The Accursed Mountains (; , ; both translated as "Cursed Mountains"), also known as the Albanian Alps (), are a mountain group in the western part of the Balkans. It is the southernmost subrange of the Dinaric Alps range (Dinarides), extending from northern Albania to southern Kosovo and northeastern Montenegro. Maja Jezercë, standing at , is the highest point of the Accursed Mountains and of all Dinaric Alps, and the fifth highest peak in Albania. The range includes the mountain Zla Kolata, which, at , is the tallest mountain in Montenegro. The range also includes the mountain Gjeravica, which, at , is the second tallest mountain in Kosovo. One of the southernmost glacial masses in Europe was discovered in the Albanian part of the range in 2009. Name Ptolemy mentioned , which has been connected to the Accursed Mountains. Bertiscus lives on artificially in the form bertiscae in the scientific names for endemic species that have their locus classicus in the mountains, such as Valeriana bertiscae, Crepis bertiscae and Iris bertiscae. Both in Serbo-Croatian () and in Albanian mean "the accursed (mountains)", possibly because they are perceived as insurmountable and wild. The mountain range is also known as the , meaning "Albanian Alps". Location and relief The Accursed Mountains, the southernmost part of the Dinaric Alps, stretch more than from Lake Skadar along the Montenegrin–Albanian border in the southwest to Kosovo in the northeast. These points are at 42°45' and 42°15' N in the Mediterranean zone of the western Balkan Peninsula. The southern boundary of the Accursed Mountains is found at the river Drin and its tributary Valbona. In a broader sense the Accursed Mountains also include the mountain ranges to Mitrovica with the Hajla and Mokna massifs. Some authors, however, see the river Lim as the northern boundary of the Accursed Mountains in geological terms. From Lake Skadar, the mountains stretch northeast along the Cem river then curve slightly to the east in the direction of Gjervica summit above the western Kosovo (450m) basin. From here, the Accursed Mountains turn northwards over the Bogićevića massif and Čakor pass and continue with another row of mountains. The Accursed Mountains finish in the area of upper Ibar River valley near Mitrovica, just after the Suva Planina () massif that encircles Dukagjin basin from the north and northwest. The Accursed Mountains are ethnographically and sociologically diverse with many tribes living in the