GORENJSKA - Geography and history
Good links across the Alps to Austria
The most Alpine of all Slovenian regions is situated in the north-western part of the country, bordering Austria in the north and Italy in the west. Most of the region is covered by the towering Julian Alps with numerous serrated peaks exceeding 2 000 m, including Triglav (2 864 m), the highest Slovenian mountain and one of Slovenia's national symbols. Due to its natural beauty, almost the entire Julian Alps range is protected as the Triglav National Park.
The Karavanke range along the Austrian border also belongs to the high Alpine regions. Between these two mountainous areas, the Upper Sava valley runs in an east-west direction. Further to the east it opens up into the densely populated Ljubljana Basin where the town of Kranj, the centre of Gorenjska, is situated in the middle of the plain. In the south-western part of the region there are the Škofja Loka Mountains with villages clustered in the valleys and isolated farmsteads on steep slopes.
From 1335 until the end of World War I, virtually the whole region was part of the duchy of Carniola, one of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Today, the region is divided between 17 municipalities.
Economically, Gorenjska is one of the most developed regions in Slovenia. Its prosperity is based on a well developed industrial tradition, dating back to the 19th century when it developed from ironworks and shoemaking which were very important at that time. Tourism in Bled, Kranjska Gora and Bohinj, and agriculture on the plains and in the surrounding mountains are also of significance. The region has good links to Ljubljana and the federal province of Carinthia in Austria. As well as a railway tunnel and an almost 8 km long motorway tunnel that connect the region with Austria, three mountain passes lead across the Karavanke range. The Ljubljana international airport is situated in the eastern part of the region.
Economically developed region at the foot of high rocky mountains
With relatively well developed industry in the regional centre and in numerous smaller towns, successful tourism and agriculture (oriented primarily towards dairy farming and beef cattle breeding), Gorenjska is among the most economically advanced regions in Slovenia. Good access to the majority of settlements is also favourable, as the population is concentrated in the plains along main traffic routes and in wider river valleys where the rest of the infrastructure is also good.
Gorenjska is also a leading resort area thanks to its picturesque and carefully maintained alpine landscape and unspoilt environment, especially within the large Triglav National Park. It also has a wide variety of tourist facilities which are quite scarce in many other parts of Slovenia.
As in the Lower Savinja Valley, a substantial part of Gorenjska's industry is dispersed among smaller towns. Following their development into small but distinctive local supply centres in the second half of the 19th century, today they are centres of economically strong municipalities. Nevertheless, local industry also faced substantial difficulties during the transition from the former state-controlled to the current market-oriented economy. The most affected were the iron industry in Jesenice and the labour-intensive shoemaking and textile industries. However, thanks to its geographical situation and its strong municipalities, this part of Slovenia is very attractive to foreign capital investment, so quite a few local industries are owned to some extent by foreign investors.
Negative factors include the limited scope for the development of agriculture, due to the less favourable alpine climate and steep slopes in the mountains. The proximity of Ljubljana is favourable on the one hand, while on the other the short distance between Ljubljana and Kranj makes it difficult for Kranj to develop fully into a regional centre comparable to Celje or Novo mesto.
The most alpine of Slovenia's regions
More than half of Gorenjska, which covers 2 137 km2 (10.5% of the national territory), consists of the Julian Alps and the Karavanke Mountains. A substantial part of these mountains, with their deeply incised valleys reshaped by glaciers, rises above the tree line (around 1 800 m). The Škofja Loka Mountains in the upper reaches of the Sora river are situated in the southern part of the region. They comprise two wider valleys along the Poljanska Sora and the
Selška Sora rivers, with villages, fields and meadows at the bottom and mostly forested ridges with isolated farmsteads on the slopes.
The Upper Sava Valley which lies between the Julian Alps and the Karavanke Mountains opens up into the Ljubljana Basin downstream from Jesenice. The region's economic activity and the population of Gorenjska are concentrated in the northern part of the basin as are almost all the towns. The regional centre Kranj (population 35 600), Škofja Loka (12 300), Tršic (3 900), Radovljica (5 900) and Bled (5 300) are located here. Not many towns are found outside the basin: Jesenice with iron industry (13 400) and tourist-oriented Kranjska Gora (1 400) are in the Upper Sava Valley.
Due to its higher altitudes, the region has a moderate alpine climate with the lowest average temperatures in Slovenia, while in lower parts of the region there is the sub-alpine climate. The average annual temperature in Lesce is 8.8(C, the average monthly temperatures are between -1.2(C in January and 18.7(C in July. The annual precipitation ranges between 1 150 mm and 1 900 mm while substantial snow cover persists for 45-120 days a year in the valleys.
Gorenjska has no ore or fossil fuel deposits. A uranium mine operated near Gorenja vas in the Škofja Loka Mountains between 1981-1990 but was closed down because it was unprofitable. Spruce and beech forests in the lower parts of the Alps and in the Škofja Loka Mountains are an important natural resource since they cover two thirds of the region. Agricultural land covers almost exclusively the Ljubljana Basin and the valleys in the Škofja Loka Mountains.
The abundance of water is also an important natural resource, especially because the rivers in their upper courses are relatively clean and unpolluted. The largest river is the Sava, dammed near Moste for electricity production, while a few small, privately owned hydroelectric plants are installed on several smaller streams. Lakes Bled (1.4 km2) and Bohinj (3.18 km2), situated in the picturesque alpine environment, attract many tourists.
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