Mountain areas in Poland constitute a special territory with respect to physico-geographical, economic and social aspects. There are specific environmental, economic and cultural conditions, which on one hand restrain and on the other provide chances of these areas development. Environmental conditions involve higher economic costs mainly in agriculture but also in other fields, such as construction or transportation. Other characteristics of these areas include landscape values which just through development of tourism can at least partially recompense the local communities the limited opportunities of gaining incomes. Mountain areas are defined as the areas where agricultural production is made difficult by the unfavourable climatic conditions and land configuration. The basic criterion used for identification of mountain areas in Poland is their elevation above the sea level. Therefore the mountain areas comprise communes and land surveying districts, where over a half of the arable land area is situated above 500 m a.s.l. Considering the investigated space, the research comprised mountain rural areas in Poland, whereas the area of a single commune was assumed as the smallest researched unit. The object of studies were all communes which in Poland constitute mountain less favoured areas (mountain LFA). The investigations comprised a total of 50 ...
