The Lavant is a left tributary of the 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...

 in the 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...

. It originates in the small Lavantsee at the southern slope of the Zirbenkogel mountain in Styria, then turns southeastwards and after 7 miles reaches the border to Carinthia. The river flows through the towns of Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal

Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal

Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...

, Wolfsberg and Sankt Andrä

Sankt Andrä

Sankt Andrä is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. It is named for Saint Andrew.- External links :*...

 until it reaches the Drava shortly before it crosses the border to Slovenia

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...

.

The name Lavant stems from the Pre-Celtic

Pre-Celtic

The term pre-Celtic refers to the period in the prehistory of Central and Western Europe postdating the emergence of Proto-Celtic and predating the expansion of the Celts, or Celtic culture, in the course of the earlier Iron Age . The area involved is that of the maximum extent of Celtic languages...

 period, meaning "shining river" in Indo-European

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...

.