Carpathian Mountains (Romania)

From left to right: Rasit, Rocío, Ibrahim and Melike

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe (after the Scandinavian Mountains, 1,700 km (1,056 mi)). They provide the habitat for the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes, with the highest concentration in Romania, as well as over one third of all European plant species. The word "Carpathian" is derived from Thracian Greek Καρπάτῆς όρος (Karpates oros), meaning "rocky mountain", probably via German Karpathen and Latin Carpatus. Its earlier origins are unclear. The name Karpates may ultimately be from the Proto Indo-European root *sker-/*ker-, from which comes the Albanian word karpë (rock), and the Slavic word skála (rock, cliff), perhaps via a Dacian cognate which meant mountain, rock or rugged (Wikipedia).