{{Infobox mountain range

| name=Karawanks
| other_name=Karavankas, Karavanks

| photo_caption=<small>View toof the Eastern Karawanks from Mt. Stol/Hochstuhl/Stol</small>

| country= {{hlist|[[Slovenia]]| country1 = [[Austria]]}}

| area_km2= | length_orientation=

| width_km=
| width_orientation=

| highest= [[Stol (Karawanks)|Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol]]

The '''Karawanks'''<ref>Flügel, Helmut W., & Peter Faupl (eds.). 1987. ''Geodynamics of the Eastern Alps''. Vienna: Franz Deuticke, p. 374.</ref><ref>''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology'', vol. 6. 2002. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, p. 708.</ref> or '''Karavankas'''<ref>Murray, John. 1871. ''Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany''. London: John Murray, p. 369.</ref><ref>Raos, Ivan, & Miodrag Stojanović. 1966. ''The Beauties of Yugoslavia''. Ljubljana: Delo.</ref> or '''Karavanks'''<ref>Pavlakovich-Kochi, Vera, Barbara Jo Morehouse, & Doris Wastl-Walter. 2004. ''Challenged Borderlands: Transcending Political and Cultural Boundaries'' Aldershot: Ashgate, p. 58.</ref><ref>Kmecl, Matjaž, & Joco Žnidaršič. 1987. ''Treasure Chest of Slovenia''. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba.</ref> ({{lang-langx|sl|Karavanke}}; {{langx|de|Karawanken}}, {{lang-IPA|de|kaʁaˈvaŋkŋ̍|-|De-Karawanken.ogg}}) are a [[mountain range]] of the [[Southern Limestone Alps]] on the border between [[Slovenia]] to the south and [[Austria]] to the north. With a total length of {{convert|120|km}} in an east-westeast–west direction, the Karawanks chain is one of the longest ranges in [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.karavanke.eu/ |title=Home |website=karavanke.eu}}</ref> It is traversed by important trade routes and has a great tourist significance. Geographically and geologically, it is divided into the higher Western Karawanks and the lower-lying Eastern Karawanks. It is traversed by the [[Periadriatic Seam]], separating the [[Apulian Plate|Apulian tectonic plate]] from the [[Eurasian Plate]].

A number of mountain passes on important trade routes cross the range, like [[Wurzen Pass|Wurzen]] (''Koreno''), [[Loibl Pass|Loibl]] (''Ljubelj'') or [[Seebergsattel|Seeberg]] (''Jezero''), which have been used since [[prehistory]]. Nowadays the Austrian [[Karawanken Autobahn]] (A11) runs from [[Villach]] to the [[Karawanken Tunnel (motorway)|Karavanke motorway tunnel]], which traverses the Western Karawanks connecting it with the Slovenian [[A2 motorway (Slovenia)|A2 motorway]] at [[Jesenice, Jesenice|Jesenice]]. A parallel railway line crosses the range through the [[Karawanks Tunnel (railway)|Karawanks railway tunnel]].

[[File:Hochstuhl, mountain, austria, summertime.JPG|thumb|Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol, view from [[Zasip]]]]

The Karawanks were settled already in the [[Stone Age]], as indicated particularly by findings from the [[Potok Cave]]. In [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, they represented the southern border of the [[Noricum]] province, and later, of the [[Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps|Slavic]] principality of [[Carantania]]. The ancient geographer [[Ptolemy|Claudius Ptolemy]] mentioned the ''Karwankas'' mountains about 150 AD. The name probably is derived from [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] ''karv'' ("'[[deer]]")', a traditionconnection that has survived in the ''Košuta'' (Slovene for "'hind"') massif.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Snoj |first1=Marko |title=Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen |date=2009 |publisher=Modrijan |location=Ljubljana |pages=186, 205}}</ref>

From the first half of the 11th century, the Karawanks formed the border between the territory of the [[Duchy of Carinthia]] and the adjacent [[March of Carniola]] in the south. After Carniola had been elevated to a [[Duchy of Carniola|duchy]] in 1364, both lands became part of [[Inner Austria]] and were [[crown land]]s of the [[Habsburg Monarchymonarchy]] from 1526 up to [[World War I]]. The northern slopes of the Karawanks werehad abeen historichistorically settlementsettled area ofby [[Carinthian Slovenes]], nevertheless in October 1920, the crest[[Carinthian wasPlebiscite]] decided withthat the [[Carinthiancrest Plebiscite]] aswas the border between the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] (later [[Yugoslavia]]); only the [[municipality of Jezersko]] had already passed from Carinthia to Yugoslavia.

In the final weeks of the [[Second World War]] the Karawanks passes witnessed intense fighting. The [[24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger|24th SS]] ''[[Kampfgruppe]]'' (battlegroup) commanded by SS-''[[Brigadeführer|Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen]]''-SS (Brigadier) [[Heinz Harmel]] was ordered to keep the Karawanken passes open between Yugoslavia and Austria. This task was critical in allowing German forces to withdraw from Yugoslavia in order to surrender to British rather than Yugoslav forces. The ''Kampfgruppe'' succeeded in its final task, and was one of the last German units to surrender, when it encountered the British [[6th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|6th Armoured Division]] on 9 May 1945.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Waffen SS (4): 24. to 38. Divisions, & Volunteer Legions|url=https://archive.org/details/waffensstodivisi03will|url-access=limited|author=Williamson, Gordon|year=2004|ppage=[https://archive.org/details/waffensstodivisi03will/page/n5 4]}}</ref>

After World War II the Karawanks remained the border between Austria and the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], and finally the independent Slovenia from 1991. Since the entry of Slovenia to the [[Schengen Area]] in 2007, a free movement of people and goods across the Karawanks has been allowed, and the two countries started to aim for an economic integration of their border areas.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.si-atoerok.eugv.at/imagesfileadmin/uploadsBilder/OP_SI3.Reiter-AT_2007Regionalpolitik/2.EU- 2013_21SF_in_OE_07-1213/2.6_ETZ_grenz/Programmdokument_OE-SLO_07-2007_en13.pdf |title= Operational Programme: Cross-Border Cooperation Slovenia–Austria 2007–2013 |publisher=European Territorial Co-operation SI-AT |date=December 2007 |accessdateorig-year=19 April2007-12-21 2012|access-date= 2016-10-03}}</ref>

[[File:Vertatscha Bodental.jpg|thumb|Boden Valley and Mt. Vertatscha/Vrtača[[Wertatscha]]]]

SeveralThe place names also have German as well as Slovenian names, and today the peaks along the main chain of the Karawanks are usually displayed in Slovene and German on hiking maps:

{{reflistReflist}}

{{commonscat|KarawanksCommons category|Karawanks}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of Carinthia (state)]]