CARINTHIA (Ger. KAawTHEN), a duchy and crownland, between lat. 24' and 47° 7' N., and long. 12° 35' and 10' E., bounded on the north by Salzburg and Styria, on the east by Styria, on the south by by Camiola and on the west by Italy and Tyrol; area, 3,986 square miles. It is extremely mountainous, gen erally sterile, and one of the most thinly popu lated provinces of Austria. The arable land does not exceed 290,000 acres, but there are some fertile valleys, and a considerable extent of rich pasture land. It has several rivers and lakes. Of the former the principal is the Drave. All of them abound with fish. The country does not yield corn enough for the consump tion of the inhabitants, who import the defi ciency from Hungary. The cereals most exten sively cultivated are rye and oats. Some wine is produced in Lower Carinthia, but it is of inferior quality'. Cattle, sheep and horses are raised in considerable numbers, but the mines of Carinthia are the main sources of its wealth. The chief of these are lead, iron and calamine. Various kinds of gems are met with. Its operative industry is chiefly confined to the working of its metallic ores, though there are also manufactories of woolens, cottons, silk stuffs, etc., most of which are in Klagenfurt,
the capital. Bessemer steel rails, wire, wire nails and bar-iron are produced in great quan tities. Some machinery, firearms, textiles, leather goods, cement and wood pulp are ex ported. Klagenfurt is the centre of the rail way lines, of which there are about 385 miles. The Diet consists of 37 members and the crownland sends nine members to the Lower House of the Austrian Reichsrat. The prin cipal towns are Klagenfurt and Villach. Carinthia formed part of the empire of Charlemagne, and afterward belonged to the dukes of Friuli. It subsequently passed through various hands, and finally be came an appendage of the Austrian Crown in 1321. In 1809 it was annexed to the empire of Napoleon, but was restored to Austria in 1814. Nearly all the inhabitants are Roman Catholics. The population of Klagenfurt, the capital, is 24,284; that of the crownland 396,200.