Polish Tatra National Park
| Tatra National Park | |
|---|---|
| Tatrzański Park Narodowy | |
|
IUCN category II (national park)
|
|
Czarny Staw in the Valley of Five Polish Lakes
 |
|
 Location in Poland
|
|
| Location | Tatra Mountains, southern Poland |
| Nearest city | Zakopane |
| Coordinates | 49°10′N 19°55′E / 49.167°N 19.917°ECoordinates: 49°10′N 19°55′E / 49.167°N 19.917°E |
| Area | 211.64 km² (81.71 mi²) |
| Established | 1954 |
| Governing body | Ministry of the Environment |
Tatra National Park (Polish: Tatrzański Park Narodowy; abbr. TPN) is a National Park located in the Tatra Mountains in Tatra County, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship—Małopolska region, in central-southern Poland bordering on northern Slovakia.
The Park has its headquarters in the town of Zakopane. There is a similar national park in the adjoining part of Slovakia, also called the Tatra National Park Tatranský národný park.
The first calls for protection of the Tatras came at the end of the 19th century. In 1925 the first efforts to create a national park, in cooperation with Slovakia, took place. Formally the park was created in 1937, on an area that belonged to the state forests authority. In 1947, a separate administrative unit, Tatra Park, was created.
In 1954, by decision of the Polish Government, Tatra National Park was created. It was established originally with an area of 215.56 km2 (83.23 sq mi), but it is currently slightly smaller, at 211.64 km2 (81.71 sq mi). Of this, 151.91 km2 (58.65 sq mi) is forest and the remainder mainly meadows. Strictly protected zones account for 115.14 km2 (44.46 sq mi), of which 61.49 km2 (23.74 sq mi) are forest ecosystems.
In 1992, the Polish and Slovakian national parks in the Tatras were jointly designated a transboundary biosphere reserve by UNESCO, under its Man and the Biosphere Programme.
The National Park covers one of the two Alpine mountain ranges in Poland. The Polish Tatra range, which is a part of the Western Carpathian Mountains, is divided into two sections: the High Tatras (Tatry Wysokie) and the Western Tatras (Tatry Zachodnie). The landscape consists of sharp-edged peaks and hollows with numerous rock formations. The highest peak in Poland, Rysy (2,499 metres (8,199 ft) AMSL), is located here.
...
Wikipedia