Carinthia (Kärnten ˈkɛʁntn̩; Koroška kɔˈɾóːʃka, Carinzia) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, forms of a South Slavic language that predominated in the southeastern part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority in the area.
Carinthia's main industries are tourism, electronics, engineering, forestry, and agriculture.
The etymology of the name "Carinthia", similar to Carnia or Carniola, has not been conclusively established. The Ravenna Cosmography (about AD 700) referred to a Slavic "Carantani" tribe as the eastern neighbours of the Bavarians. In his History of the Lombards, the 8th-century chronicler Paul the Deacon mentions "Slavs in Carnuntum, which is erroneously called Carantanum" (Carnuntum, quod corrupte vocitant Carantanum) for the year 663.
"Carantani" may have been formed from a toponymic base carant- which ultimately derives from pre-Indo-European root *karra 'rock'. (cf. carantàn), or that it is of Celtic origin and derived from *karantos 'friend, ally'.
Likewise the Slovene name *korǫtanъ may have been adopted from the Latin *carantanum. The toponym Carinthia (Slovene: Koroška < Proto-Slavic *korǫt’ьsko) is also claimed to be etymologically related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia.
Carinthia is known as Koruška in Croatian, Korutany in Czech, Kärnten in German, Karintia in Hungarian, Carinzia in Italian, Carintia in Spanish, Karyntia in Polish, Korutánsko in Slovak, and Koroška in Slovene.
The state stretches about from east to west, and in a north-south direction. With , it is the fifth-largest Austrian state by area. Most of the larger Carinthian towns and lakes are situated within the Klagenfurt Basin in the southeast, an inner Alpine sedimentary basin covering about one-fifth of the area. These Lower Carinthian lands differ from the mountainous Upper Carinthian region in the northwest, stretching up to the Alpine crest.