Noric Alps
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| Noric Alps | |
| Range | |
 Nock Mountains
|
|
| Country | Austria |
|---|---|
| States | Carinthia, Styria, Lower Styria |
| Part of | Central Eastern Alps |
| Highest point | Eisenhut |
| - elevation | 2,441 m (8,009 ft) |
| - coordinates | 46°57′11″N 13°55′45″E / 46.95306°N 13.92917°E |
 Location of the Noric Alps (19)
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The Noric Alps (German: Norische Alpen) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps located mostly in Austria (98% of the region is Austrian, mainly in the southern Carinthia and Styria states), with a small area in the adjacent Lower Styria region of Slovenia. The name derives from the ancient Noricum province of the Roman Empire.
[edit] Geography
The area covers 9,811 km2 (3,788 sq mi) and stretches 97 km (60 mi) from the upper Mur River in the North to the Drava River in the South and 176 km (109 mi) from the Katschberg Pass in the West to the Mur River in the East. The Noric Alps are surrounded by the Hohe Tauern range in the West and the Low Tauern in the North, in the South they border on the Gailtal Alps, the Karavanke and Pohorje ranges of the Southern Limestone Alps.
The highest point is Eisenhut which, at 2441m is only modest in the context of the Eastern Alps, where many mountains rise above 3000m (10,000ft). Other notable peaks in the range are Rosennock (2,440 m (8,010 ft)), Zirbitzkogel (2,396 m (7,861 ft)) and Großer Speikkogel (2,140 m (7,020 ft)).
In the 19th century, the term Norische Alpen covered the whole group of ranges of the Central Eastern and Northern Limestone Alps east of the Dreiherrnspitze peak. The Italian Partizione delle Alpi classification of 1926 referred to the Noric Alps as the mountain chain from the Mur in the East up to the Brenner Pass in the West, including the High and Low Tauern as well as the Tux and Zillertal Alps.
[edit] Subdivisions
The International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps (SOIUSA) concept specifies the Noric Alps as "Carinthian-Styrian Alps" (Alpi di Stiria e Carinzia). According to the Alpine Club classification the Noric Alps are further subdivided into:
- the Gurktal Alps in the west, with the highest peaks in the Nock Mountains (Nockberge), and
- the Lavanttal Alps in the east,
separated by the Neumarkt Pass. In the south they comprise the Klagenfurt basin and several Carinthian lakes like Wörthersee, Lake Millstatt and Lake Ossiach.
