The Mavrovo National Park () is the largest of the four national parks of North Macedonia. Located in the west of the country, it spreads over an area of about and is characterized by deep canyons, lakes and dense forests that abound with diverse wildlife. It was established in 1949 by a law passed by the National Assembly of Macedonia; later the legislation was changed to enforce a much stricter protection system, dividing the park into three zones: strict nature reserves, managed reserves, and a tourist zone. The relief of the park contains three Alpine mountain systems: the Šar, Korab and Bistra mountains. The Šar and Korab exceed heights of 2700 m (the Korab peak, with its 2764 m, is the highest in North Macedonia). These mountains are distinguished by chains of snowy, jagged peaks and broad grassy plateaus below them. Between the three mountains extends the Radika gorge for more than . Vertical cliffs exceeding rise above the waters of the Radika river. The park area contains other interesting natural phenomena—the highest waterfall in the Balkans (with a vertical fall of approximately 120 m), alpine bogs in the Šar mountains as remnants of the Ice age, rare karst relief (including beautiful caves) in the Bistra mountains, as well as numerous glacial lakes throughout the Alpine zone. The national park, the lake and the region are named after the village of Mavrovo. Ecology Dense forest vegetation covers mountain slopes in the park, while Alpine pastures grow in the higher areas. The various climatic influences, as well as the large differences in altitude are the main contributing factors for the diversity of flora and fauna. The fact that this region is a kind of "geographical crossroads" where major changes of climate have occurred through history is a direct reason for the existence of an enormous number of relict and endemic species. Remnants of the life that existed in the Ice age or in the Tertiary coexist in one diverse environment, concealed between the jagged cliffs and peaks. In fact, the six life zones of the park (a rare phenomenon for such a small area) support 22 forest and 16 grass ecosystems. There are more than 1300 species of herbaceous plants and 145 species of trees living in them. About 40 percent of them are relict or endemic. Moreover, the park is the habitat of many rare plants (like the Crimean wild