The Malá Fatra National Park (Slovak: ''Národný park Malá Fatra'') is a

national park 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 ...

in the northern part of the

Malá Fatra Malá Fatra (; also Little Fatra or Lesser Fatra, , ) is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in the north-west of Central Slovakia. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area.Craig Stephen Cravens ''Culture And Cu ...

mountains called Krivánska Malá Fatra. It has an area of 226.3 km² (87.37 mi²) and a 232.62 km² (89.81 mi²) buffer zone. The park was declared in 1988. Between 1967 and 1988 it was a protected landscape area. Its highest peak is

Veľký Kriváň Veľký Kriváň (Polish: ''Wielki Krywań'') is the highest mountain in the Lesser Fatra mountain range in Western Carpathians in Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordere ...

, with an altitude of 1,708m

amsl Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

. For a geological and geographical description see

Flora

The mountain is covered mainly with mixed

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forests, at higher elevations with

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

woods and meadows occur at higher altitudes. About 83% of the area is covered in forest. In the variety and beauty of flora species, the following examples stand out as the most remarkable: *

gentian ''Gentiana'' () is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family ( Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With over 300 species, it is considered a large genus. Gentians are notable for thei ...

(''

Gentiana clusii ''Gentiana clusii'', commonly known as flower of the sweet-lady or Clusius' gentian, is a large-flowered, short-stemmed gentian, native to Europe. It is named after Carolus Clusius, one of the earliest botanists to study alpine flora. Descriptio ...

'') * auricula (''

Primula auricula ''Primula auricula'', often known as auricula, mountain cowslip or bear's ear (from the shape of its leaves), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, that grows on basic rocks in the mountain ranges of central Europe, includin ...

'') *''

Dianthus ''Dianthus'' ( ) is a genus of about 340 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species in north Africa and in southern Africa, and one species (''D. repens'') in arctic North Am ...

nitidus'' * round-leaved sundew (''

Drosera rotundifolia ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribut ...

'') *

lady's slipper orchid Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. The ...

(''

Cypripedium calceolus ''Cypripedium calceolus'' is a lady's-slipper orchid, and the type species of the genus ''Cypripedium''. It is native to Europe and Asia. Taxonomy ''Cypripedium'' comes from the Greek Κύπρις πεδίον (''Kypris pedion''), meaning Aphro ...

'')

Fauna

The fauna includes: *

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') * eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') *

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

(''Ciconia nigra'') *

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

(''Ursus arctos'') *

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 ...

(''Lynx lynx'') *

beech marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

(''Martes foina'') *

European otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...

(''Lutra lutra'') *

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

(''Felis silvestris'') *

grey wolf 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 ...

(''Canis lupus'')

Remarkable places

* Kryštálová jaskyňa (Crystal Cave) with

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

decoration, located in the

Malý Rozsutec Malý or Maly is a Slavic surname. It may refer to: * Arturo Maly (1939–2001), Argentine actor * Dominik Malý (born 1996), Slovak footballer * Gerő Mály (1884–1952), Hungarian actor * Jakub Malý (1811–1885), Czech writer * Josef Malý (1 ...

Mountain *the 38 metres high

Šútovo Waterfall Šútovo () is a village and municipality in Martin District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History In history, historical records the village was first mentioned in 1403. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 19 ...

*castles, such as the

Strečno Castle The Strečno Castle ()(also called Strechun, Strechyn, Streczen, Streczan alebo Strežín) is a reconstructed ruin of a medieval castle of an irregular plan located in northern Slovakia, 12 km east of Žilina. The castle stands on a calcite ...

and Starhrad *traditional architecture: Štefanová and Podšíp settlements *Slovak folklore centres, such as the village of

Terchová Terchová () is a large village and municipality (population 4,073) in the Malá Fatra mountains in the Žilina District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. Names and etymology In the 16th century, the village was known as ''Kralowa alias ...

*Jánošíkove diery (trans:

Janosik Janosik can refer to: * Janosik (1921 film), a Slovak film * Janosik (film 1974), a Polish adventures film * Janosik (TV series) ''Janosik'' is a television series that aired in Poland in 1974. It is about a famous Gorals, Goral outlaw (named af ...

holes) - system of gorges and canyons

References

External links

Malá Fatra National Park
a
Slovakia.travel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mala Fatra National parks of Slovakia Protected areas established in 1988 Protected areas of the Western Carpathians Tourist attractions in Žilina Region Geography of Žilina Region

Flora

Fauna

Remarkable places

References

See also

External links