The Lesser Poland Gorge of the Vistula (Polish: ''Małopolski Przełom Wisły'') is a geographical region located in central-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, which administratively belongs to three Polish

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

s – Lublin, Masovian, and Świętokrzyskie. The Gorge is for the most part made by the valley of the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

, with two Polish uplands on both sides of the river – Lesser Poland (or Małopolska) Upland to the west, and

Lublin Upland Lublin Upland () is a geographical region in southeastern Poland, located in Lublin Voivodeship, between the rivers Vistula and Bug, around the city of Lublin. Its area is about 7,200 km² and its highest elevation 314 m above sea level. It ...

to the east. The gorge is about 70 kilometers long, extending from the town of Zawichost in the south, to

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...

in the north. It is considerably narrow, only up to 3 kilometers wide. In some places, the banks of the Vistula valley are very steep, up to 70 meters above the water level. The region comprises a densely populated agricultural land, with two main towns; historic Kazimierz Dolny, and

Annopol Annopol is a town in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), located in Kraśnik County. It has been situated in Lublin Voivodeship since 1999, having previously been located in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship (1975–1998). Annopol has an area ...

. Other towns are Józefów, Bochotnica,

Janowiec Janowiec is a village in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Janowiec. It lies approximately south-west of Puławy and west of the regional capital Lublin ...

and Wilków. The Gorge is one of several protected areas designated in the Natura 2000 territory of the European Union's

ecological network An ecological network is a representation of the biotic interactions in an ecosystem, in which species (nodes) are connected by pairwise interactions (links). These interactions can be trophic or symbiotic. Ecological networks are used to describ ...

around the Vistula and Pilica rivers (out of the total of around 500 ''Natura 2000'' sites in Poland).Protection of Nature Act
, published by the Polish Parliament, 2004. PDF file. They are listed as – ''Natura 2000'' PLB 14000, and ''Natura 2000'' PLH 060045.

References

{{Europe topic, Protected areas of Canyons and gorges Landforms of Poland Natura 2000 in Poland Vistula basin Landforms of Lublin Voivodeship Landforms of Masovian Voivodeship Landforms of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Protected areas of Poland

See also

References