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 Carpathians and
their piedmont also concentrate many thermal and mineral waters, with Romania
