Martin is a city in northern Slovakia, situated on the Turiec river, between the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra mountains, near the city of Žilina. The population numbers approximately 54,000, which makes it the ninth-largest city in Slovakia. It is the center of the Turiec region and the District of Martin.
The Žilina Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its present borders exists from 1996. It is a more industrial region with several large towns. Žilina is the region administrative center and there is a strong cultural environment in Martin.
The Western Tatras are mountains in the Tatras, part of the Carpathian Mountains, located on the Polish-Slovak borders. The mountains border the High Tatras in the east, Podtatranská kotlina in the south, Choč Mountains in the west and Rów Podtatrzański in the north. The main ridge is 37 kilometers long and the mountain range contains 31 two-thousanders.
Fatra is the old or imprecise name of two mountain ranges in Slovakia:
Veľká Fatra is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia. The Veľká Fatra lie to the southeast of the better known Malá (Lesser) Fatra mountains and are less developed, as well as being lower.
Malá 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.
The Harmanec Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Banská Bystrica - Dolná Štubňa track. It is 4,698 m (15,413 ft) long and it is the longest railway tunnel in Slovakia. It was built from 1936 to 1940.
Košťany nad Turcom, is a village and municipality in Martin District, in Turiec territory, and in Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.
Ostredok is the highest hill of the Great Fatra, at the same time in the National Park Veľká Fatra. It lies in the main ridge of the mountain. It has two peaks, the main southern and a few meters lower north. The peaks are luminous, providing an undisturbed circular view. The slopes of Ostredok are smoothly modeled, steep, in winter there is a danger of avalanche dropping.
Veľká Fatra National Park is a National Park in Slovakia. Most of it lies in the southern part of the Žilina Region and a small part in the northern part of Banská Bystrica Region. The national park and its protective zone comprise most of the Greater Fatra Range which belongs to the Outer Western Carpathians.
The Kremnica Mountains are a volcanic mountain range in central Slovakia. They are part of the Western Carpathians and the Slovenské stredohorie Mts.
Rakytov is a mountain in the Liptov Ridge of the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring 1,567 m (5,141.1 ft). It has a regular pyramidal shape; the top of the mountain is deforested, in places with secondary Mountain Pine.
Borišov is a mountain in the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring 1,508.5 m (4,949.1 ft). Its summit is deforested, covered in grass. On the southern side there is one of the largest avalanche slopes in Slovakia. The Borišov National Nature Reserve protects a well-preserved primeval mountain forest on the northern side of the mountain.
Ploská is a mountain in the Hôlna Fatra part of the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring 1,532.1 metres (5,026.6 ft). It lies on the main ridge, to South it continues to Ostredok and Krížna mountains, to the North it divides into the lower western Turiec Ridge and higher eastern Liptov Ridge. It is unique by its large flat grass covered summit, the slopes are dangerous in winter because of frequent avalanches which have claimed many lives.
Harmanecká Cave or Harmanec Cave is a stalactite cave in Central Slovakia. It is located on the northern side of the Kotolnica massif in the Staré Hory and Kremnica mountain ranges and south of the Veľká Fatra mountains. The closest villages are Harmanec and Dolný Harmanec; Banská Bystrica is around 16 km south east of the cave. It is formed from Middle Triassic dark-grey Gutenstein limestone with an estimated age of 220 million years. The entrance to the cave is situated at an altitude of 821 m and 260 m above the bottom of the Harmanec valley.
The Staré Hory Mountains is a small mountain range in Central Slovakia, near the town of Banská Bystrica. It is a part of the Low Tatra, which is part of the Fatra-Tatra Area and the Inner Western Carpathians. The mountain range is named after the village of Staré Hory.
Drieňok is a mountain in the Greater Fatra Range of Slovakia measuring 1,268 m (4,160 ft). The typical pyramidal shape of the mountain, which lies on the edge of the range, steeply rises over the Turiec valley and is easily recognizable from any direction. Under the summit there is an emblematic dead and dry tree.
The Fatra-Tatra Area or the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains is a part of the Inner Western Carpathians, a subprovince of the Western Carpathians. Most of the area lies in Slovakia with small parts reaching into Austria and Poland. The highest summit of the whole Carpathians, the Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 m (8,711 ft), lies in the High Tatras range which belongs to this area.
