 The local Slovene speakers shared the same history, traditions and linguistic features with other Carinthian Slovenes.According to the last Austrian census of 1910, the valley had around 9,000 inhabitants, among whom around a third were Slovene speakers, with the remainder German speakers.In 1918, after the end of World War I, the valley was occupied by the Italian Army, and in 1919 it was officially annexed to Italy.