World Countries Info > Austria > Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was
reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following
annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious
Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty
signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and
forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared
the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet
military withdrawal. This neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian
cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet collapse of
1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995. A prosperous
country, Austria entered the European Monetary Union in 1999.
Geography of Austria
|
Location:
|
Central Europe, north of
Italy and Slovenia |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
47 20 N, 13 20 E |
|
Area:
|
total: 83,858 sq km
water: 1,120 sq km
land: 82,738 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly smaller than Maine |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total: 2,562 km
border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary
366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330
km, Switzerland 164 km |
|
Coastline:
|
0 km (landlocked) |
|
Maritime claims:
|
none (landlocked) |
|
Climate:
|
temperate; continental,
cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain in lowlands and snow in
mountains; cool summers with occasional showers |
|
Terrain:
|
in the west and south
mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly
flat or gently sloping |
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest point:
Neusiedler See 115 m
highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
iron ore, oil, timber,
magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower |
|
Land use:
|
arable land: 16.89%
permanent crops: 0.99%
other: 82.12% (1998 est.) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
457 sq km (2000 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
landslides; avalanches;
earthquakes |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
some forest degradation
caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of
agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal-
and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks
transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe |
|
Geography - note:
|
landlocked; strategic
location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily
traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube;
population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes,
poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
|
More Geography
Population of Austria
|
Population:
|
8,174,762 (July 2004 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years: 15.9% (male 665,680;
female 633,560)
15-64 years: 68.1% (male 2,799,411; female 2,764,426)
65 years and over: 16% (male 518,748; female 792,937) (2004 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total: 40 years
male: 38.8 years
female: 41.2 years (2004 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
0.14% (2004 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
8.9 births/1,000 |
|
Death rate:
|
9.56 deaths/1,000 |
|
Net migration rate:
|
2 migrant(s)/1,000 |
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 5.76 deaths/1,000 live births |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total population: 78.87 years
male: 76 years
female: 81.89 years (2004 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
1.35 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.2% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
9,000 (2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
less than 100 (2001 est.) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Austrian(s)
adjective: Austrian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
German 88.5%, indigenous minorities 1.5%
(includes Croatians, Slovenes, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Roma), recent immigrant groups
10% (includes Turks, Bosnians, Serbians, Croatians) (2001) |
|
Religions:
|
Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 5%, Muslim
4%, other 17% |
|
Languages:
|
German (official nationwide), Slovene
(official in Carinthia), Croatian (official in Burgenland), Hungarian (official in
Burgenland) |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 98%
|
Government
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Republic of
Austria
conventional short form: Austria
local short form: Oesterreich
local long form: Republik Oesterreich |
|
Government type:
|
federal republic |
|
Capital:
|
Vienna |
|
Administrative divisions:
|
9 states (Bundeslaender, singular -
Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten, Niederoesterreich, Oberoesterreich, Salzburg,
Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg, Wien |
|
Independence:
|
1156 (from Bavaria) |
|
National holiday:
|
National Day, 26 October (1955); note -
commemorates the State Treaty restoring national sovereignty and the end of occupation and
the passage of the law on permanent neutrality |
|
Constitution:
|
1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1 May 1945) |
|
Legal system:
|
civil law system with Roman law origin;
judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Court; separate administrative
and civil/penal supreme courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years of age; universal; compulsory for
presidential elections |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief of state: President Thomas
KLESTIL (since 8 July 1992) note - will remain in office until 8 July 2004
head of government: Chancellor Wolfgang SCHUESSEL (OeVP)(since 4 February 2000);
Vice Chancellor Hubert GORBACH (since 21 October 2003)
cabinet: Council of Ministers chosen by the president on the advice of the
chancellor
elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a six-year term;
presidential election last held 25 April 2004 (next to be held NA April 2010); chancellor
traditionally chosen by the president from the plurality party in the National Council;
vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor
note: government coalition - OeVP and FPOe
election results: Heinz FISCHER elected president; percent of vote - Heinz FISCHER
(SPOe) 52.4%, Benita FERRERO-WALDNER (OeVP) 47.6% |
|
Legislative branch:
|
bicameral Federal Assembly or
Bundesversammlung consists of Federal Council or Bundesrat (62 members; members represent
each of the states on the basis of population, but with each state having at least three
representatives; members serve a five- or six-year term) and the National Council or
Nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
election results: National Council - percent of vote by party - OeVP 42.3%, SPOe
36.5%, FPOe 10.0%, Greens 9.5%; seats by party - OeVP 79, SPOe 69, FPOe 18, Greens 17
elections: National Council - last held 24 November 2002 (next to be held in the
fall of 2006) |
|
Judicial branch:
|
Supreme Judicial Court or Oberster
Gerichtshof; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof; Constitutional Court or
Verfassungsgerichtshof |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
Austrian People's Party or OeVP [Wolfgang
SCHUESSEL]; Freedom Party of Austria (also known as the Liberal Party) or FPOe [Herbert
HAUPT]; Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe [Alfred GUSENBAUER]; The Greens
[Alexander VAN DER BELLEN] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
Austrian Trade Union Federation (nominally
independent but primarily Socialist) or OeGB; Federal Economic Chamber; OeVP-oriented
League of Austrian Industrialists or VOeI; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay
organization, Catholic Action; three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party or
OeVP representing business, labor, and farmers and other non-government organizations in
the areas of environment and human rights |
Economy
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is
closely tied to other EU 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 held the economy to 0.7% growth in 2001, 1.4% in 2002, and again less than 1%
in 2003. However, recent data signal that the recovery has started. The government
estimates economic growth in 2004 of 1.7-2.1% and of 2.5% in 2005. The government is
planning a EURO 500 billion income tax cut in 2004, though some economists doubt it will
have stimulative effects in 2004, because it will be offset by higher health insurance
contributions and higher taxes on energy. For 2005, Austria plans a tax cut of EURO 2.5
billion and harmonization of the various pension schemes. To meet increased competition
from both EU and Central European countries, particularly the new EU members, Austria
will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate
the service sector, and lower its tax burden. A key issue is the encouragement of much
greater participation in the labor market by its aging population.
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $245.5 billion
(2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
0.8% (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $30,000 (2003
est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 2%
industry: 33%
services: 65% (2002 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
3.9% (1999) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 22.5% (1995) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
31 (1995) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
1.2% (2003 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
4.3 million (2001) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
services 67%, industry and crafts 29%,
agriculture and forestry 4% (2001 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
4.3% (2003 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $67 billion
expenditures: $70 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2004 est.) |
|
Industries:
|
construction, machinery, vehicles and
parts, food, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications
equipment, tourism |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
3.8% (2001 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
58.75 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel: 29.3%
hydro: 67.2%
other: 3.5% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
54.85 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
14.25 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
14.47 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Oil - production:
|
20,670 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
262,400 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports:
|
35,470 bbl/day (2001) |
|
Oil - imports:
|
262,000 bbl/day (2001) |
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
85.69 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
1.731 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
7.81 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
403 million cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
6.033 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
24.9 billion cu m (1 January 2002) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit;
dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber |
|
Exports:
|
$83.45 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and
parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel; textiles, foodstuffs |
|
Exports - partners:
|
Germany 31.5%, Italy 9.3%, Switzerland
5.4%, US 4.9%, UK 4.9%, France 4.7%, Hungary 4.3% (2002) |
|
Imports:
|
$81.59 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
machinery and equipment, motor vehicles,
chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs |
|
Imports - partners:
|
Germany 42.6%, Italy 6.6%, Hungary 5.1%,
Switzerland 4.8%, Netherlands 4.4% (2002) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$15.5 billion (2003 est.) |
|
Economic aid - donor:
|
ODA, $520 million (2002) |
|
Currency:
|
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a
common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; as of 1
January 2002, the euro became the only legal tender in EMU member countries, including
Austria |
|
Currency code:
|
EUR |
|
Exchange rates:
|
euros per US dollar - 0.89 (2003), 1.06
(2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999) |
SOURCES: The CIA World Factbook, U.S. Department of State, Area Handbook of the US Library of Congress
Some Copyrights Reserved © 2006 Free Global Information
|
