Austria

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Republik Österreich</font></caption>

(In detail) (Full size)
National motto: none
Official languages:	German, regional: Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian
Capital:  - Population:  - Coordinates:	Vienna (Wien) 1,550,123 (2001) 48°13'N, 16°22'E
Largest city:	Vienna (Wien)
Head of State:	Heinz Fischer, President
Head of Government:	Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor
Area:  - Total:  - % water:	World ranking: 112th 83,858 km² 1.3%
Land borders: Coastline:	2,562 km none
Population:  - Total:  - Density:	World ranking: 86th 8,150,836 (2000) 97/km²
Independence:	27 July 1955
National Day:	26 October
Religions:	Roman Catholic 84% Protestant 6%
Currency:	Euro (€)¹ = 100 cents
Time zone:  - in summer:	CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2)
National anthem:	Land Der Berge, Land Am Strome (German: Land Of Mountains, Land On The River)
Internet TLD:	.at
Calling Code:	43
¹ prior to 1999, Schilling (ATS)=100 Groschen

The Republic of Austria or Austria (German Republik Österreich or Österreich) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is a parliamentary democracy. Austria has been a member of the UN since 1955 and the European Union since 1995. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.

History

Main article: History of Austria

After being conquered by the Romans, Huns, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Bavarii and Franks, Austria was under the rule of the Babenbergs from the 10th to the 13th century. The Babenbergs were then succeeded by the Habsburgs, whose line continued to govern Austria until the 20th century.

After the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Empire of Austria was founded, which was transfomed in 1867 into the double-monarchy Austria-Hungary. The empire was split into several independent states after the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, leading to Austria as it is today.

In 1918 Austria became a republic, which lasted until 1934 when the chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß established a dictatorship.

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 (the Anschluss). After the defeat of the Nazis, the Allies occupied Austria at the end of World War II until 1955, when the country again became a fully independent republic under the condition that it remained neutral (see also: Austrian State Treaty). However, after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, Austria became increasingly involved in European affairs, and in 1995, Austria joined the European Union, and the Euro monetary system in 1999.

Origin of name

The German name Österreich can be loosely translated into English as either eastern realm or eastern empire, which is derived from the Old German Ostarrîchi. The term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the Medieval Latin name for the region: Marchia orientalis, which translates as "eastern border," as it was situated at the eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire. Interestingly, the derivation of the Latin name from the original Old German gives rise to the use of "Aust-" for east, rather than south as in Classical Latin.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Austria

Austria has been a federal, parliamentary democracy republic since the Federal Constitution of 1920, which was again reintroduced in 1945 to the nine states of the Federal Republic. The head of state is the Federal President, who is directly elected. The chairman of the Federal Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the president and voted into office by the majority of the Nationalrat, the National Council of Austria. The government can be recalled by a vote of no confidence in the National Council.

The Austrian parliament consists of two chambers. The composition of the Nationalrat is determined every four years by a free general election in which every citizen is allowed to vote to fill the 183 seats of the Natioanlrat. A "Four Percent Hurdle" prevents a large splintering of the political landscape in the Nationalratl by preventing any political party that received less than four percent of the general vote to assume seats in the Nationalrat. The Nationalrat is the dominate chamber in the formation of legislation in Austria. However, the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat has the right of veto, which the Nationalrat lacks except in exceptional situations. A convention, called the Österreich Konvent was convened in 1 June 2003 to decide upon suggestions to reform the constitution to allow the Nationalrat the power of veto. It has until 31 December 2004 to submit its conclusions.

See also: List of political parties in Austria

Federal States and cities

The nine Austrian states are devided into districts known as Bezirke.

The largest cities in Austria are:

Source of population data: Statistics Austria - Census 2001

See also: States of Austria

Administrative divisions

Main article: States of Austria

A federal republic, Austria is divided into nine states, or Bundesländer (singular Bundesland).

Burgenland Carinthia Lower Austria Upper Austria Salzburg Styria Tyrol Vorarlberg Vienna

Geography

Main article: Geography of Austria

Around 60 percent of Austria is mountainus due to its location in the Central Eastern Alps, which can be subdevided into the Tirolean Alps, the High and Low Tauern, Northern Limestone Alps, Southern Limestone Alps, and the Wienerwald.

The Five Regions of Austria

1. Austrian granite plateau, located in the central mountainous area of the Bohemian Mass (8500 km², 10.1% of the total area)
2. Austrian portion of foothills of the the Alps and the Carpathians (9500 km², 12.3%)
3. Austrian portion of the Alps (52600 km², 62.8%)
4. Austrian portion of the Viennese basin (3700 km², 4.4%)
5. Foothills in the east, Austrian area around the periphery of the Pannoni low country. (9500 km², 12.3%)

Out of the total area of Austria (84,000 km²) only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32 percent of the country is below 500 metres.

The five highest mountains in Austria are:

Economy

Main article: Economy of Austria

Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other European Union economies, especially Germany's. Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspirant economies. Slow growth in Germany and elsewhere in the world affected Austria, slowing its growth to 1.2% in 2001. To meet increased competition from both EU and Central European countries, Austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate the service sector, and lower its tax burden.

The town of Kaprun in the state of Salzburg

See also: List of Austrian companies

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Austria

Austrians, by far the country's largest ethnic group, form between 85% and 89% of Austria's population. Around ten percent of Austria's people are of non-Austrian descent, many from surrounding countries, especially from the former East Bloc nations. The Austrian federal states of Carinthia and Styria are home to a significant (indigenous) Slovenian minority with around 18,000 members. So-called guest workers (Gastarbeiter) and their descendants also form an important minority group in Austria. The official language, German, is spoken by almost all residents of the country. Austria's mountainous terrain lead to the development of many distinct German dialects. All of the dialects in the country, however, belong to Austro-Bavarian groups of German dialects, with the exception of the dialect spoken in its west-most Bundesland, Vorarlberg, which belongs to the group of Alemannic dialects.

There is also a distinct grammatical standard for Austrian German with a few differences to the German spoken in Germany.

Religion

73.6% of the native population identify themselves as Roman Catholic, while 4.7% consider themselves Protestant. About 12% of the population does not belong to any church or religious community. Of the remaining people, about 180,000 are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church, about 7,300 are Jewish, around 300,000 are members of different Muslim religious communities.

Well-known Austrians

Main article: List of Austrians

Austria has been the birthplace for several famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss, Sr., Johann Strauss, Jr. and Gustav Mahler; it is also the home of members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg.

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria.

Other famous Austrians include physicists Ludwig Boltzmann, Erwin Schrödinger, Wolfgang Pauli and Christian Doppler (Doppler effect), as well as philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein or Karl Popper, mathematician Kurt Gödel, psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud or Alfred Adler, economists Joseph Schumpeter or Friedrich Hayek, poet Peter Rosegger, painter Gustav Klimt, and engineer Ferdinand Porsche. Famous contemporary playwrights and novelists are Elfriede Jelinek and Peter Handke.

Being situated in the Alps, Austria has been the homeland of many great alpine skiers, such as Toni Sailer, Hermann Maier, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Anita Wachter.

Also the current governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is Austrian.

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Austria
• Transportation in Austria
• Military of Austria
• Foreign relations of Austria
• Austria/Language
• Tourism in Austria
• Stamps and postal history of Austria
• Public holidays in Austria
• Reporters without borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2002: Rank 26 out of 139 countries (three-way tie)

Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

External links

• Website of the Federal Chancellery of Austria (German, English)
• "Alltag raus, Österreich rein" Official homepage of the Austrian National Tourist Office (German, English and other languages)
• Aeiou - Austrian cultural information system of the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture Hyperwave-based cultural information system, a bit like a moderated culture wiki.
• Library of Congress Portals on the World - Austria
• CIA's Factbook on Austria
• The Symbols of Austria
• Austria travel guide
• Austria Pictures
• ORF - Austria Radio stations (live feed)
• 0RF.at - 0€stria nonopoly
• Country Studies - Austria

European Union (EU)
Austria | Belgium | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Netherlands | Poland | Portugal | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | United Kingdom

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