Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly convert1500kmmi0abbr=on long across Central (Central Europe) and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe. They provide the habitat for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves (European wolf), chamois and lynxes, with the highest concentration in Romania, as well as over one third of all European plant species.
The chain of mountain ranges stretches in an arc from the Czech Republic (3%) in the northwest to Slovakia (17%), Poland (10%), Hungary (4%), Ukraine (11%) and Romania (55%) in the east, to the Iron Gates (Iron Gate (Danube)) on the Danube River between Romania and Serbia in the south. The highest range within the Carpathians are the Tatras, on the border of Poland and Slovakia, where the highest peaks exceed convert2600mft0abbr=on, followed by the Southern Carpathians in Romania, where the highest peaks exceed convert2500mft0abbr=on.
The Carpathian chain is usually divided into three major parts: the Western Carpathians (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia), the Eastern Carpathians (southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania), and the Southern Carpathians (Romania, Serbia).
The most important cities in or near the Carpathians are Bratislava and Ko?ice in Slovakia; Krak�w in Poland; Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu and Bra?ov in Romania; and Miskolc in Hungary.
State Type: Region
Unit: border= border1=Alps
Geology: period= orogeny=
Area: length= length_orientation=
Highest: Gerlachovsk� ?t�t
Highest Elevation: 2655
Highest Lat D: highest_lat_m=highest_lat_s=highest_lat_NS=
Highest Long D: highest_long_m=highest_long_s=highest_long_EW=
Map: Carpathians-satellite.jpg map_caption=Satellite image of the Carpathians The