Babia Góra National Park () is one of 23

national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is located in the southern part of the country, in

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

,on the border with

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 ...

. The park's headquarters are in Zawoja. A Nature Reserve covering roughly the same area as the modern-day national park was established in 1933, and the national park itself was officially established on October 30, 1954. Since 1976,

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 ...

has designated it as a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

. The park covers an area of , approximately 85% of which is forested. It includes the northern and part of the southern side of the Babia Góra

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

. The massif's main peak (known as ''Diablak''), is the highest point of the Orava Beskids mountain range at . The Slovak side of the massif is primarily part of the Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area.

Fauna

*105 species of birds (including

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

s and eagle owls) *Animals such as

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

s *Insects, especially

beetles Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

, including some that are unique to the area

Gallery

File:Babia Gora.jpg, Babia Gora (1725 m), the highest peak of the national park File:Babia Góra a7.jpg, Summit of Babia Góra File:Babia Góra from Mosorny Groń.jpg, Babia Góra seen from Mosorny Groń File:Babiogórski Park Narodowy 20150910 0694.jpg, A forest in the Babia Góra National Park File:Babia Góra National Park 4.jpg, A mountain trail File:The Babia Gora Biosphere Reserve, Poland (2).jpg, Beskid Żywiecki landscape File:Sptn-rmnk-zbnc 19oct 015.jpg, Babia Góra and Pilsko seen from Rysianka File:Babia Góra – Dzwonek wąskolistny (Campanula polymorpha).jpg, Campanula polymorpha File:Babia Góra – głazowisko pod Diablakiem z roślinnością alpejską.jpg, Ostoja Babiogórska Nature Reserve with Alpine flora File:Szlak w Babiogórskim Parku Narodowym.jpg, A forest trail File:Babia Góra, zamieć śnieżna, 20230304 0704 3190.jpg, Babia Góra, early morning File:Babia Góra.JPG, Sunset over Ostoja Babiogorska

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babia Gora National Park Parks in Lesser Poland Voivodeship National parks of Poland Biosphere reserves of Poland Protected areas established in 1954 Protected areas of the Western Carpathians 1954 establishments in Poland