Papuk Mountain

Papuk
The Flora of Papuk
Highest point
Elevation	953 m (3,127 ft)
Listing	List of mountains in Croatia
Coordinates	45°32′N 17°39′E / 45.533°N 17.650°E / 45.533; 17.650Coordinates: 45°32′N 17°39′E / 45.533°N 17.650°E / 45.533; 17.650
Geography
Papuk Location of Papuk in Croatia
Location	Slavonia, Croatia

Ravna Gora
Ravna Gora Location of Ravna Gora in Croatia
Highest point
Elevation	854 m (2,802 ft)
Listing	List of mountains in Croatia
Geography
Location	Slavonia, Croatia

Papuk is the largest mountain in the Slavonia region in eastern Croatia, near the city of Požega. It extends between Bilogora to the northwest, Krndija to the east, and Ravna gora and Psunj to the southwest.

The highest peak is the eponymous peak at 953 m.a.s.l.

The area of Papuk is designated a nature park (park prirode), a kind of protected area in Croatia.

At the seventh European Geopark Network Open Conference, hosted by North West Highlands Geopark in September 2007, the Papuk Geopark became the first Croatian Geopark and 30th member of the European and UNESCO Global Geoparks Network.

Geopark Papuk was awarded licence second time from UNESCO in 2011.

There are several supposed etymologies of the name "Papuk", it's almost certainly not of Croatian origin. One is that it comes by assimilation from earlier "Bapuk", where "Ba" is the name of the Celtic tribe that inhabited the region, and "Puk" comes from the Indo-European root *peiH, meaning "big". However, from the historical sources, it's visible that Papuk was originally a hydronym. Based on that, it's been suggested that the name comes from the repetitive of the Indo-European root *bhogj (to flow), *bhebhogj, so that it means "that which flows and flows". However, there are several problems with that etymology. First, it's visible by hydronyms such as "Bosut" and "Bosna" that Indo-European *bh gave *b in the local language. Second, *bhebhogj would actually mean "flow and flow" and not "that which flows and flows", so the endings don't match. So, it's been suggested that the name is of Pre-Indo-European origin.

The Papuk Geopark (45°32′N 17°39′E / 45.533°N 17.650°E / 45.533; 17.650) is a geopark in Croatia which is situated in two counties, Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina, and includes upland forests of the Papuk and Krndija mountains, and edges of agricultural fields. The total area of the Geopark is 33,600 hectares (83,000 acres). In September 2007, the Papuk Geopark became the first Croatian geopark (an area with an expressed geological heritage and a strategy for a sustainable economical development) and the 30th member of the European Geoparks Network and a member of the UNESCO-assisted Global Geoparks Network.