Karawanken

(German; Slovene, Karavanke), a mountain range in the eastern Alps, in Austria and Yugoslavia. It extends from west to east for about 100 km and rises to an elevation of 2, 558 m. The mountains are composed primarily of limestone and dolomite. The crest of the range is deeply dissected, with steep slopes, trough valleys, and karst. The slopes are covered with broad-leaved forests (oak and beech) and coniferous forests (spruce, fir, and pine). Above 1, 700–1, 800 m there is scrub vegetation and alpine meadows. The Klagenfurt (Austria)-Ljubljana (Yugoslavia) railroad line passes through the Karawanken.