Papuk is the largest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

region in eastern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, near the city of Požega. It extends between Bilogora to the northwest,

Krndija Krndija is a mountain in Slavonia, Croatia, extending eastwards from Papuk. It is located south of Orahovica and Našice and north of Požega. The westernmost point of Krndija is the mountain pass that connects Orahovica with Kutjevo; the eas ...

to the east, and

Ravna gora Ravna Gora (Slavic meaning "flat hill") may refer to several places: Serbia * Ravna Gora (highland), a highland in Serbia known for its relation with the Chetnik movement * Ravna Gora (Ivanjica), a village near Ivanjica * Ravna Gora (Vlasotince), ...

and

Psunj Psunj is a mountain in the southwestern Slavonia region in eastern Croatia. It is the highest mountain of Slavonia, with the highest peak of Brezovo polje at 984 m.a.s.l. In the north it extends to Ravna gora and Papuk, while otherwise it is su ...

to the southwest. The highest peak is the eponymous peak at 953 m.a.A. Papuk mt

The area of Papuk is designated a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

(''park prirode''), a kind of

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in Croatia. At the seventh European Geopark Network Open Conference, hosted by North West Highlands Geopark in September 2007, the

Papuk Geopark Papuk is the largest mountain in the Slavonia region in eastern Croatia, near the city of Požega, Croatia, Požega. It extends between Bilogora to the northwest, Krndija to the east, and Ravna Gora (Slavonia), Ravna gora and Psunj to the south ...

became the first Croatian

Geopark A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which Sustainability, sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant s ...

and 30th member of the European and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Global Geoparks Network UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp) are geoparks certified by the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council as meeting all the requirements for belonging to the Global Geoparks Network (GGN). The GGN is both a network of geoparks and the agency of the United Nati ...

. Geopark Papuk was awarded licence second time from UNESCO in 2011.

Name

There are several supposed etymologies of the name "Papuk", it's almost certainly not of Croatian origin. One is that it comes by assimilation from earlier "Bapuk", where "Ba" is the name of the Celtic tribe that inhabited the region, and "Puk" comes from the Indo-European root *peiH, meaning "big". However, from the historical sources, it's visible that Papuk was originally a hydronym. Based on that, it's been suggested that the name comes from the repetitive of the Indo-European root *bhogj (to flow), *bhebhogj, so that it means "that which flows and flows". However, there are several problems with that etymology. First, it's visible by hydronyms such as "Bosut" and "Bosna" that Indo-European *bh gave *b in the local language. Second, *bhebhogj would actually mean "flow and flow" and not "that which flows and flows", so the endings don't match. So, it's been suggested that the name is of Pre-Indo-European origin.

Papuk Geopark

The ''Papuk Geopark'' () is a

geopark A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which Sustainability, sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant s ...

which is situated in two counties, Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina, and includes upland forests of the Papuk and

mountains, and edges of agricultural fields. The total area of the Geopark is . In September 2007, the Papuk Geopark became the first Croatian geopark (an area with an expressed geological heritage and a strategy for a sustainable economical development) and the 30th member of the

European Geoparks Network The European Geoparks Network (EGN) functions as the regional organization of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) and the UNESCO International Geosciences and Geoparks Programme (UNESCO-IGGP). Its main objective is to ensure cooperation between geop ...

and a member of the

-assisted

. The Papuk mountains belong to the

highlands which are in

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, a low-lying area of Slavonia. Even though, the Slavonia highlands are not higher than 1,000 meters, their presence is very noticeable in the

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

. This is because the surrounding alluvial fields are at around 100 m height above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, while the hillsides are only 100 m above the fields. The highlands are mostly covered with

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense 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 ecological functio ...

, which differentiates them from the surrounding landscape. Within the Slavonia highlands, the Papuk Mountain stretches from west to east and is the most spacious and most interesting

. From the main mountain-ridge well intended are two spurs and a tract watered by a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

in the direction north south. As a remarkable point, emphasis lies on peaks Točak (887 m), Papuk (953 m), Ivačka glava (913 m), Češljakovački vis (820 m), and Kapovac (792 m), which are spread out continuously, and act as a drainage divide between the numerous tributary

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

flowing to the river

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

to the north, and the river

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

to the south.

Mountain huts

In the 1935–1936 season, the

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

on Vražje Vršće, at in elevation, saw 1135 visitors, including 50 Italian, 41 Austrian, 26 Czechoslovak, 26 German, 22 Russian and 4 French citizens. Only ''Aleksandrov dom'' on Vošac (

Biokovo Biokovo () is the second-highest mountain range in Croatia, located along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the rivers of Cetina and Neretva. It is sometimes referred to as ''Bijakova'', especially among inhabitants of the ...

) boasted of more foreign visitors among the mountain huts owned by the HPS. The logger's hut on ''Pogani vrh'' at saw 736 visitors. In the 1936–1937 season, the mountain hut on Jankovac saw 583 visitors, including 3 German, 2 Austrian, 1 Bulgarian and 1 Czechoslovak citizen; that on Vražje Vršće saw 960 visitors, including 33 Czechoslovak, 32 Russian and 27 German citizens; the logger's hut on Pogani Vrh saw 387 visitors, including 4 Czechoslovak, 1 Austrian and 1 German citizens. In the 1937–1938 season, the mountain hut on Jankovac saw 424 visitors, including 3 Italian, 2 Austrian, 2 German, 1 Czechoslovak and 1 Polish citizens; that on Vražje Vršće saw 724 visitors, including 6 Czechoslovak, 6 Russian, 6 Austrian, 3 German, 3 Italian, 2 Romanian, 2 French and 1 Bulgarian citizens; the logger's hut on Pogani Vrh saw 515 visitors, including 2 Czechoslovak and 1 Austrian citizens. The mountain hut on ''Petrov vrh'' was under construction.

Ravna Gora

Ravna Gora is a

in the

region in eastern

. It is located between

and Papuk, northeast of

Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known ...

and southeast of

Daruvar Daruvar is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, northeastern Croatia, with a population of 8,567. The area including the surrounding villages (Daruvarski Vinogradi, Doljani, Donji Daruvar, Gornji Daruvar, Lipovac Majur, Ljudevit Selo, Marko ...

. The highest peak is ''Čučevo'' at the altitude of .Hrvatski obiteljski leksikon - enciklopedija.lzmk.hr
Geomorfologija krša Papuka - kap krša u srcu Slavonije
It is bound from the north by the

Pakra The Pakra is a river in western Slavonia and central Croatia, a left tributary of the Ilova. It is around long. The Pakra rises in the south of Ravna Gora, north of the village of Bučje. It flows towards the west and passes through Pakrac, ...

river, and from the east by river

Orljava Orljava is a river in Slavonia, eastern Croatia, a left tributary of Sava. It is long and its basin covers an area of . Orljava rises in the mountainous forested areas of Psunj, south of Bučje. It receives influx from smaller rivers that rise ...

. Geographers usually classify Ravna Gora as

mountain ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

of the Papuk

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 its western part Papuk mountain range is about 20 km wide, formed by three parallel

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

Name

Papuk Geopark

Mountain huts

Ravna Gora

See also

References

Bibliography

Alpinism

Meteorology

External links