Salzbourg (Land)

Salzburg (ˈsaltsbʊʁk, ˈzaltsbʊʁk;Soizbuag, also known as Salzburgerland; Salisburghese) is a province (Land) of Austria. It is officially named Land Salzburg to distinguish it from its eponymous capital — the city of Salzburg. For centuries, it was an independent Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. Salzburg Province covers an area of . It stretches along its main river — the Salzach – which rises in the Central Eastern Alps in the south to the Alpine foothills in the north. It is located in the north-west of Austria, close to the border with the German state of Bavaria; to the northeast lies the province of Upper Austria; to the east the province of Styria; to the south the provinces of Carinthia and Tyrol. With 561,714 inhabitants, it is one of the country's smaller provinces in terms of population. Running through the south are the main ranges of the Alpine divide (incl. the Hohe Tauern mountains) with numerous three-thousanders. The Dachstein massif and the Berchtesgaden Alps ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps border Salzburg Province to the east and north. The province is traditionally subdivided in five major regions (Gaue), congruent with its political districts (Bezirke, see administrative divisions). In the northern part: Flachgau (Salzburg city and environs), the flat (flach) Salzburg Basin around the confluence of Salzach and Saalach, stretching from the slopes of the Salzkammergut Mountains in the east to the Untersberg massif and the Chiemgau Alps in the west. Tennengau (district capital Hallein), named after the Tennen Mountains, including the broad Salzach Valley south of Salzburg and the surrounding ranges of the Limestone Alps. The southern, mountainous (colloquially Innergebirg) part is divided into: Pinzgau (Zell am See) in the southwest, Pongau (Sankt Johann im Pongau) on Salzach and Enns, and Lungau (Tamsweg) in the southeast, separated by the Niedere Tauern range. Salzburg municipalities with town privileges: Salzburg city (pop.