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Giant Mountains

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Aerial view over the Karkonosze

The Karkonosze (Polish; pronounced kár-ko-no-she) or Krkonoše (pronounced in Czech) is a mountain range in the Sudetes in Central Europe. At 1,602 metres above sea level on the Czech–Polish border, the mountain Sněžka-Śnieżka is the highest peak in the Czech Republic. Large areas of the mountains are preserved as a national park by both countries. The mountains are famous for their skiing resorts. The River Elbe originates in the mountains.

Name

The Czech name Krkonoše is first mentioned as "Krkonoß" on a map from 1516 by Nicholas Claudianus and, in the same year, as "Krkonošské hory". The origin of the name is unclear. It could be either derived from mount Krkonoš and/or the Old Greek word "krka" = knee timber = knee timber mountain, or from the Pre-Indo-European word Corconti, which is first listed by Ptolemy and refers to a pre-kelt civilization. The Polish name Karkonosze is fairly new, appears first in the 19. century and is derived from the Czech name. The German inhabitants at first called it simply "the mountains" (das Gebirge) and referred to it's highest peak as "Hrisenberg" or "Riesenberg" (Giant Mountain), which later gave the entire mountain range it's present German name Riesengebirge. The english name Giant Mountains is a translation of the German word. After the Expulsion of the original German inhabitants it became somewhat out of favor.

Geography

Giant Mountains within the geomorphological division

The main ridge of the Giant Mountains runs in east-west direction and forms the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. Its highest peak, Sněžka-Śnieżka (Template:Lang-de), is the highest peak of the Czech Republic. The Silesian northern part in Poland drops steeply to Jelenia Góra valley, whereas the southern Czech part slowly lowers to the Bohemian basin. In the north-east direction the Giant Mountains continue to Rudawy Janowickie, in the south-east to Rýchory (Template:Lang-de). The Neuweltpass (new world pass) at Jakuszyce forms the western border to the Jizera Mountains. The Bohemian ridge in the Czech Republic, running parallel to the main ridge, forms a second ridge (also called inner ridge). At Špindlerův Mlýn the river Elbe divides the Bohemian ridge. The expansion of the giant mountains amounts to 631 km², 454 km² on Czech and 177 km² on Polish area.
The ridges are divided by the rivers Elbe, Mumlava, Bílé Labe, Velka Úpa, Malá Úpa and Jizera, which originates in the Jizera mountains. The rivers on the Czech side often fall over steep edges into valleys formed by ice-age glaciers. The largest waterfalls on the southern side of the mountains are Labský vodopad with a height of 50 m, Pančavský vodopad (140 m, the highest waterfall in the Czech Republic), Horní Úpský vodopad, Dolni Úpský vodopad and Mumlavský vodopad (10 m). The most important rivers on the Polish side are Kamienna, Łomnica and Bóbr. They also form impressive waterfalls, such as Wodospad Kamieńczyka (27 m), Wodospad Szklarki (13,5 m), Wodospad na Łomnicy (10 m) or Wodospad Podgórnej (10 m).
The main ridge of the Giant Mountains forms the water shed between North and Baltic Sea. The rivers on the southern Czech side drain into the North Sea, the rivers of the northern Polish side into the Baltic Sea.

Nature and Protection

Climate

View from the main ridge towards the Bohemian ridge

The climate of the Giant Mountains is marked by frequent weather changes. The winters are cold and snow heights above 3 meters are not uncommon. Many parts of the mountains are covered with snow for 5 or 6 month. Higher altitudes are often wrapped into dense fog. On average mount Sněžka-Śnieżka is at least partly hidden in fog and/or clouds on 296 days. The average temperature on mount Sněžka-Śnieżka amounts to approx. 0,2 °C, which is similar to much more nothern climates like in Iceland. The main ridge belongs to the most wind-exposed areas of Europe. On the northern side Foehn wind is a frequent meteorological phenomenon. The annual precipitation ranges from approx. 700 mm at the foot of the mountains up to 1230 mm on mount Sněžka-Śnieżka. However, the highest precipitation with 1512 mm are reached in the snow pits in the valleys at the foot of the main ridge.

Colonization

Characteristics

Tourism

Highest Peaks


Important towns

See also

External links

50°46′N 15°37′E / 50.767°N 15.617°E / 50.767; 15.617

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