Carinthia (state)

Carinthia

This article is about the state of Austria. See also: Carinthia (disambiguation)

Carinthia (German: Kärnten) is one of the nine states of Austria. Carinthia borders the Tyrol to the west, Salzburg to the northwest, Styria to the east, and Italy and Solvenia to the south. The capital of Carinthia is Klagenfurt. It is 9,536 km² and has more than 559,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest state in size and the sixth largest in population.

Ancient History

Carinthia was originally settled by Celtic peoples during ancient times. They were conquered by the Roman Empire. It was conquered by the Lombards, and in 568 when they migrated into Italy the region fell to the Slavs and their Avar overlords. In 591 they conquered the region of the upper Drava and fought against the Bavarians. The Slavs of Carinthia formed part of the tribal empire of Samo from after 620, but after his death in 658 the tribal empire collapsed. But the Principality of Karantania first replaced it in Carinthia, being first mentioned in 660. The Franks conquered Karantania in 745 and made it a margraviate in 788.

Early Carinthia

The first margraves of Carinthia came to an end in 820 and Carinthia was ruled directly from Bavaria. In 876 Carinthia was recreated as a duchy for Arnulf, who later became king of Germany. Carinthia had a tenuous existence, alternating between periods of independence and rule by Bavaria, until 976 when King Otto II deposed the Duke of Bavaria and divided his lands into three distinct duchies. The duchy was passed between various dynasties throughout its early history, until in 1269 when it was inherited by King Ottokar II of Bohemia.

Habsburg Carinthia

The Habsburgs conquered Carinthia in 1276 who gave it to the Counts of the Tyrol. After they became extinct in 1335 it again came to the Habsburgs. Carinthia formed part of Inner Austria with the partitions of the Habsburg domains in 1379 and 1564, but it remained the property of the Habsburgs and was heavily Germanised. It formed a crownland of Cisleithania in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. After the empire was defeated in World War I the Carinthian Plebiscite had the duchy divided, with the Austrian state of Carinthia formed out of the northern two thirds and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes annexing the remaining third.