Western Carpathians in the context of Gerlachovský štít

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians (/kɑːrˈpeɪθiənz/) are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly 1,500 km (930 mi) long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at 2,500 km (1,600 mi) and the Scandinavian Mountains at 1,700 km (1,100 mi). The highest peaks in the Carpathians are in the Tatra Mountains, exceeding 2,600 m (8,500 ft), closely followed by those in the Southern Carpathians in Romania, exceeding 2,550 m (8,370 ft).

The range stretches from the Western Carpathians in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, clockwise through the Eastern Carpathians in Ukraine and Romania, to the Southern Carpathians in Romania and Serbia. The term Outer Carpathians is frequently used to describe the northern rim of the Western and Eastern Carpathians.

The Tatra Mountains (pronounced), Tatras (Tatry either in Slovak (pronounced [ˈtatri] ) or in Polish (pronounced [ˈtatrɨ]) - plurale tantum), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountains in the Carpathians. The Tatras are distinct from the Low Tatras (Slovak: Nízke Tatry), a separate Slovak mountain range further south.

The Tatra Mountains occupy an area of 785 square kilometres (303 sq mi), of which about 610 square kilometres (236 sq mi) (77.7%) lie within Slovakia and about 175 square kilometres (68 sq mi) (22.3%) within Poland. The highest peak, called Gerlachovský štít, at 2,655 metres (8,711 feet), is located north of Poprad, entirely in Slovakia. The highest point in Poland, Rysy, at 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), is located southeast of Zakopane, on the border with Slovakia.

Silesian Beskids (Polish: Beskid Śląski, Czech: Slezské Beskydy, German: Schlesische Beskiden) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic.

Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separated from the Moravian-Silesian Beskids by the Jablunkov Pass.

The Vienna Basin (German: Wiener Becken, Czech: Vídeňská pánev, Slovak: Viedenská kotlina, Hungarian: Bécsi-medence) is a geologically young tectonic burial basin and sedimentary basin in the seam area between the Alps, the Carpathians and the Pannonian Plain. Although it topographically separates the Alps from the Western Carpathians, it connects them geologically via corresponding rocks underground.

The North Hungarian Mountains (Hungarian: Északi-középhegység), sometimes also referred to as the Northeast Hungarian Mountains, Northeast Mountains, North Hungarian Highlands, North Hungarian Mid-Mountains or North Hungarian Range, is the northern, mountainous part of Hungary. It forms a geographical unity with the Mátra-Slanec Area, the adjacent parts of Slovakia. It is a separate geomorphological area within the Western Carpathians.

The mountains run along the northeastern border of Hungary as well as eastern parts of the Hungarian–Slovak border in broadband from the Danube Bend to the town of Prešov.

The Eastern Sudetes (Polish: Sudety Wschodnie, Czech: Východní Sudety or Jesenická oblast) are the eastern part of the Sudetes mountains on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. They stretch from the Kłodzko Valley and the Eastern Neisse River in the west down to the Moravian Gate in the east, leading to the Outer Western Carpathians.

The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or Polish Jura (Polish: Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska), is part of the Jurassic System of south–central Poland, stretching between the cities of Kraków, Częstochowa and Wieluń. The Polish Jura borders the Lesser Polish Upland to the north and east, the foothills of the Western Carpathians to the south and Silesian Upland to the west.

The Polish Jura consists of a hilly landscape with Jurassic limestone rocks, cliffs, valleys and vast limestone formations, featuring some 220 caves. The relief of the upland developed since the Paleogene, under climatic conditions changing considerably. Its main component is a peneplain, crowned by monadnocks, rocky masses that resisted erosion, generated as hard rock on Late Jurassic buildup surrounded by less resistant bedded limestone of the same age. The Polish Jura is visited by roughly 400,000 visitors a year. Part of it belongs to the Ojców National Park, the smallest of Poland's twenty national parks, ranking among the most attractive recreational areas of the country.