Such definition may seem to be a bit exaggerated. But region geographical position, its historical destiny gave reason to place memorial, connected with numerous legends about location of geographical center of Europe exactly in Zakarpatska oblast, in Dilove village, Rakhivsky district, where mountain Goverla, the highest top of the Ukrainian Carpathians, is located. Many scientists consider it as geographical center of the Carpathian region. Here is a certain piece of truth. Zakarpattya is the western region of Ukraine, which borders with four Carpathian states of the European Union -Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Romania. Its first neighbors – Lvivska, Ivano-Frankivska and Chernivecka oblasts are also the members of the same Carpathian family. So, it takes only an hour and a half by air to reach Kyiv, Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Vienna, Bonne, Geneva, Paris, Rome.

It is a unique land. It is also known as Silver Land. However, the area of only 12800 sq. km includes valleys, mountains and foot-hills, which occupy 4/5 of the whole area. There are landscapes always beautiful with unique highland Synevir Lake, Narcissus Valley, Carpathian Biosphere Reservation, springs of mineral water, which in chemical composition and medical properties don’t yield to, and sometimes are better, the well-known waters of Caucasus and the majority of European and world resorts.

Furthermore, Zakarpattya associates with its mountain floods, rivers, where, as chronicler sincerely believed: 2/3 made trout, umber, sturgeon and only 1/3 water, besides forests with mushrooms and berries, deer and bear, other exotic mountain beasts. What a healthy air! Zakarpattya is one of those paradisiacal corners, which one may find in every country of Carpathian Euroregion. All of them with their beauty and generosities Europe needs and they need Europe. Not without a good reason the Carpathian Mountains are referred to the most important 200 Ecoregions in the world scale, the European reservation of which have general and even global significance.

What for nowadays, speaking about the Carpathians, we must sound the alarm? What makes the greatest trouble and creates danger for the next generation?

Kichkovskiy M., Gamor F., Kushnir B. Land Close to the Sky. Uzhhorod : Karpaty, 2008