The paper presents results of the survey on land use development and its changes in the Podtatranská kotlina basin and the High Tatras Mts. between 1772 and 20013. Land use was identified from historical military maps and aerial orthophotographs. Intensity of land use changes (absolute and relative) was assessed as a sum of partial changes between studied time horizons (1772, 1822, 1900, 1956, 1988, 2013).