The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills (, or ) is the largest hilly region of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, a smaller part is located in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n province of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. 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 (), stretching from the border with Austria to the border with Croatia. It is part of the traditional province of ...

). 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 The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

in general and

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

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 ( 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 Mureck, Gosdor ...

and

Lenart v Slovenskih Goricah Lenart v Slovenskih Goricah (; , ) is a town in the Slovene Hills in the Municipality of Lenart in northeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the Drava Statistical Region The Drava Statist ...

Overview

The Slovene Hills area consists of

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

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 to the east, the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

River to the west,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

to the south, and the Gamlitz River in Austria to the north. The climate is a moderate

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

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 (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...

. 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 (). Elsewhere, farms are densely disposed in long strips along the hill ridges. The region has been included in the European

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

network. It is the only nesting region for the

European roller The European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') is the only member of the Coraciidae, roller family breeding in Europe. Its range extends into the Maghreb, West Asia and Central Asia. It winters in southern Africa, primarily in dry wooded savanna and ...

(''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 "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...

(''Upupa epops''), the

common redstart The common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus '' Phoenicurus''. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be ...

(''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), the turtle dove (''Streptopelia turtur''), the

red-backed shrike The red-backed shrike (''Lanius collurio'') is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family, Laniidae. Its breeding range stretches from Western Europe east to central Russia. It is migratory and winters in the eastern areas of ...

(''Lanius collurio''), and the

yellowhammer The yellowhammer (''Emberiza citrinella'') is a passerine bird in the Emberiza, bunting family that is native to Palearctic, Eurasia and has been introduced species, introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the br ...

(''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)