Beskid Mountains

▪ mountains, Eastern Europe

Czech  Beskydy , Polish  Beskidy 

      discontinuous series of forested mountain ranges lying in the eastern Czech Republic, northwestern Slovakia, and southern Poland. The Czech sections at the western end of the Carpathian Mountains lie south and east of the Moravian Gate and are identified locally by smaller units. The Moravian-Silesian Beskid Mountains, which extend from the eastern Czech Republic into southern Poland, are made up of the Radhoš and Lysá mountain groups. Around this central section are grouped the Těšinské Beskids, to the north; the Hostýnské Mountains, southwest; the Vsatské, or Vsetínské, Mountains, south; and, further south, along the Czech-Slovak border, the Javorníky. The Slovak Beskids lie to the east along the Slovakian side of the frontier with Poland. The highest points in the Beskid Mountains are Mount Babia (Babia, Mount) (5,659 feet [1,725 m]) in Poland and Mount Pilsko (5,108 feet [1,557 m]) in Slovakia. Iron deposits in the northwest foothills of the Beskids led to the establishment of the iron and steelworks of the Ostrava district in what is now the Czech Republic.

      The Beskid group has a mountain climate: dry summers are suitable for pasture and sheep breeding, and the ample snow encourages winter sports centred on Frenštát and Vsetín.

* * *