Styria (Slovene: Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (Slovenska Štajerska) or Lower Styria (Spodnja Štajerska; German: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia. The largest city is Maribor.

Use of the name

In the 19th century the Styrian duchy, which existed as a distinct political-administrative entity from 1180 to 1918, used to be divided into three traditional regions: Upper Styria (Obersteiermark; Zgornja Štajerska) and Central Styria (Mittelsteiermark; Srednja Štajerska), as well as Lower Styria, stretching from the Mur River and the Slovene Hills in the north down to the Sava. The first two parts, predominantly German-speaking, today form the Austrian state of Styria (Steiermark). The southern third, predominantly Slovene-speaking, is today part of Slovenia.

Styria (German: Steiermark, German pronunciation: [ˈʃtaɪ.ɐmaʁk], Slovene/Croatian: Štajerska, Hungarian: Stájerország) is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 square kilometres (6,332 sq mi). It borders Slovenia and the Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The population (as of 2011) was 1,210,700. The capital city is Graz which had 276,526 inhabitants at the beginning of 2015.

Etymology

The March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar dynasty: Steyr, in today's Upper Austria. In German, the area is still called "Steiermark" while in English the Latin name "Styria" is used. The ancient link between Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of arms, a white Panther on a green background.

Geography

The term "Upper Styria" (German: Obersteiermark) used by an Austrian refers to the northern and northwestern parts of the federal-state (districts Liezen, Murau, Judenburg, Knittelfeld, Leoben, Bruck an der Mur, and Mürzzuschlag). The term "West Styria" (Weststeiermark) is used for the districts to the west of Graz (Voitsberg, Deutschlandsberg, western part of the district Leibnitz); the districts east of Graz (Weiz, Hartberg, Feldbach, Fürstenfeld, and Radkersburg) are referred to as "East Styria" (Oststeiermark). The western and eastern parts of the district Graz-Umgebung may or may not be considered parts of West and East Styria, respectively. The southern parts of the Duchy of Styria, which have formed part of Yugoslavia or Slovenia since 1918 (with the exception of World War II), were (and sometimes colloquially still are) referred to as "Lower Styria" (Untersteiermark; Slovene: Štajerska).

Styria is a federal state of Austria.

Styria may also refer to:

See also

The Styria Media Group AG, often referred to as just Styria, is an Austrian media company founded in 1869 and based in Graz. The company is one of the largest media companies in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, and is also present in several other countries. Styria publishes a number of daily papers and weekly magazines, several news websites, and operates two radio stations and a television channel. They also incorporate 7 book publishing companies. The group generated a market turnover of 454 million euros in 2009.

As of 2015 the Styria Media Group and the Moser Holding Aktiengesellschaft each own 50% of Regionalmedien Austria. This company publishes free (advertiser-funded) local newspapers throughout Austria. The company's original markets are the Styria and Carinthia regions of Austria, where they publish their flagship daily Kleine Zeitung and a number of regional weeklies. On a national level, the company publishes Vienna-based daily Die Presse, the business daily WirtschaftsBlatt and the weekly magazine Die Furche.