Zakopane [zakɔˈpanɛ] ( listen) is a town in southern Polan with approximately 28,000 inhabitants (2004), situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 (it was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975-1998). The town, a place of Górale culture and informally known as the winter capital of Poland, lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the feet of the Tatra Mountains, which is the only alpine mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.