Upper Styria
In the 19th century the Styrian duchy, which existed as a distinct political-administrative entity from 1180 to 1918, used to be divided into three traditional regions: Upper Styria ("Obersteiermark"; "Zgornja Štajerska") and Central Styria ("Mittelsteiermark"; "Srednja Štajerska"), as well as Lower Styria, stretching from the Mur River and the Slovene Hills in the north down to the Sava. Upper Styria and Central Styria, predominantly German-speaking, today form the Austrian state of Styria ("Steiermark"). The southern third, predominantly Slovene-speaking Lower Styria, became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) after World War I. After World War II, it became part of the predecessor of modern Slovenia, the Socialist Republic of Slovenia.