Korab (, ) is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in eastern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and western

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, running along the border between the two countries. It forms also the European Green Belt. In Albania, it is also called ''Vargu lindor'' (), but this term encompasses mountains further north, such as the Koritnik and Gjallica. The highest peak is Mount Korab at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. With a prominence of , Korab is the 18th most prominent mountain peak in the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an continent. The mountains are composed of sedimentary rock, including shale, sandstone, dolomite and limestone. The name refers to a pre-Christian sea god. Geographically, the Korab mountain range extends from the Dibër Valley in a north-south direction, between the river valleys of the

Black Drin The Black Drin, or Black Drim (; ) is a river in North Macedonia and Albania. It flows out of Lake Ohrid in Struga, North Macedonia. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . After flowing through North Macedonia for , the ...

and its tributary the Radika. It is located near the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of Albania, North Macedonia, and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, southwest of the Šar Mountains. The Drin Valley lies around to the west, the bed of the Radika at about above sea level. The geology of the park is dominated by mountains made up of exposed faulted sedimentary rock and valleys containing glacial lakes. The Albanian part has numerous high peaks and ranges, almost as tall as the Korab

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

. To the north of this double-peak, there are many other nameless peaks of a similar height. Korab-Pforte (, ) lies around southwest of Korab

and is almost as tall as the main mountain, at . A few hundred meters further south, there are other peaks, Maja e Moravës and Mali i Gramës . The mountains are composed of shale and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Much of the range is protected by nature parks, a prominent one being the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park. South of the complex of peaks around Mount Korab, there are other large mountains: Mali i Gramës () and Dešat's Velivar summit (). After that, the range falls away to the city of Debar and the Debar Lake. The city of

Peshkopi Peshkopi (; sq-definite, Peshkopia) is a town located in the mountainous regions of northeastern Albania, in Dibër County. It is the capital of both the county () and the district () of Dibër, and is the only county regional capital in Albania ...

is to the southwest of Mali i Gramës and has geothermal baths.

Image gallery

Mali Korab and Korabska Vrata.jpg, Mali Korab and Korabska Vrata captured from Mount Korab MountKorab.jpg, The range from the Macedonian side Velky Korab 2011.jpg, Fusha e Korabit Liqeni i Gramës.jpg, Glacial Gramë Lake Deshat-from-Trebishte.jpg, Dešat File:Mali Bardhe.jpg, Gypsum near the Mali i Bardhë

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Albania Mountain ranges of North Macedonia Protected areas of Dibër County

Image gallery

See also

References

Bibliography