GOVERNMENT. The Diet of Carinthia consists of 37 members, consisting of the archbishop of Cork, ten representatives of the landed aris tocracy, nine representatives of the towns, three representatives of the chambers of commerce and industry of Klagenfurt, and fourteen rep resentatives of the rural communities. In the Lower House of the Austrian Reiehsrat,Carinthia is represented by ten members. For administra tive purposes. Carinthia is divided into seven counties and the city of Klagenfurt. There are nearly four hundred elementary schools ( includ ing 285 German schools), with a total attend ance of about 54.000, constituting over 95 per cent. of the total school population.
The population of Carinthia in 1900 was 367,344, showing an increase of 1.8 per cent. since 1890. About 70 per cent. of the people arc Germans, and 30 per cent. Slovenes. Ninety five per cent. belong to the Roman Catholic Church, while the remainder are Protestants. The capital, Klagenfurt (q.v.), has a popula
tion of about 25,000.
Under the Roman Empire. Carinthia formed part of the Province of Noricum. Its ancient inhabitants were the Carni. a Celtic people, who, during the period of the migrations, were over whelmed by a race of Slays. The Kingdom of Carantania, which the invaders founded under the leadership of Sam°, an energetic Frank. proved of short duration, and the region was annexed by Charlemagne to the Frankish Em pire. After his death it passed to Louis the German. and was ruled for five hundred years by dukes of different lines, until it came into the possession of the archdukes of Austria in 1335. Upper Carinthia was held by the French from 1809 to 1S13.
Consult: Ankershofen, Cesehhhte des Herzog tums Karnten (Klagenfurt, 1850) ; Schlechter, life Gesehichte des Obergailthales in Kiirnten (Vienna, ISS5) ; Edenten and Brain (Vienna, 1891).