Karavanke

Karavanke
Karawanken
Range
View to the eastern part of the Karavanke from Stol / Hochstuhl
Countries	Slovenia, Austria
Part of	Southern Limestone Alps
Highest point	Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol
- elevation	2,236 m (7,336 ft)
- coordinates	46°26′3″N 14°10′24″E
Location of Karavanke (west) and Pohorje (east)

The Karavanke (Slovene) or the Karawanken (German) is an Alpine mountain range on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of 120 kilometres (75 mi), the Karavanke chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe. It is traversed by important trade routes and has a great tourist significance. Geographically and geologically, it is divided into the higher Western Karavanke and the lower-lying Eastern Karavanke.

The Karavanke were settled already in the Stone Age, as indicated particularly by findings from the Potok Cave. In the Roman times, they represented the southern border of the Noricum province, and later, of the Slavic principality of Carantania. For around nine hundred years, from the first half of the 11th century to the end of World War I, they were a border between the territory of the Duchy of Carinthia (and later Crownland of Carinthia) and Carniola. In October 1920, they were decided with the Carinthian Plebiscite as the border between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) and after the World War II remained the border between Austria and the Second Yugoslavia and finally the independent Slovenia in 1991. Since the entry of Slovenia to the Schengen Area in 2007, a free movement of people and goods across the Karavanke has been allowed and the two countries started to aim for an economic integration of their border areas.

A number of mountain passes on important trade routes cross the range. One of them, the Loiblpass (German) or Ljubelj (Slovene) at 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) has been used since prehistory. Nowadays both railway and motorway tunnels are built under the Karavanke, connecting Beljak/Villach and Jesenice. A motorway traverses the Karavanke through the Karavanke motorway tunnel, and a railway through the Karavanke railway tunnel. Both are located in the Western Karavanke.

The Karavanke offers a good opportunity for mountaineering with numerous mountain huts. Many of the peaks offer a good view of the Klagenfurt basin on the Austrian side and the Ljubljana basin on the Slovene side. The Austrian side is rocky and precipitous while the Slovenian side is less steep, covered with spruce forests and low bushy pine at lower altitudes with grass higher up.

Notable peaks

• Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol: 2,236 m (7,336 feet)
• Mittagskogel / Kepa: 2,143 m (7,031 feet)
• Petzen / Peca: 2,125 m (6,943 feet)
• Golica / Kahlkogel: 1,836 m (6,023 feet)
• Vrtača (2,181 m)
• Košuta (2,133 m)
• Begunjščica (2,060 m)
• Košutica (1,968 m)
• Dovška Baba (1,891 m)
• Klek (1,753 m)