Location
Tatra Mountains occupy the area of 785 km², 175 km² (25%) of which is located in Poland and about 610 km² (76%) in Slovakia. The mountains can be divided into three parts:

• Tatry Zachodnie (the Western Tatras) - main peaks: Grzes, Kasprowy Wierch, Czerwone Wierchy, Ornak;
• Tatry Wschodnie: Tatry Wysokie (the Eastern Tatras, or the High Tatras) - main peaks: Gerlach (2655 m. a.s.l.), Rysy (2499 m. a.s.l.), Swinica, Koscielec, Mnich, Granaty, Kozi Wierch;
• Tatry Bielskie - main peaks: Hawran, Placzliwa Skala, Muran (on Slovakian side).

Border between Tatry Zachodnie and Tatry Wschodnie is Liliowe pass and Dolina Suchej Wody (in Poland) and Dolina Cicha (in Slovakia).

Geology
Tatra Mountains belong to the young mountains, called "fold mountains", which were elevated at the same time as the Alps, and  have similar structure. Tatry are built of two main kinds of rocks, which were formed in different periods and are of different origin. The older are rocks of so-called crystal core, built from magma rocks congealed inside the earth under a cover of different rocks, from beneath which they got out to the surface thanks to orogenic movements of the earth's crust and forces of erosion. The most characteristic example of this group of rocks are granites. Younger rocks belong to so-called sediment rocks coat, built from limestones and dolomites, which emerged from shells of tiny sea creatures falling to the bottom of the sea and compressed there by huge water pressure.

Ecosystem
Climate of the Tatra mountains has a lot in common with the one in the Alps. The most important is the average annual temperature, large fluctuations of temperature over 24 hours, rapid changes of temperature, often cloudy sky, many rainy days (in upper parts of the mountains usually snowfalls), fogs, long-lasting snow cover, strong isolation and winds that usually blow from the west and south-west. Most of the phenomena is connected with frontal systems.

Winter in Tatry usually lasts from the end of November to the end of March (in Zakopane) and from the middle of October to the beginning  of May at the altitude of Kasprowy Wierch. The coldest month is usually February and the warmest is July. The lowest recorded temperature is - 37ºC in February 1929 and the highest + 32.2ºC in August 1943. Characteristic features of climate in Tatry are winter temperature inversions (the higher it is the warmer it gets) as well as snowstorms in the middle of summer.

Landscape
Tatry mountains represent alpine type of landscape. Its characteristic feature is abundance of water. One of the biggest attractions are mountain ponds incorporated into rocky scenery. The biggest and most beautiful are located on Polish side. The deepest (79 m) is Wielki Staw (the Great Pond) which lies in Dolina Pieciu Stawow Polskich (the Five Polish Ponds Valley). Its charm cannot however match the beauty of Morskie Oko (the Sea Eye), the most famous lake in the Tatra Mountains, which lies at the feet of Mieguszowieckie Szczyty (the Mieguszowieckie Peaks).

Another spectacular element of Tatry landscape are waterfalls, the biggest of which is Wielka Siklawa. It is about 70 m. high and falls down from a cataract with 35 degrees inclination. Other interesting phenomenon are huge vauclusian springs connected with underground flows. The most massive one - Wywierzysko Olczyskie - throws out about 400-700 liters of water per second. In addition there are a few dozen bigger streams in the Tatras.

Flora
Despite heavy climate there are about 1000 plant species occurring within the area of the Tatra Mountains. 250 of them are mountain and Alpine plants.

Here we can observe vertical zonation of the vegetation:

• the lower mountain forest zone (up to 1,250 m a.s.l.) dominated by beech and fir forests;
• the upper mountain forest zone (up to 1,550 m a.s.l.) mostly built of spruce forests, which gradually change into the dwarf pine,
• grass vegetation zone (up to 1,800 m a.s.l.);
• the alpine zone and rocky peaks.

Among species which occur in Tatry we can find: edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), Mortagon's lily (Lilium martagon), stemless carline thistle (Carlina acaulis), crocus (Crocus scepusiensis), mountain avens (Geum montanum), yellow mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides), spotted gentian (Gentiana punctata), willow leafed gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea), spring gentian (Gentiana verna), autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), early pink (Dianthus praecox), poppy height (Papaver burseri), mountain houseleek (Sempervivum montanum), angelica (Archangelica officinalis), monkshood (Aconitum firmum), Alpine pasque flower (Pulsatila alpina).

In the Tatra mountains there also occur endemic species such as: Tatra scurvy-grass (Cochlearia tatrae), Hungarian Fleabane (Erigeron hungaricus), Wahlenberg's wallflower (Erysimum wahlenbergii).

Fauna
Apart from species, which can be met in other parts of Poland, such as: roe-deer, deer, foxes, lynxes, wildcats and wolves, the Tatras are inhabited by typically mountain species. Four species occur nowhere else in Poland but in the Tatras. These are: Alpine marmot, chamois, snow vole and Tatra pine vole. The most majestic animal living in the region is grizzly bear. Among amphibians and reptiles fire salamander, newts and common viper should be mentioned.

Among 150 species of birds which live in Tatra mountains some deserve special attention: golden eagle, lesser spotted eagle, peregrine falcon, white-throated dipper, Alpine accentor, wallcreeper, water pipit, western capercaillie, hazel grouse, as well as more common crows, woodpeckers, crested tit, ring ouzels, yellow bunting, common starlings, swallows and larks.

Threats and Tourism
In the past Tatry used to be intensively exploited. In summer on meadows and mountain pastures numerous herds of sheep, goats and cows grazed. Excessive grazing led to lowering of an upper border of forest and initiated erosion processes. From the 17th to the 19th century many mines and steelworks were active there, which needed huge amount of wood. At the break of the 19th and the 20th centuries tourism had developed and improper forestry led to appearance of artificial spruce monocultures within beech and fir forest habitats. In recent years air pollution and acid rains have threatened forests and water ecosystems of tatra National Park. Other dangers to the park's nature are pouching, sport and tourist investments and economic development of Zakopane.

Tatra national Park encompasses only 0.07% of area of Poland but it is every year visited by about 3 mln tourists, which makes 8% of the Poland's inhabitants. Rich infrastructure of the park (numerous walking paths, mountain refuges etc.) can hardly cope with huge crowd of tourists. Because of high natural values and large interest from the visitors entrance charges have been introduced.