Carinthia
[key], Ger. Kärnten, province, c.3,680 sq mi
(9,531 sq km), S Austria. Klagenfurt is the capital.
Predominantly mountainous, it is the southernmost Austrian province,
bordering on Italy and Slovenia in the south. The Grossglockner, the highest point in
Austria (12,460 ft/3,797 m), rises in the northeast, at the Tyrol province
border. Carinthia has mines (lead, zinc, and magnesite) and well-developed
farms (especially in the fertile Drava, or Drau, plain). Manufactures of the
province include electrotechnical products, shoes, paper and pulp, and
chemicals. There is also an active tourist trade, particularly along the
Wörther See, a lake near Klagenfurt. In 976, Carinthia, which then
included Istria, Carniola, and Styria, was detached from Bavaria and made an independent duchy.
Acquired by Ottocar II of Bohemia in 1269, it fell to Rudolf I of Hapsburg in 1276 and in 1335
became an Austrian crown land. By the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) the
province lost some minor territories to Italy and Yugoslavia. The only
Austrian province with an appreciable ethnic minority, Carinthia has a
Slovene population of approximately 2.7% in the south.
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