The Gurk (; ) is a river 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 state of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, a left tributary of the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

. With a length of it is the longest river that flows entirely within Carinthia. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is , which covers about 27% of the state's territory. Reichenau Seebach Gurktal 18032011 222

The Gurk rises in the

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains ( or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised by numerous dome ...

(Gurktal Alps) of the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...

, near the border with the Austrian state of

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 ...

. Its sources are two small

cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...

lakes, the Gurksee and the Torersee near Albeck and the

Turracher Höhe Pass Turracher Höhe, also called Turracherhöhe, refers to a village, a pass across the Alps, and a countryside in the Gurktal Alps in Austria. The village and the Turracher Lake at the pass, which both share the same name, are separated by the bor ...

, a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

since 1981. The Gurksee has an elevation of , an area of , and is deep; the Torersee lies above sea level, has an area of , and is deep. Since both lake are frozen in the winter, they contain no fish. It flows southwest to Ebene Reichenau and then turns eastwards running through

Gnesau Gnesau is a town in the district of Feldkirchen in the Austrian state of Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains an ...

and the Gurktal valley to the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

of Gurk. Near

Straßburg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department and the official seat of the European Parliament. The cit ...

it again turns to the south, enters the Klagenfurt basin, and flows into the Drava west of

Völkermarkt Völkermarkt (; ) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north of the Karaw ...

. Its tributaries include the , the

Metnitz Metnitz () is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography Metnitz lies in the north of Carinthia and includes most of the Metnitz valley and the surrounding Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (, ) ...

(left), and the Glan (right).

References

*The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent. *W. Honsig-Erlenburg, G. Wieser: ''Die Gurk und ihre Seitengewässer''. Verlag des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1997, Rivers of Carinthia Rivers of Austria {{Austria-river-stub