Upper Styria (), in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the

federal state A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the c ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. The southeastern half of the state around the capital of

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

is known as Central Styria (''Mittelsteiermark''), which is further divided into Eastern and Western Styria (east and west of Graz).

Geography

Upper Styria is separated from Central Styria by the Stubalpe and Gleinalpe ranges of the Lavanttal Alps, and the Prealps East of the Mur. It is a generally rural region characterized by agriculture and tourism, except for the area between the towns of Judenburg and Mürzzuschlag, in the valley formed by the rivers Mur and Mürz, with extensive industrial sites. The area around Altaussee in the far northwest is part of the Austrian

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...

cultural landscape. The ''Obersteiermark'' region consists of five

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

: * Murau * Liezen * Murtal (former Judenburg and

Knittelfeld Knittelfeld () is a city in Styria, Austria, located on the banks of the Mur River, Mur river. The name of the town has become notorious for the Knittelfeld Putsch of September 7, 2002, a party meeting of the Freedom Party of Austria, which resul ...

) *

Leoben Leoben () is a Styrian city in central Austria, located on the Mur River, Mur river. With a population in 2023 of about 25,140 it is a local industrial centre and hosts the University of Leoben, which specialises in mining. The Peace of Leoben, ...

* Bruck-Mürzzuschlag.

Usage in Slovenia

In Slovenian usage, the term Upper Styria (''Zgornja Štajerska'') refers to the whole Austrian state of Styria—as opposed to the traditional region called

Lower Styria Styria (, ), also known as Slovenian Styria (; ) or Lower Styria (; ) to differentiate it from Austrian Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of St ...

(''Spodnja Štajerska''), Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or just Styria (''Štajerska''), the southern third of the former

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

which after World War I was allotted to the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

according to the 1919 Treaty of Saint Germain and is today part of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Geography

Usage in Slovenia

See also