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Bieszczady, or Bieszczadzkie Mountains is the Polish name of the western part of what the Polish call Eastern Beskids (Beskidy Wschodnie). It is a part of the Carpathian Mountains.

The term Bieszczady in the wide sense is used only in Poland. In Slovakia and Ukraine "Bieszczady" usually refers only to the part situated in Poland. In Poland "Bieszczady" also refers usually only to the Polish part of the (Western) Bieszczady. In Ukraine, the "Eastern Bieszczady" have various names (unstable terminology), they usually contain the word Beskids. In Slovakia the Slovak part is called Bukovec Mountains (Bukovské vrchy).

Historically, the terms Bieszczad and Beskid have been used for hundreds of years to describe the mountains separating Poland from Ruthenia and Hungary.

The colloquial Polish term referring to Bieszczady is Biesy, folk etymology connecting the origin of the mountains to demonic (bies) activities.

The ethymology of the name "Bieszczady" is disputed.

Settled in prehistoric times, the south-eastern Poland region that is now Bieszczady was overrun in pre-Roman times by various tribes, including the Celts, Goths and Vandals (Przeworsk culture and Puchov culture). After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which most of south-eastern Poland was part (all parts below the San), the area was invaded by Hungarians and West Slavs.

The region subsequently became part of the Great Moravian state. Upon the invasion of the Hungarian tribes into the heart of the Great Moravian Empire around 899, the Lendians of the area declared their allegiance to Hungarian Empire. The region then became a site of contention between Poland, Kievan Rus and Hungary starting in at least the 9th century.

This area was mentioned for the first time in 981, when Volodymyr the Great of Kievan Rus took the area over on the way into Poland. In 1018 it returned to Poland, 1031 back to Rus, in 1340 Casimir III of Poland recovered it.

Up until 1947, 84% of the population of the Polish part of the Bieszczadzkie Mountains was Boyko. The killing of the Polish General Karol ¦wierczewski in Jab³onki by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1947 was the direct cause of the replacement of the Boyk, the so-called Operation Wis³a. The area was mostly uninhabited afterwards. In 2002, then president Aleksander Kwa¶niewski expressed regret for this operation.

In 1991, the UNESCO East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve was created that encapsulates a large part of the area and continues into Slovakia and Ukraine. It comprises the Bieszczady National Park (Poland), Poloniny National Park (Slovakia) + Uzhansky National Nature Park (Ukraine). Animals living in this reserve are, amongst others, black storks, brown bears, wolves and bison.

Wikipedia