The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice, german: Windische Bühel or ) is the largest hilly region of

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 ...

, a smaller part is located in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n province of Styria. It is situated in the northeast of the country and has an area of . It comprises the ''Western Slovene Hills'' and the ''Eastern Slovene Hills'' (also named

Prlekija Prlekija is a region in northeastern Slovenia between the Drava and Mura rivers. It comprises the eastern part of the Slovene Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice), stretching from the border with Austria to the border with Croatia. It is part of the tra ...

). The region is known for its vineyards and wines. The central town and municipality is Lenart.

Name

The Slovene name and German name both mean 'Slovene Hills'; the German adjective ' Wendish' is a traditional name for Slavs in general and

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their na ...

in particular. The hills were attested in historical sources in 1123 as ''Colles'' (and as ''Puchelen'' in 1296 and ''Pücheln'' in 1407). It is hypothesized that the name originally applied to a smaller central area of the range, between

Mureck Mureck ( sl, Cmurek, archaic: ''Cmürek'') is a municipality in the district of Südoststeiermark in the Austrian state of Styria. Administrative reforms in Styria led to the merging on 1 January 2015 of the formerly separate municipalities of Mur ...

and Lenart v Slovenskih Goricah.

Overview

The Slovene Hills area consists of Cenozoic hills, for the most part lower than in elevation, and one of the most individualized landscapes of Slovenia. There are a multitude of low ridges and hills traversed by numerous river valleys, which extend from the northwest towards southeast almost linearly. They border the

Mura River The Mur () or Mura (; ; ; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Müra''Novak, Vilko. 2006. ''Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine''. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, pp. 262, 269. or ''Möra'') is a river in Central Europe rising in the Hohe Tauern national park of th ...

to the east, the Drava River to the west,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

to the south, and the Gamlitz River in Austria to the north. The climate is a moderate continental climate with the amount of precipitation decreasing and average temperatures increasing from the west towards the east. There are also pronounced vertical differences due to the

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Nor ...

. The average annual precipitation ranges from , with the largest part falling in the growth period. In 1991, the Slovene Hills had 92,320 inhabitants, but this number is gradually falling. Larger serried settlements have formed only along Velka Creek, Globovnica Creek, and James Creek ( sl, Jakobski potok). Elsewhere, farms are densely disposed in long strips along the hill ridges. The region has been included in the European Natura 2000 network. It is the only nesting region for the

European roller The European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') is the only member of the roller family of birds to breed in Europe. Its overall range extends into the Middle East, Central Asia and the Maghreb. The European roller is found in a wide variety of hab ...

(''Coracias garrulus'') in Slovenia. The green woodpecker (''Picus viridis''), the

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...

(''Upupa epops''), the common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), the turtle dove (''Streptopelia turtur''), the red-backed shrike (''Lanius collurio''), and the

yellowhammer The yellowhammer (''Emberiza citrinella'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern ...

(''Emberiza citrinella'') nest there as well.

References

External links

*
Map of the Slovene Hills
Geopedia.si {{DEFAULTSORT:Slovene Hills Hills of Slovenia Wine regions of Slovenia Natura 2000 in Slovenia Landforms of Styria (Slovenia)