 I. Introduction
Austria (German Österreich), republic in central Europe, bounded on
the north by the Czech Republic; on the northeast by Slovakia; on the east by Hungary; on
the south by Slovenia, Italy, and Switzerland; and on the west by Liechtenstein,
Switzerland, and Germany. Austria is about 580 km (about 360 mi) long and has an area of
83,858 sq km (32,378 sq mi). Vienna (Wien) is the country's capital and largest city.
II. Land and Resources
Austria is predominantly a mountainous country, with an
average elevation of about 910 m (about 3,000 ft). Most of the land falls within the
eastern division of the Alps. In general the major mountain ranges of Austria run in an
east-west direction and are separated from one another by rather broad valleys. The
northernmost line of ranges includes the North Tirol (Tyrol) Alps and the Salzburg Alps.
Among the central ranges is the Hohe Tauern, which culminates in the Grossglockner, the
highest elevation (3,797 m/12,457 ft) in the country; the Pasterze Glacier, one of
Europe's largest, descends from the Grossglockner peak. The southernmost ranges include
the Ötztal Alps, the Zillertaler Alps, the Carnic Alps, and the Karawanken Mountains.
Besides these east-west ranges, several series of mountain spurs extend in a north-south
direction. The mountain barriers of Austria are broken in many places by passes, including
the Brenner Pass and the Semmering Pass.
The principal areas of Austria that are not within the Alps are the northern and eastern
border sections. The northern section consists of rolling upland, and the eastern border
section comprises part of the Danube basin, including Vienna.
The principal river is the Danube, which enters Austria at Passau on the German border; it
continues its southeastern course, past Linz and Vienna, to Bratislava on the Slovakian
border. Austrian tributaries of the Danube include the Inn (forming part of Austria's
German border), Traun, Enns, and Ybbs rivers. In the south, important rivers are the Mur
and the Mürz. In addition to the rivers, the hydrographic system of the country includes
numerous lakes, notably Bodensee, forming the western border with Liechtenstein and
Switzerland, and Neusiedler Lake in Burgenland, near Hungary. The lake is the country's
lowest elevation point (115 m/377 ft).
III. Population
The Austrian people are German-speaking, but the country has
a varied ethnic mixture—a legacy from the time of the multinational Habsburg Austria.
About 99 percent of the population is ethnic Austrian. Minority groups include Croats and
Hungarians (in Burgenland), Slovenes (in Kärnten [Carinthia]), Czechs (in Vienna), as
well as small numbers of Italians, Serbs, and Romanians. An influx of refugees in the
years following World War II (1939-1945) increased their numbers, and new groups, such as
the Turks, were added.
IV. Economy
The Austrian economy is based on a balance of private and
public enterprise. All the basic industries were nationalized in 1946; these included all
oil production and refining; the largest commercial banks; and the principal companies in
river and air transportation, railroad equipment, electric machinery and appliances,
mining, iron, steel, and chemical manufacturing, and natural-gas and electric power
production. However, government control was reduced through privatization efforts in the
late 1980s and early 1990s, allowing for the sale of shares in many nationalized companies
to private investors. Over the years, Austria maintained close ties with the countries of
Eastern Europe. Since the collapse of Communism in those countries in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, more than 1,000 Western companies have chosen Austria as their base for new
Eastern European operations.
In 1997 the estimated annual national budget included revenues of $76.8 billion and
expenditures of $83.4 billion. Gross domestic product (GDP) was $211.9 billion in 1998.
V. Government
Austria is a democratic, federal republic governed according
to the constitution of 1920, as amended in 1929 and subsequently modified. Like the
constitutions of many other Western democracies, the constitution of Austria provides for
a distinct division of power among the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
branches of government. Laws having their origin in 1862 and 1867 guarantee basic human
rights and liberties; the rights of minorities are also guaranteed by the constitution.
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