Duchy of Carniola - Geography

Geography

The borders of the historic Carniola region had varied over the centuries. From the time of the duchy`s establishment, it was located in the southeastern periphery of the Holy Roman Empire, where the Gorjanci Mountains and the Kolpa River formed the border with Croatia, then part of the Hungarian kingdom.

In the north, it bordered on the Imperial Duchy of Carinthia, from the Predil Pass and Fusine (Fužine) along the main ridge of the Karawanks range up to Jezersko. In the northeast and east, it bordered on the Duchy of Styria, i.e., the present-day Štajerska or Lower Styrian lands beyond the Sava River, which until 1456 were held by the Counts of Celje. In the west, the peaks of the Julian Alps high above Lake Bohinj marked the border with the historic Friulian region, initially held by the Patriarchs of Aquileia, but gradually conquered by the Republic of Venice and incorporated into the Domini di Terraferma by 1433. In the southwest, beyond the Dinaric Alps, the Counts of Görz held the remaining Friulian territory, which in 1754 became the Austrian crown land of Gorizia and Gradisca (part of the present-day Slovenian Littoral). The remains of the Margraviate of Istria south of the Kras Plateau and the Brkini Hills were also administered from Carniola.

In its final extent, re-established in 1815, the duchy had an area of 9,904 square kilometres (3,824 sq mi). In 1914, before the beginning of World War I, it had a population of a bit under 530,000 inhabitants.