated the Kingdom of Poland from Ruthenia and the Kingdom of Hungary.