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Gorski Kotar is a highland region in western Croatia. Geotectonically, it is part of the Dinaric mountain system, which is "constrained" here to only 40 km. This is where the Pannonian and the Peripannonian areas come closest to the Adriatic, and where the divide separating the Adriatic and the Black Sea drainage systems is no more than 10 -15 km from the coast.
Gorski Kotar is the most densely forested part
of Croatia, with as much as 60 percent of its area under forests. For the most part, these are high and good-quality forests. The mountain massifs are almost wholly wooded, while larger clearings and cultivated fields are found only in the central, low-lying parts, in the Kupa
valley, and in isolated mountain valleys. Forests are the main feature of the Gorski Kotar landscape and of the way of life of the local population.
The Risnjak mountain massif (1528 m) dominates the northwestern part of the region. Somewhat more loosely defined, Risnjak is a mountain area demarcated by the road Gornje Jelenje - Gerovo - Crni Lug - Mrzla Vodica - Gornje Jelenje. To the west of Risnjak stands the massif of Snjeznik, to the north the Kupa valley, to the east Mt. Drgomalj, and to the south the main road connecting Zagreb and Rijeka. The central part of Risnjak, covering 32 sq. km of the highest ground and most interesting territory, was proclaimed a national park in 1953.
The western part of the National Park is somewhat higher than the rest, with the following prominent peaks: Veliki Risnjak - 1528 m, Juzni Mali Risnjak - 1448 m, Sjeverni Mali Risnjak - 1434 m, Cajtnik - 1406 m, Viljske Stijene - 1387 m, etc. In the eastern part, the viewer's eye is caught by the rocky and craggy Bijele Stijene (White Rocks) - 1194 m, and V. Bukovac - 1266 m. The lowest part of the National Park is the Leska valley on the eastern rim - 680 m.
All of the mountain peaks, as well as the greater part of Risnjak, are made of limestone, presenting a typical karst relief with the characteristic morphology, ranging from rocky, occasionally precipitous, peaks to deep pits and closed depressions (sink-holes). But the whole terrain with the exception of the highest peaks is wooded ("covered karst"), which is the main characteristic of the Risnjak landscape. Only towards the borders are there a few larger clearings or dales: Leska (within the National Park), Lazac (only partly in the park), and Segine (on the outside boundary of the park).
The precipitation water disappears quickly through numerous fissures in the carbonate underground layers, leaving too little water to form streams of any importance in the park (apart from a small brook in Leska, on the eastern rim of the park, where there are some impermeable layers of marl and clay). The subterranean hydrographic system gravitates towards the River Kupa and belongs to the Black Sea drainage system.
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