Login
Login

Beskids

{{Short description|Series of mountain ranges in the Carpathians}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Beskids

| native_name = {{native name list |tag1=pl|name1=Beskidy |tag2=cs|name2=Beskydy |tag3=sk|name3=Beskydy}}

| photo = Okolí Huklivého 001.jpg

| photo_size = 300px

| photo_caption = Eastern Beskids in Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine

| country = {{hlist|Poland|Slovakia|Czech Republic|Ukraine}}

| subdivision1_type = Regions

| subdivision1 = {{hlist|Silesia|Lesser Poland|Moravia|Carpathian Ruthenia}}

| parent = Western and Eastern Carpathians

| borders_on = {{hlist|Sudetes|Tatra Mountains}}

| geology =

| orogeny =

| area_km2 =

| length_km = 600

| length_orientation =

| width_km = 70

| width_orientation =

| highest = Hoverla

| elevation_m = 2061

| coordinates = {{Coord|48|09|36|N|24|30|01|E|type:mountain_region:UA_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| map_image =

| map_caption =

}}

The Beskids or Beskid Mountains ({{langx|pl|Beskidy}}, {{langx|cs|Beskydy}}, {{langx|sk|Beskydy}}, {{langx|rue|Бескиды}} ({{Lang|rue-latn|Beskydŷ}}), {{langx|uk|Бескиди}} ({{Lang|uk-latn|Beskydy}})) 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.[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5CE%5CBeskyds.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Beskyds]

The highest mountain in the Beskids is Hoverla, at {{cvt|2061|m}}.

Etymology

The origin of the name {{Lang|cs|beskydy}} has not been conclusively established. A Thracian or Illyrian origin has been suggested;{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} 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 {{Lang|sq|bjeshkë}}. According to linguists Çabej and Orel, it is possibly derived from Proto-Albanian {{Lang|mis|*beškāi tāi}} (meaning 'the mountain pastures').Çabej, E. (1976). Studime Gjuhësore I, Studime Etimologjike në Fushë të Shqipes, A-O. Priština: Rilindja, page 68{{cite dictionary|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|authorlink=Vladimir Orel|entry=Beskids|title=Albanian Etymological Dictionary|location=Leiden, Boston, Cologne|publisher=Brill|year=1998|page=X|isbn=9004110240}} The Slovak name {{Lang|sk|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 {{Lang|gml|beshêt}}, {{Lang|gml|beskēt}}, meaning 'watershed'.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 [...]"

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 {{Lang|la|Beschad Alpes Poloniae}} 'Beskid Mountains of Poland'.[https://books.google.com/books?id=3Bq4AAAAIAAJ Kazimierz Zarzycki, Zbigniew Głowaciński (1986): Bieszczady (p. 7)]

Definition

The Beskids are approximately {{Convert|600|km|abbr=on}} in length and {{Convert|50–70|km|abbr=on}} 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.

Subdivisions

File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, e.svg, marked in red and labeled with E]]

File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, f.svg, marked in red and labeled with F]]

File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, h.svg, marked in red and labeled with H]]

File:Vnější Západní Karpaty, g.svg, marked in red and labeled with G]]

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 Beskids =

= Central Beskids =

File:Vnější Východní Karpaty, a.svg, marked in red and labeled with A]]

File:Vnější Východní Karpaty, b.svg, marked in red and labeled with B]]

= Eastern Beskids =

File:Vnější Východní Karpaty, c.svg, marked in red and labelled with C]]

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

  • Wooded Beskids ({{langx|pl|Beskidy Lesiste|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Лісисті Бескиди|link=no}})
  • Bieszczady Mountains ({{langx|pl|Bieszczady|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Бещади|link=no}}) → c1
  • Sanok-Turka Mountains ({{langx|pl|Góry Sanocko-Turczańskie}}; {{langx|uk|Верхньодністровські Бескиди|link=no}}) → c3
  • Skole Beskids ({{langx|pl|Beskidy Skolskie|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Сколівські Бескиди|link=no}}) → c2
  • Gorgany ({{langx|pl|Gorgany|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Ґорґани|link=no}}) → c4
  • Pokuttia-Bucovina Beskids ({{langx|pl|Beskidy Pokucko-Bukowińskie|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Покутсько-Буковинські Карпати|link=no}}) → c5
  • Polonynian Beskids ({{langx|pl|Beskidy Połonińskie|link=no}}; {{langx|uk|Полонинські Бескиди|link=no}})
  • Smooth Polonyna ({{langx|uk|Полонина Рівна|link=no}}) → c6
  • Polonyna Borzhava ({{langx|uk|Полонина Боржава|link=no}}) → c7
  • Polonyna Kuk ({{langx|uk|Полонина Кук|link=no}}) → c8
  • Red Polonyna ({{langx|uk|Полонина Красна|link=no}})→ c9
  • Svydovets ({{langx|uk|Свидівець|link=no}}) → c10
  • Chornohora ({{langx|uk|Чорногора|link=no}}) → c11
  • Hrynyavy Mountains ({{langx|uk|Гриняви|link=no}}) → c12

Infrastructure

The Beskids are currently rich in forest and coal. In the past they were rich in iron ore, with important plants in Ostrava and Třinec – Třinec 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.

Gallery

File:Beskid Mountains division map.svg|Map of the Beskid ranges in Slovakia and Poland

File:Czantoria - widok z wiezy widokowej 09.JPG|Czantoria, Silesian Beskids

File:Beskidy Bieszczady SE.jpg|Western Bieszczady

File:Bieszczady1.jpg|Western Bieszczady

File:New granite sculpture of Radegast.jpg|Statue of "Radegast" on a Czech Beskids

File:Zabytkowa cerkiew wpisana na listę UNESCO.jpg|Wooden church in Kwiatoń

File:OV-Hrabova.JPG|Wooden church in Hrabova, Moravia (14th century – 1564)

File:Koniaków miyszani owiec (redyk wiosenny) 04.jpg|Shepherds in Silesian Beskids

File:Beskid Wyspowy a10.jpg|Island Beskids

File:Дорога до церкви.jpg|Beskids in Skolivskyi, Ukraine

See also

{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|

}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

General and cited sources

{{refbegin|2}}

  • {{Cite book|last=Földvary|first=Gábor Z.|title=Geology of the Carpathian Region|year=1988|location=Singapore|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eAQ8DQAAQBAJ}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Kondracki|first=Jerzy|title=Regiony fizycznogeograficzne Polski|year=1977|location=Warszawa|publisher=Wydawa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Q72GgAACAAJ}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Kondracki|first=Jerzy|title=Problemy standaryzacji nazw geograficznych|year=1989|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PWN|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvoqAAAAIAAJ}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Kondracki|first=Jerzy|title=Geografia regionalna Polski|year=2000|orig-year=1998|edition=2.|location=Warszawa|publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN|isbn=9788301130503|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlMjAQAAMAAJ}}
  • Świstuń, Filip. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DnJmAAAAcAAJ Galicyjskie Beskidy i Karpaty Lesiste: Zarys orograficzn]. Rzeszow, 1876.
  • {{Cite book|last=Tasenkevich|first=Lydia|chapter=Polonynas: Highlands Pastures in the Ukrainian Carpathians|title=Grasslands in Europe: Of High Nature Value|year=2009|location=Zeist|publisher=KNNV Publishing|pages=203–208|isbn=9789004278103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ud5DwAAQBAJ}}

{{refend}}

External links

{{Commons category|The Beskids}}

  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CW%5CE%5CWesternBeskyd.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Western Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CL%5CO%5CLowBeskyd.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Low Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CM%5CI%5CMiddleBeskyd.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Middle Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5CE%5CHighBeskyds.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: High Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CP%5CO%5CPolonynianBeskyd.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Polonynian Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsulBeskyd.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Hutsul Beskyd]
  • [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?linkpath=pic%5CC%5CA%5CCarpathian_Mountains_Division.jpg Carpathian Mountains: Division (map)]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Geography of Lviv Oblast

Category:Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Category:Moravian-Silesian Region

Category:Mountain ranges of Slovakia

Category:Mountain ranges of the Carpathians

Category:Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic

Category:Mountain ranges of Ukraine

Category:Silesian Voivodeship