Tatra mountains

Tatra or Tatras (in Polish and Slovak Tatry, which is a word in plural) is a mountain range on the border of Poland and Slovakia, the highest part of the Carpathian Mountains. The major part and all the highest peaks of the mountains is situated in Slovakia. The highest peak is the Gerlachovský, with 2,655 m, located in Slovakia.

The area is a well known winter sport area, with resorts such as the (Town of) High Tatra(s) (in Slovak (Mesto)Vysoké Tatry;created in 1999; includes former separate resorts Štrbské pleso, Starý Smokovec, and Tatranská Lomnica) and Poprad in Slovakia, or Zakopane in Poland.

The Tatra(s) consists of the "Western Tatra(s)" (Slovak Západné Tatry, Polish: Tatry Zachodnie) and the "Eastern Tatra(s)" (Slovak: Východné Tatry, Polish: Tatry Wschodnie). The Eastern Tatra(s), in turn, consists of the High Tatra (Vysoké Tatry, Tatry Wysokie) and the "Belianske Tatra(s)" (Belianske Tatry, Tatry Bielanskie). High Tatras with its 24(or 25) peaks higher than 2.500 m above sea level provide the only mountains with an Alpine character in the whole of the 1.200 km length of the Carpathian Mountain range.

The Tatra(s) should be distinguished from another Slovakian mountain range, the Low Tatra(s) (in Slovak Nízke Tatry), situated south of the Tatra(s). Sometimes, however, the term Tatras freely refers to both the Tatra(s) and the Low Tatra(s).

The Tatra(s) National Park (TANAP) in the Tatra(s) was founded in 1949.