Carinthia

From Imakoopedia

Map of Austria showing the State of Carinthia

Carinthia (German Kärnten, Slovenian Koroška) is a federal state or Bundesland, located in the south of Austria.

It covers an area of 9,536 km² with 559,404 inhabitants (2001).

It consist mostly of a basin inside the Alps, with the Carnian Mountains making up the border to Italy and Slovenia. The Tauern mountains divide it from Salzburg. To the East lies the state of Styria and it makes up a continuous valley with the eastern part of the Tirol to the West. Its lakes are a major tourist attraction. The main river is the Drau.

The capital is Klagenfurt (Slo. Celovec). The only other important town is Villach (Slo. Beljak); these two towns are strongly linked economically.

The people are predominantly German speaking with a unique (and easily recognizable) dialect. A Slovene-speaking Carinthian minority of about 15,000 people is concentrated in the South-East of the country.

The current governor is Jörg Haider of the Austrian Freedom Party.

The Duchy of Carinthia was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire until it was dissolved in 1806, then a crownland of Austria-Hungary. The Carinthian Plebiscite on October 10, 1920, determined the lines of division between what is today Austria and Slovenia.

Main industries are tourism, electronics, engineering, forestry and agriculture. The multinational corporations Philips and Siemens have large operations there. Carinthia is one of the poorer and more remote of the Austrian states.

The climate is continental, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades winters were exceptionally arid. Average sun index is the highest in Austria. In autumn and winter temperature inversion often dominates the climate, characterised by air stillness, a dense fog covering the frosty valleys and trapping pollution, and mild sunny weather higher up in the foothills and mountains.

Major tourist attractions are Klagenfurt, the lakes (Wörthersee, Ossiachersee, Faaker See), ski resorts (Nassfeld / Hermagor, Bad Kleinkirchheim, Heiligenblut), Gurk cathedral, Hochosterwitz castle, the Grossglockner mountain and the Nockberge for alpinism