The Putna-Vrancea Natural Park ( ro, Parcul Natural Putna-Vrancea) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

( natural park category V

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

) situate in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, in administrative territory of

Vrancea County Vrancea () is a county ( județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 340,310 and ...

Location

The Natural Park is located in the

Vrancea Mountains The Vrancea Mountains ( ro, Munții Vrancei) are a mountain range in the Curvature Carpathians in Romania. Located mostly in western Vrancea County, they also cover parts of Bacău, Buzău, and Covasna counties. The highest peak is , at . To t ...

(

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

), in the hydrographical basin of the Putna River. It is situated in the northwestern part of Vrancea County, on the border with

Covasna County Covasna County (, hu, Kovászna megye, ) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania' ...

, and lies on the administrative territories of the communes

Nistorești Nistorești is a commune located in Vrancea County, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary t ...

, Păulești,

Soveja Soveja is a commune located in Vrancea County, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to ...

, and

Tulnici Tulnici is a commune in Vrancea County, Romania, located in the northwestern part of the county. It is one of the largest administrative areas in Vrancea County, situated at an altitude of 480 m above sea level at the foothills of the Vrancea Mount ...

. It is traversed by

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

, which connects

Panciu Panciu () is a town in Vrancea County, Romania. It lies on the river Șușița, in the southern part of Western Moldavia, northwest of Focșani. It has a population of approximately 7,600. It administers five villages: Crucea de Jos, Crucea de Su ...

to Lepșa.

Description

The Putna-Vrancea Natural Park, with an area of , was declared a natural protected area by the ''Government Decision Number 2151 of November 30, 2004'' (published in the ''Romanian Official Paper'' (

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, general ...

) Number 38 of January 12, 2005) and represents a mountainous area (

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

s, mountain peaks,

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by 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 function. The United Nations' ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s), with a large variety of

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

References

Protected areas of Romania Geography of Vrancea County Protected areas established in 2005 Tourist attractions in Vrancea County {{Romania-geo-stub