It covers an area of 9,536 km² with 559,404 inhabitants (2001).

It consist mostly of a basin inside the Alps, with the Carnian Alps and the Karawanken making up the border to Italy and Slovenia. The Tauern mountains divide it from Salzburg. To the East lies the state of Styria and it makes up a continuous valley with the eastern part of the Tyrol to the West. Its lakes are a major tourist attraction. The main river is the Drave.

The capital is Klagenfurt . The next important town is Villach ; these two towns are strongly linked economically. Other towns and villages include Malta.

The people are predominantly German-speaking with a unique (and easily recognizable) dialect. A Slovenian minority of about 14,000 people is concentrated in the southeast of the country.

The once-independent Duchy of Carinthia was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire until it was dissolved in 1806, then a crownland of Austria-Hungary. The Carinthian Plebiscite on October 10, 1920, determined the lines of division between what is today Austria and Slovenia.

Carinthia's main industries are tourism, electronics, engineering, forestry and agriculture. The multinational corporations Philips and Siemens have large operations there.

Carinthia has a continental climate, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades winters have been exceptionally arid. Average sun index is the highest in Austria. In autumn and winter temperature inversion often dominates the climate, characterised by air stillness, a dense fog covering the frosty valleys and trapping pollution to form smog, while mild sunny weather is recorded higher up in the foothills and mountains.