General information: Austria, which was once the core of the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire, after the defeat in the First World War turned into a small republic. The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938 and its subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies led to the signing of the State Treaty in 1955 declaring the country “permanently neutral”, which was a condition for the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Neutrality, which has become an integral part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the collapse of the USSR and Austria began to play an increasingly prominent role in European affairs. A prosperous country that joined the European Union in 1995 and joined the single European currency zone in 1999. See areacodesexplorer.com to know more about Austria History.
Geography
Location: Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia.
Geographic coordinates: 47° 20′ N. latitude, 13° 20′ E
Reference map: Europe.
Area: total: 83,858 km2; land surface area: 82,738 km2; water surface area: 1,120 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maine.
Land borders: total: 2,562 km; with neighboring states: with the Czech Republic 362 km, with Germany 784 km, with Hungary 366 km, with Italy 430 km, with Liechtenstein 35 km, with Slovakia 91 km, with Slovenia 330 km, with Switzerland 164 km.
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked).
Maritime claims: none (landlocked).
Climate: temperate; continental, cloudy; winters are cold with frequent rains on the plains and snow in the mountains; summers are cool with occasional showers.
Relief: mountains (Alps) dominate in the west and south; along the eastern and northern borders it is mostly flat or hilly.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Neusiedler See lake 115m; highest point: Mount Grossglockner 3,798 m.
Natural resources: iron ore, oil, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower, timber.
Land use: arable land: 17%; cultivated land: 1%; pastures: 23%; forests and plantations: 39%; others: 20% (1996 est.).
Irrigated land: 40 km2 (1993 est.).
Natural Hazards: no data.
Current environmental issues: some degradation of forests as a result of air and soil pollution; soil pollution due to the use of chemicals in agriculture; air pollution resulting from emissions from coal-fired and oil-fired power plants, as well as industrial plants and trucks crossing Austria, located between Northern and Southern Europe.
International agreements on environmental protection: participant: Air Pollution, Air Pollution – Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution – Sulfur 1985, Air Pollution – Sulfur 1994, Air Pollution – Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Change, Hazardous Waste, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 1983, Tropical Timber 1994, Wetlands, Whaling; signed but not ratified: Air Pollution – Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctica – Environmental Protection Protocol, Kyoto Protocol.
Note to the section “Geography”: Austria is landlocked; strategically, it is a crossroads of Central Europe with numerous easily accessible alpine passes and mountain valleys; the main river is the Danube; The population is concentrated on the plains in the east of the country, as other parts are dominated by steep slopes, infertile soils and low temperatures.
Population
Population: 8,150,835 (July 2001 est.).
Age structure: under 14: 16.57% (male 691,925; female 658,375); 15 to 64 years old: 68.05% (male 2,802,019; female 2,744,536); over 65: 15.38% (male 478,498; female 775,482) (2001 OC).
Population growth: 0.24% (2001 est.).
Birth rate: 9.74 newborns / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Mortality: 9.8 deaths / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Migration: 2.45 people / 1000 people (2001 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male/female; under 15: 1.05 male/female; 15 to 64 years old: 1.02 male/female; over 65: 0.62 male/female; for the general population: 0.95 male/female. (2001 est.);
Child mortality: 4.44 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.).
Life expectancy: for the general population: 77.84 years; men: 74.68 years; women: 81.15 years (2001 est.);
General birth rate: 1.39 children/wives. (2001 est.).
Proportion of adults infected with HIV: 0.23% (1999 est.).
Number of people infected with HIV: 9,000 (1999 est.).
AIDS deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.).
Nationality: noun: Austrian; adjective: Austrian.
Ethnic groups: Germans 98%, Croats, Slovenes, others (including Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Gypsies).
Believers: Catholics 78%, Protestants 5%, Muslims and others 17%.
Languages): Deutsch.
Literacy: definition: persons aged 15 and over who can read and write; for the general population: 98%; men: no data; women: no data. State Name:
Politics
Common long form: Republic of Austria;
conventional short form: Austria; local long form: Republik Oesterreich; local short form: Oesterreich.
State structure: federal republic.
Capital: Vienna.
Administrative division: 9 lands (bundes-land): Burgenland, Vienna, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Styria.
Independence: from 1156 (until 1156 – as part of Bavaria).
National holiday: National Day, 26 October (1955); note – the adoption of the law on permanent neutrality is noted.
Constitution: adopted 1920; revised 1929 (restored 1 May 1945).
Legal system: civil law system based on Roman law; legislative acts are reviewed by the Constitutional Court; independent administrative and civil (criminal) supreme courts; does not accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
Suffrage: from 19 years old; universal; mandatory for presidential elections.
chief of state: President Thomas KLESTIL (since 8 July 1992)
head of government: Chancellor Wolfgang SCHUESSEL (OeVP) (since 4 February 2000); Vice Chancellor Susanne RIESS-PASSER (FPOe) (since 4 February 2000);
Government: a council of ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor; elections: the president is elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term; presidential elections were last held on April 19, 1998 (next to be held in spring 2004); the president usually appoints the representative of the largest party in the National Council as chancellor; if a coalition is formed, then after the majority party fails to form a cabinet, a representative of another party can become chancellor; the vice-chancellor is appointed by the president on the proposal of the chancellor; election results: Thomas CLESTIL re-elected president; percentage of votes – Thomas KLESTIL 63%, Gertraud KNOLL (Gertraud KNOLL) 14%, Heide SCHMIDT (Heide SCHMIDT) 11%, Richard LUGNER (Richard LUGNER) 10%, Karl NOVAK (Karl NOWAK) 2%; note: ruling coalition includes FPOe and OeVP.
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung), consisting of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) (64 members; each of the states is represented according to the population, but not less than three representatives from each state; members of the chamber are elected for a four- or six-year term) and the National council (Nationalrat) (183 seats; members of the chamber are elected by direct universal suffrage for a four-year term); elections: for the National Council last held 3 October 1999 (next to be held in autumn 2003); election results: National Council – distribution of votes between parties – SPOe 33.2%, OeVP 26.9%, FPOe 26.9%, Greens 7.4%; seat distribution – SPOe 65, OeVP 52, FPOe 52, green 14.
Judiciary: Supreme Court (Oberster Ge-richtshof); Administrative Court (Verwaltungs-gerichtshof); Constitutional Court (Verfassungs-gerichtshof).
Political parties and leaders: Austrian People’s Party (OeVP) (Wolfgang SCHUSSEL, Chairman); Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe) (Suzanne RIES-PASSER); Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPOe) (Alfred GUSENBAUER, chairman); Green Alternative (GA) (Alexander VAN DER BELLEN).
Political influence groups and their leaders: Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (OeGB) (mainly socialists); Federal Economic Chamber; the OeVP-oriented League of Austrian Industrialists (Voel); the Roman Catholic Church, including its main secular organization, Catholic Action; three leagues belonging to the Austrian People’s Party (OeVP), reflecting the interests of businessmen, workers and farmers.
Participation in international organizations: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC.
US Diplomatic Mission: Head of Mission: Ambassador Peter MOSER; office: 3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035; phone: [1] (202) 895-6700; fax: [1] (202) 895-6750; consulates general: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
US Diplomatic Mission: Chief of Mission: Ambassador Kathryn Walt HALL; embassy: Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091, Vienna; postal address: use the address of the embassy; phone: [43] (1) 313-39-2060; fax: [43] (1) 313-39-2057.
Description of the flag: three equal horizontal stripes of red (top), white and red.
