The Brkini Hills (; sl, Brkini; hr, Brkinija) is a hilly region in southwestern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Geography

The Brkini Hills border the

Reka River The Reka (literally, 'river' in Slovene), also the Inner Carniola Reka ( sl, Notranjska Reka), is a river that starts as Big Creek ( hr, Vela voda) in Croatia, on the southern side of Mount Snežnik, and flows through western Slovenia, where it ...

in the north, the Materija Valley () in the southwest, the

Karst Plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills sur ...

() in the northwest, and the Jelšane Valley () in the southeast. The Brkini region is divided among the municipalities of Hrpelje-Kozina,

Pivka Pivka (, german: St. Peter in Krain, it, San Pietro del Carso) is a small town in Slovenia in the Pivka Basin in the Karst region. It is the seat of the Municipality of Pivka. It belongs to the traditional region of Inner Carniola. Name Pivka wa ...

Ilirska Bistrica Ilirska Bistrica (; german: Illyrisch Feistritz; it, Villa del Nevoso, before 1927: ''Bisterza,'' Hungarian: ''Illírbeszterce'') is a town in the Inner Carniola region of southwestern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality ...

, and

Divača Divača (; it, Divaccia) is a large nucleated village in the Slovenian Littoral, Littoral region of Slovenia, near the Italy, Italian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Divača and a railway hub. Geography Divača lies along the A1 mo ...

. The region is long and wide and covers an area of . The central part of the region has an elevation of . The center of the region is the village of

Pregarje Pregarje (; it, Pregara) is a village west of Ilirska Bistrica in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia. It is the centre of the Brkini Hills region. The parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church wh ...

. The climate is mild, and the geological basis is

flysch Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building ep ...

y, with smaller

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

areas in the northeast. The region serves as a link between the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and the continental part of Slovenia.

Name

The name ''Brkini'' is believed to be of Italian origin because of the suffixation pattern. This indicates that the root of the name (''brk-'') may be derived from northern Italian ''bricco, bricca'' '(steep) slope'. Derivation from the Slavic noun ''brdo'' 'hill' is doubtful.

Economy

The Brkini Hills are an economically underdeveloped region, with the main economic activity being fruit farming, in particular plums. Many people from the Brkini Hills commute to work to the nearby centers of

, Podgrad,

Hrpelje Hrpelje (, in older sources ''Herpelje'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is the administrative center of the municipality. Name Hrpelje was attested in historical sources as ''Herpelie' ...

, and

Kozina Kozina (; it, Cosina) is a settlement in the Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina in the Littoral region of Slovenia, close to the border with Italy. During World War II, over one-third of the villages in the Brkini Hills were burned by Italian and German forces due to

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

activity in the area, which significantly affected the development of the region. The population density is low, with people still leaving.

References

Hills in the Slovene Littoral Istria {{Slovenia-geo-stub