Orava is the traditional name of a region situated in northern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

(as ) and partially also in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(as ). It encompasses the territory of the former (county) of Árva (or in German). The northern part of is one of the regions which are part of the Goral Lands.

Etymology

The name arises from the

Orava river , , pl, Orawa , name_etymology = , image = OravaRiver.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Orava at Dolný Kubín, showing houses of Záskalie neighbourhood , map = , map_size = , m ...

(a major river flowing through the region).

History

The county arose before the 15th century. The county's territory was situated along the

Orava River , , pl, Orawa , name_etymology = , image = OravaRiver.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Orava at Dolný Kubín, showing houses of Záskalie neighbourhood , map = , map_size = , m ...

between Zázrivá and the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

. Its area amounted to around 1910. The original seat of the county was Orava Castle.

Geography

Orava is now recognized as one of Slovakia's 25 tourist regions, however, it is not an administrative region unlike its predecessor. In Slovakia, Orava is divided between

Dolný Kubín Dolný Kubín (; also known by other names) is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital and the largest settlement of the Orava region. Names The name is derived from the archaic Slovak word meaning a "gl ...

, Tvrdošín, and

Námestovo Námestovo ( hu, Námesztó; pl, Namiestów) is a town in northern Slovakia. It is the capital and largest town of Námestovo District in the Žilina Region. its population was 7,827. Etymology The name is derived from a word ''námesta'' (a r ...

districts in the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region ( sk, Žilinský kraj; pl, Kraj żyliński; hu, Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region ...

. It has an area of , with the population on the Slovak side around 126,000.Mestská a obecná štatistika SR
/ref> The village of

Oravská Polhora Oravská Polhora ( hu, Polhora) is a large village and municipality in Námestovo District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. The northernmost point of Slovakia is located close to the village. History In historical records the village ...

is the northernmost settlement of Slovakia. The most important town on the Slovak side (and also the seat of the former county) is

. The Polish part of Orava belongs to the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). It was created on 1 ...

, to the

Nowy Targ County Nowy Targ County ( pl, powiat nowotarski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish ...

, with the main village of the Polish side being Jabłonka. Árva - Castle

References

External links

Official regional website

Orava region
a
Slovakia.travel

Spectacular Slovakia – Orava
Traditional regions of Slovakia Regions of Poland {{Poland-geo-stub