The Sava Hills () are the eastern part of the Slovene Prealps. They are oriented in the east-west direction and are located to the north and south of the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

River in central and eastern

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 ...

, among the Ljubljana Basin to the west, the Celje Basin to the north, the Lower Carniola valley system and the Krško Basin to the south, and the Sotla Hills to the east. They cover an area of and are the largest

n mesoregion. The region has an average elevation of only , and an average inclination of 16.6°. It is water-rich, because the ground contains copious impermeable rocks, particularly

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and conglomerate at lower elevations, whereas at higher elevations, it mainly consists of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite. Predominantly deciduous forest covers almost two thirds of the area. The Sava flows through its central part from the west to the east. Notable rises along it are Kum () to the south of the Sava, Mount Čemšenik (), Javor (), and Mrzlica () to the north of the Sava and to the west of the

Savinja The Savinja () is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja Valley () and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps (Sln. ''Savinjske Alpe''). It flows into ...

River, and Bohor () and Lisca () to the north of the Sava and the east of the Savinja. The Savinja flows through the hills transversely from the Celje Basin and joins the Sava at Zidani Most. About 135,000 people live in the Sava Hills. The settlements Litija in the Litija Basin and Trbovlje, Zagorje ob Savi, and Hrastnik in the narrow Central Sava Valley are known by their mining and timber rafting past and the energetics industry. The town of Radeče at the beginning of the wider Lower Sava Valley is known after paper industry. Other economic activities in the region are services, forestry, and livestock production. A railroad links places along the Sava and another one links places along the Savinja, both joining at Zidani Most. Since 2005, a highway crosses the northern Sava Hills and connects the Ljubljana Basin and the Celje Basin through the Trojane Tunnel. A historically important old road crosses them over the Trojane Pass ().

References

External links

* Hills of Slovenia Sava basin Natura 2000 in Slovenia {{coord, 46, 5, 16.28, N, 15, 4, 22.72, E, type:mountain_region:SI, display=title