The Beskids or Beskid Mountains (, , , (), ()) are a series of mountain ranges in the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

, stretching from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in the west along the border of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

with

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

up to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in the east.Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Beskyds
/ref> The highest mountain in the Beskids is

Hoverla Mount Hoverla (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ), at , is the highest mountain in Ukraine and part of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The mountain is located in the Eastern Beskids, in the Chornohora region. The slopes are covered with beech and spr ...

, at .

Etymology

The origin of the name has not been conclusively established. A

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

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 The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

regions, like in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

. According to linguists Çabej and Orel, it is possibly derived from

Proto-Albanian Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the Gheg– Tosk dialectal diversification (before ). Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrat ...

(meaning 'the mountain pastures'). The Slovak name refers to the Polish

Bieszczady Mountains Bieszczady Mountains (; ; ; ) is a mountain range that runs from the extreme south-east of Poland and north-east of Slovakia through to western Ukraine. It forms the western part of the Eastern Beskids of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, Eastern B ...

, 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 Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...

, , meaning '

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

'. Historically, the term was used for hundreds of years to describe the mountain range separating the old

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

from the old

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. In 1269, the Beskids were known by the Latin name 'Beskid Mountains of Poland'.Kazimierz Zarzycki, Zbigniew Głowaciński (1986): Bieszczady (p. 7)
/ref>

Definition

The Beskids are approximately in length and in width. They stand mainly along the southern border of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

with northern Slovakia, stretching to the

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

and

Czech Silesia Czech Silesia (; ) is the part of the historical region of Silesia now in the Czech Republic. While it currently has no formal boundaries, in a narrow geographic sense, it encompasses most or all of the territory of the Czech Republic within the ...

regions of the eastern Czech Republic and to

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

in western Ukraine. Parts form the European Watershed, separating the

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

and

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

basins in the north from the

Eastern Slovak Lowland The East(ern) Slovak Lowland ( Slovak: ''Východoslovenská nížina'') is the name of a part of the Great Hungarian Plain (Slovak: ''Veľká dunajská kotlina'') situated in Slovakia. In terms of geomorphology, it forms one unit together with t ...

, part of the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain (however, the Great Hungarian Plain was not par ...

drained by the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

River. Geologically all of the Beskids stand within the

Outer Western Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya S ...

and the

Outer Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

. In the west they begin at the natural pass of the

Moravian Gate The Moravian Gate (, , , ) is a geomorphological feature in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic and the Upper Silesia region in Poland. It is formed by the depression between the Carpathian Mountains in the east and the Sudetes in the west. ...

, which separates them from the

Eastern Sudetes The Eastern Sudetes (, or ''Jesenická oblast'') are the eastern part of the Sudetes mountains on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. They stretch from the Kłodzko Valley and the Eastern Neisse River in the west down to the Moravian ...

, continue east in a band to the north of the Tatra Mountains, and end in

. The eastern termination of the Beskids is disputed. According to older sources, the Beskids end at the source of the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

River, while newer sources state that the Beskids end at the Uzhok Pass at the Polish–Ukrainian border.

Subdivisions

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 Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya S ...

, they are categorized within:

Western Beskids

Western Beskids The Western Beskids (; ; ; ) are a set of mountain ranges spanning the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. Geologically the Western Beskids are part of the Outer Western Carpathians. Traditionally the Western Beskids were considered part of th ...

(, , ) **Western section of the Western Beskids: ***

Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains Hostýn-Vsetín Mountains () is a mountain range in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The mountains are densely forested mainly by secondary spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of conifer ...

() → e1 ***

Moravian-Silesian Beskids The Moravian-Silesian Beskids (Czech: , ) is a mountain range in the Czech Republic with a small part reaching to Slovakia. It lies on the historical division between Moravia and Silesia, hence the name. It is part of the Western Beskids within ...

(, ) → e2 *** Turzovka Highlands () → e3 ***

Jablunkov Furrow Jablunkov (; , ) is a town in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The town has a significant Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Polish minority. It is inhabited by a la ...

() → e4 ***

Rožnov Furrow Rožnov is name of several places in the Czech Republic: *Rožnov pod Radhoštěm Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (; ) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. Geography Rožnov pod Radho� ...

() → e5 ***

Jablunkov Intermontane Jablunkov (; , ) is a town in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The re ...

(, ) → e6 ***

Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...

(, ) → e7 ***

Żywiec Basin Żywiec Basin (Prof. Jerzy Kondracki. Geografia fizyczna Polski. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. Warszawa. 1988. ) is a lowland, located in southern Poland, between the Little Beskids to the north, Silesian Beskids to the west, Żywiec Beskids ...

() → e8 **Northern section of the Western Beskids: ***

Little Beskids The Little Beskids (; ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Western Beskids ranges of the Outer Western Carpathians in southeastern Poland. Within the range is the protected area known as Little Beskids Landscape Park. Its highest mount ...

() → f1 ***

Maków Beskids The Maków Beskids () is a mountain range in south-central Poland, part of the Western Beskids within the Outer Western Carpathians. Its highest peak is Mędralowa (1169 meters), within a total area of 900 square kilometers, about 60 km len ...

() → f2 ***

Island Beskids The Island Beskids (in Polish language, Polish, ''Beskid Wyspowy'') is a mountain range in southern Poland, part of the Western Beskids of the Outer Western Carpathians, with significant natural resources, folk culture, medieval history, and dev ...

() → f3 ***

Gorce Mountains The Gorce Mountains (, ) are part of the Western Beskids mountain range spreading across southernmost Poland. They are situated in Małopolska Province, at the western tip of the long Carpathian range extending east beyond the Dunajec River for ...

() → f4 *** Rabka Basin () → f5 *** Sącz Basin () → f6 **

Central section of the Western Beskids Central section of the Western Beskids (; ; ) are a set of mountain ranges spanning the southern Polish and northern Slovak border. They constitute a section of the Western Beskids, within the Outer Western Carpathians. In geographic classif ...

: *** Orava Beskids () +

Żywiec Beskids The Żywiec Beskids (; ) is a mountain range in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes an ...

() (the older Slovak equivalent of is 'Slovak Beskids' or 'Kysuce-Orava Beskids') → g1 *** Kysuce Beskids () +

() (the older Slovak equivalent of is or ) → g2 *** Orava Magura () → g3 ***

Orava Highlands The Orava Highlands (in Slovak, ''Oravská vrchovina'') is a range of small mountains in the Žilina Region of north central Slovakia, part of the Outer Western Carpathians. In Slovakia these hills are considered part of the Central Beskids; i ...

() → g4 *** Sub-Beskidian Furrow () → g5 *** Sub-Beskidian Highlands () → g6 **

Eastern section of the Western Beskids Eastern section of the Western Beskids () are a set of mountain ranges spanning the southern Polish and northern Slovak border. They constitute an eastern section of the Western Beskids, within the Outer Western Carpathians. In geographic cla ...

: ***

Beskid Sądecki Beskid Sądecki is a mountain range in the eastern section of the Western Beskids, within the Outer Western Carpathians. It is located in the border region between Poland and Slovakia. On the Poland, Polish side, it stretches along an area ...

() → h1 ***

Čergov Čergov is a mountain range in the central part of the Prešov Region of Slovakia. Geologically the range is part of the Outer Western Carpathians. The Polish name for the range is ''Góry Czerchowskie'', the Czerchów Mountains. In Polish lan ...

(; ) → h2 ***

Pieniny The Pieniny (sometimes also the PieninsSzafer, Władysław. 2013. ''The Vegetation of Poland: International Series of Monographs in Pure and Applied Biology''. Warsaw: Pergamon Press, pp. 156, 388. or the Pienin Mountains,Griffiths, Graham C. D ...

(; ) → h3 *

West Beskidian Foothills The Western Beskidian Foothills (, ) is a geological region in the northeastern corner of the Czech Republic and extending into southern Poland. The relatively modest foothills are considered part of the Outer Western Carpathians. Subdivision Th ...

, in the Czech Republic and Poland **

Silesian-Moravian Foothills Moravian-Silesian Foothills () are foothills and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. Geomorphology The Moravian-Silesian Foothills is a mesoregion of the Western Beskidian Foothills macroregion within the Outer Western Carpath ...

(, ) → d1 **

Silesian Foothills Silesian Foothills (, , ) are foothills located in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It has an area of 545 km2. Its western border is Olza river, eastern Skawa. Other main rivers that cut the foothills are from west to east: Vistula, Biała ...

() → d2 **

Wieliczka Foothills Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

() → d3 **

Wiśnicz Foothills Wiśnicz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Małogoszcz, within Jędrzejów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Małogoszcz, north-west of Jędrzejów, and west of the ...

() → d4

Central Beskids

Central Beskids The Low Beskids () or Central Beskids (; ; ) are a mountain range in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia. They constitute a middle (central) section of the Beskids, within the Outer Eastern Carpathians. Since there are several traditi ...

() or

Low Beskids The Low Beskids () or Central Beskids (; ; ) are a mountain range in southeastern Poland and northeastern Slovakia. They constitute a middle (central) section of the Beskids, within the Outer Eastern Carpathians. Since there are several tradit ...

() ** Busov, in Slovakia **

Ondava Highlands The Ondava is a river in eastern Slovakia, the northern source river of the Bodrog. Its source is in the Low Beskids (Eastern Carpathian Mountains), near the village Nižná Polianka, close to the border with Poland. The Ondava flows south through ...

() **''Low Beskid'' () +

Laborec Highlands Dukliansky priesmyk Vysny Komarnik

The Laborec High ...

() ** Beskidian Southern Foothills () * Central Beskidian Piedmont, in Poland ** Rożnów Piedmont () **

Ciężkowice Piedmont Ciężkowice is a town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,444 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies in the ''Ciężkowice Foothills'', on the Biała river. The town is located on regional road nr. 977, it also has a r ...

() **

Strzyżów Piedmont Strzyżów is a town in Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, along the Wisłok river valley. Strzyżów is one of the towns within the Strzyżowsko-Dynowskie Foothill, located south-east of Kraków and 30 km from Rzeszów. ...

() ** Dynów Piedmont () **

Przemyśl Piedmont Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship. Prze ...

() ** Gorlice Depression () ** Jasło-Krosno Basin () ** Jasło Piedmont () ** Bukowsko Piedmont ()

Eastern Beskids

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

Wooded Beskids A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlig ...

(; ) **

(; ) → c1 ** Sanok-Turka Mountains (; ) → c3 **

Skole Beskids The Skole Beskids (; ) is a mountain range in western Ukraine, belonging to the set of ranges called the Eastern Beskids of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, Eastern Beskids, within the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The mountains are composed primary ...

(; ) → c2 **

Gorgany Gorgany () is a mountain range in Western Ukraine in Outer Eastern Carpathians, adjacent to Chornohora range. The highest peak of Gorgany is Syvulia (1,836 m) with the other high peaks including Ihrovyshche, (1,804 m), (1,772 m) a ...

(; ) → c4 ** Pokuttia-Bucovina Beskids (; ) → c5 * Polonynian Beskids (; ) ** Smooth Polonyna () → c6 ** Polonyna Borzhava () → c7 ** Polonyna Kuk () → c8 ** Red Polonyna ()→ c9 **

Svydovets The Svydovets ( Ukrainian Свидовець; Polish ''Świdowiec''; Czech and Slovak ''Svidovec''; German ''Swydiwez'') is a mountain range in western Ukraine, one of the ranges of Eastern Beskids, itself belonging to the Outer Eastern Carpa ...

() → c10 **

Chornohora Chornohora () is the highest mountain range in Ukraine, Western Ukraine. It is within the Polonynian Beskids, a subgroup of the mountain group of Eastern Beskids of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, Eastern Beskids, which in turn is part of the Oute ...

() → c11 ** Hrynyavy Mountains () → c12

Infrastructure

The Beskids are currently rich in

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. In the past they were rich in

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

, with important plants in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

and

Třinec Třinec (; ; ) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the least populated Statutory city (Czech Republic), statutory city in the country. The city ...

–

Třinec Iron and Steel Works Třinec Iron and Steel Works (TŽ) (, ) is a producer of long rolled steel products in Třinec, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. TŽ produces over a third of all steel produced in the Czech Republic (roughly 2.5 million tons annually). ...

. There are many tourist attractions, including historic wooden churches (see Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland,

Carpathian Wooden Churches Carpathian Wooden Churches are religious structures made of wood and built in the Vernacular architecture of the Carpathians. These occur in the following areas: * Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland * Wooden Churches of Maramureș in Roma ...

of Slovakia, and Wooden Churches of Ukraine) and the increasingly popular

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

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,

File:Beskidy Bieszczady SE.jpg, Western Bieszczady Mountains, Bieszczady File:Bieszczady1.jpg, Western Bieszczady Mountains, Bieszczady File:New granite sculpture of Radegast.jpg, Statue of "Radegast (god), Radegast" on a Czech Republic, 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

File:Beskid Wyspowy a10.jpg,

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

Citations

General and cited sources

* * * * * Świstuń, Filip
''Galicyjskie Beskidy i Karpaty Lesiste: Zarys orograficzn''
Rzeszow, 1876. *

External links

Carpathian Mountains: Division (map)
{{Authority control Geography of Lviv Oblast Lesser Poland Voivodeship Moravian-Silesian Region Mountain ranges of Slovakia Mountain ranges of the Carpathians Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Mountain ranges of Ukraine Silesian Voivodeship