Duchy of Carniola - Geography - Administrative Divisions

Administrative Divisions

According to the topography The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola written by the scholar Johann Weikhard von Valvasor (1641–1693), the territory was traditionally divided into three sub-regions:

• Upper Carniola (Gorenjska), the mountainous part in the north, with the towns of Kranj and Kamnik
• Lower Carniola (Dolenjska), in the southeast, with Novo Mesto, Kočevje (Gottschee) and Krško, including White Carniola and the former Windic March
• Inner Carniola (Notranjska), in the southwest, around the towns of Idrija and Postojna.

Until 1860, these sub-regions coincided with the districts (Kreise) of Ljubljana, Novo Mesto and Postojna. They were later divided into smaller units, called political (or administrative) districts. Between 1861 and 1918, Carniola was divided into eleven districts consisting of 359 municipalities, with the provincial capital serving as the residence of the imperial governor (Landeshauptmann). The districts were: Kamnik, Kranj, Radovljica, the neighbourhood of Ljubljana, Logatec, Postojna, Litija, Krško, Novo Mesto, Črnomelj, and Kočevje. The political districts were in turn divided into 31 judicial circuits.