The Novohrad – Nógrád Geopark (NNG), 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 ...

straddling the border between

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

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 ...

, is one of the first transnational geoparks in the world. It is a member of the

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 ...

and

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 ...

Territory

NNG is located in the

Pannonian basin The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorpholog ...

, situated in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. Covering an area of ( in Hungary and in Slovakia), the area spans from the southern edge of the Western

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 ...

to the

North Hungarian Mountains The North Hungarian Mountains (), sometimes also referred to as the Northeast Hungarian Mountains, Northeast Mountains, North Hungarian Highlands, North Hungarian Mid-Mountains or North Hungarian Range, is the northern, mountainous part of Hunga ...

.Global Network of National Geoparks > About GGN > Members list > Novohrad-Nograd geopark
/ref>European Geoparks Network > Welcome > Meet our Geoparks > Novohrad – Nograd Geopark – HUNGARY – SLOVAKIA
/ref> It is landlocked and dominated by hills, divided by valleys and basins.

Inhabitants

Approximately 150 thousand people live within the geopark, which comprises the administrative area of 63 settlements in Hungary (including urban county

Salgótarján Salgótarján (; , German: ''Schalgau'') is a city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád County, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third least populous county capital. The nearby Salgó Castle is a well-known tourist attra ...

) and 28 settlements in Slovakia. This area is also recognized as an important center for the

Palóc The Palóc are a subgroup of Hungarians in Northern Hungary and southern Slovakia. While the Palóc have retained distinctive traditions, including a very divergent dialect of Hungarian, the Palóc are also ethnic Hungarians by general consensu ...

ethnic group's folk art and living traditions. The rich cultural heritage of the area has been recognized by UNESCO as a World

Cultural Heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

site with

Hollókő Hollókő () is a village in northern Hungary, located in Nógrád County. The village, which was constructed in the 13th century and developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, is a well-preserved ethnographic village of the Palóc people, with tra ...

located within the confinement of the geopark.UNESCO > Natural Sciences > Environment > EARTH SCIENCES > Global Geoparks > Hungary/Slovakia > Novohrad-Nograd Geopark
/ref> The Southern part of the geopark can be reached by car in an hour from the Hungarian capital

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Lučenec Lučenec (; ; ; ; Lelkes György (1992), Magyar helységnév-azonosító szótár, Balassi Kiadó, Budapest, 508 p.) is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically, it was part, and in the 18th century the capital ...

is the biggest Slovak city close to the Geopark. Being a transnational geopark, the name comes from the Slovak and Hungarian names of the county, where the geopark is located.

Geology

The geological heritage of the Novohrad – Nógrád Geopark has a special significance. The area's

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

represents deposition over the last 30 million years commencing with the initial opening of the Pannonian basin. The geology of the region is the product of a series dynamic of Earth processes. These processes include the collision of accreted

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its d ...

s resulted in highly complex

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

spanning 20 million years, the destruction and reactivation of marine basins, burial and the conservation of palaeohabitats. The outstanding geological heritage of the region is a treasure to both the inhabitants and visitors. Its value was recognized even by earth scientists who started to reveal its secrets three centuries ago, when geological research first began in the area.

History

Establishing the Novohrad – Nógrád Geopark is a grassroots movement, inspired by enthusiastic locals, has been building on the rich geological, natural and cultural heritage of the area.NNG application dossier to EGN membership, Salgotarjan, 2009 * 1998 - The idea of linking geosites on both sides of the border as a common geotourism project was born. The

Bükk National Park Bükk National Park () is a national park in the Bükk Mountains of Northern Hungary, near Miskolc. It was founded in 1977 as the third national park in the country. It contains 431.3 km2 (of which 37.74 km2 is under increased protecti ...

Directorate (Hungary) and the Cerova Vrchovina CHKO (Slovakia) were the lead partners of it. * 2005 - The main geopark project started in 2005 to the initiative of the Slovak side and the database of the area was accomplished on both sides by the end of 2007. * 2008 - The headquarters of the Slovakian part was established in Filakovo. * January 2009 - NNG applied for the

membership. * 2010 - NNG received the title from the European Geoparks Network. * 2010 - NNG became a member of the

as one of the world's first cross-border geoparks.

Major Geosites

Ipolytarnóc Ipolytarnóc () is a village in Hungary, Nógrád county. There is a fossil site close to it, the Ipolytarnoc Fossils Nature Conservation Area. Fossils Sometimes referred to as the "Prehistoric Pompeii", Ipolytarnóc is the location of 23 to 17 m ...

Fossils site * Salgó Castle * The Castle Hill of Filakovo * The Castle Hill of Hajnacka * The Castle Hill of Sámsonháza * Dacite tuff of Tar * Pohanský hrad * Sandstones of Lipovany * Somoska * Dike of

Kazár Kazár is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the ...

* Medves – Duniva Hora * Guda * The Cave of Mucin File:Salgó várrom (6785. számú műemlék).jpg, Salgó Castle File:Fulekcivertanlegi.jpg, The Castle Hill of Filakovo File:Hollókő Ófalu Fő utca (részlet).jpg,

File:Cserhát Mountains, north of Hollókő.JPG, Cserhát Mountains, north of Hollókő File:Lipovany panorama jar 2010.JPG, Lipovany panorama

References

External links

Official website of Novohrad-Nógrád Geopark

Section on Ipolytarnóc Fossils Nature Conservation Area Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novohrad - Nograd Geopark Global Geoparks Network members Geoparks in Hungary Geoparks in Slovakia Transboundary protected areas Protected areas established in 2010