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Carinthia (province)
Encyclopedia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. It has no official status as an administrative unit within Slovenia, although the association with an informal province is still quite common.
The region is referred to as Slovenian Carinthia in order to distinguish it from the neighboring Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n State of Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
. The term Slovene Carinthia may refer also to both the Slovenian and the Austrian Carinthia with Slovene-speaking inhabitants
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
.
Geography
- The Drava and Meža valley centered around DravogradDravogradDravograd is a small town and a municipality in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is part of the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia)....
and towns of Črna na KoroškemCrna na KoroškemČrna na Koroškem is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies at the confluence of the Meža River with its tributary Javorski potok in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia. The German name Schwarzenbach means 'black creek'....
, MežicaMežicaMežica is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies on the Meža River in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia) near the Austrian border. The town developed close to a lead and zinc mine under Mount Peca. Mining began in 1665 and ended in 1994...
, PrevaljePrevaljePrevalje is a settlement and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia. On 1 January 1999 Prevalje became an independent municipality. Prevalje lies in a valley where the Meža River emerges from a narrow gorge, full of fluvioglacial sediments...
and Ravne na KoroškemRavne na KoroškemRavne na Koroškem is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. Until 1918, the town was part of the Duchy of Carinthia. It is the largest town in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia and its capital. Its Slovene name means 'Ravne in Carinthia', in order to distinguish it from...
, which is also a capital of the region. - JezerskoJezersko, SloveniaJezersko is a municipality in the historic Carinthia region of northern Slovenia. Since 2005, it has been part of the Upper Carniola statistical region....
above KranjKranj' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
In 2005, Slovenia was divided into 12 statistical regions. Jezersko was attached to the Upper Carniola Statistical Region
Gorenjska statistical region
The Upper Carniola statistical region is a statistical region in northwest Slovenia. The region comprises 18 municipalities: Bled, Bohinj, Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Gorenja vas-Poljane, Gorje, Jesenice, Jezersko, Kranj, Kranjska Gora, Naklo, Preddvor, Radovljica, Šenčur, Škofja Loka, Tržič,...
, while a number of Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
n municipalities including the town of Slovenj Gradec
Slovenj Gradec
Slovenj Gradec is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It is part of the historic Lower Styria region, since 2005 it belongs to the NUTS-3 statistical region of Carinthia...
were attached to the Carinthia Statistical Region
Koroška statistical region
The Carinthia statistical region is a statistical region in northern Slovenia along the border with Austria. It includes parts of the traditional regions of Slovenian Carinthia and Lower Styria and has a total area of 1041 km²....
.
History
The name derives from the fact that the today's territory formed part of the Duchy of CarinthiaDuchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, which belonged to the Habsburg Empire until World War I. In 1919, the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
) occupied southern Carinthia. Jezersko
Jezersko, Slovenia
Jezersko is a municipality in the historic Carinthia region of northern Slovenia. Since 2005, it has been part of the Upper Carniola statistical region....
, the Meža Valley and the area around Dravograd
Dravograd
Dravograd is a small town and a municipality in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is part of the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia)....
, which are today the territory of Slovenia, were annexed without a referendum. However, in the region north and west of this, on 10 October 1920 the voters in the Carinthian Plebiscite
Carinthian Plebiscite
The Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
determined that those parts should remain with the newly founded Republic of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. After World War II, the region formed part of the Yugoslav Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1990...
and became part of independent Slovenia after the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991.
Economy
In the 1990s, a leadLead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
mine in the Meža Valley, the most highly industrialized valley of the region, and the lead smelter
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
in Žerjav were closed down. The only factory in the area around the mine still operating is TAB, a manufacturer of batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
. Metal Ravne, the steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
at Ravne, which was one of the largest employers in the Duchy of Carinthia in the 19th century, managed to survive and now specializes in alloy steel and machinery components. There are five hydroelectric plant
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
s in the Carinthian stretch of the Drava Valley, with a total capacity of about 60 megawatts
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
, and metal products are produced in different places.
Jezersko has a long tourist tradition, and is a starting point for hiking trails to Grintovec
Grintovec
At high, Grintovec is the highest mountain in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps. It is a popular location for hiking, climbing and skiing. The first recorded ascent was in 1759 by the botanist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli....
, Kočna, and Veliki Vrh. There is also extensive agricultural activity in Jezersko.
Environment
After the shut-down of the zinc mine, the extremely poor environmental situation in the narrow Meža Valley with its century-long lead and zinc ore exploitation has slowly been improving. However, the entire area of Slovenian Carinthia continues to suffer from severe damage to its forests. In some areas, up to 40% of the trees are damaged due to heavy sulfur dioxideSulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
emissions from the Šoštanj Power Plant and the iron works in Ravne.
Despite the pollution of the Meža
Meža
The Meža is a long river in Carinthia, Slovenia. It has its source on the Austrian side of the state border near Mount Olševa, becomes subterranean a kilometer from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna near Črna na Koroškem, Slovenia. It is the central river of the Mežica Valley...
and Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
rivers, water supply has never been a problem. Clean water is abundant due to the mountainous terrain with its impermeable rock. Almost every farm in the mountains has its own water supply system, and the settlements in the valleys are connected to municipal water supply systems.
Education and culture
The Dr. Franc Sušnik Central Carinthian Library and the Carinthian museum are in Ravne na KoroškemRavne na Koroškem
Ravne na Koroškem is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. Until 1918, the town was part of the Duchy of Carinthia. It is the largest town in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia and its capital. Its Slovene name means 'Ravne in Carinthia', in order to distinguish it from...
, but the Carinthian Regional Museum, the Carinthian Gallery of Fine Arts, and the regional radio station are located in Slovenj Gradec
Slovenj Gradec
Slovenj Gradec is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It is part of the historic Lower Styria region, since 2005 it belongs to the NUTS-3 statistical region of Carinthia...
(historically part of Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
). In the past, educational establishments and other activities were dispersed among several small towns. There are high schools in Ravne and Muta
Muta, Slovenia
Muta is a town and a municipality in the Carinthia region of northern Slovenia.The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Margaret and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1349. In the 17th century it was...
. Students who wish to continue their tertiary education mostly choose the universities of Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
and Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
. In Črna na Koroškem
Crna na Koroškem
Črna na Koroškem is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It lies at the confluence of the Meža River with its tributary Javorski potok in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia. The German name Schwarzenbach means 'black creek'....
, there is a center for the protection and vocational training of physically and mentally handicapped youth.