Austria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 04/2015
Republic of Austria
Republik Österreich (German)
Anthem:
Land der Berge, Land am Strome (German)
Land of Mountains, Land by the River
Capitol and largest city
Vienna
48°12′N 16°21′E
Official languages
German
Ethnic groups (2012)
• 81.1% Austrians
• 2.7% Germans
• 2.2% Turks
• 8.9% other / unspecified
Demonym
Austrian
Government
Federal parliamentary republic
• President
• Chancellor
• President of the National Council
Legislature
Parliament
Upper house
• Federal Council
Lower house
• National Council
Independence
Margraviate of Austria
• 976
Duchy of Austria
• 1156
Archduchy of Austria
• 1453
Austrian Empire
• 1804
Austro-Hungarian Empire
• 1867
First Republic
• 1918
Federal State
• 1934
Anschluss
• 1938
Second Republic
• since 1945
State Treaty in effect
• 27 July 1955
Area
• Total: 83,879 km2 (115th) - 32,385.86 sq mi
• Water (%): 1.7
Population: 01.01.2015 estimate
8,579,747 (94th)
Density
101.4/km2 (106th) - 262.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP): 2014 estimate
• Total: $373.133 billion
• Per capita: $43,796
Currency
Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone
CET (UTC+01) - Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+02)
Drives on the
right
Calling code
+43
ISO 3166 code
AT
Internet TLD
.at
Austria (German: Österreich), officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.5 million people in Central Europe.
It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
The territory of Austria covers 83,879 square kilometres (32,386 sq mi) and has an alpine climate.
Austria's terrain is highly mountainous, lying within the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft).
The majority of the population speak local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and Austrian German in its standard form is the country's official language.
Other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the time of the Reformation, many Northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion.
The Thirty Years War, the influence of the Kingdom of Sweden and Kingdom of France, the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Napoleonic invasions all weakened the power of the Emperor in the North of Germany, but in the South, and in non-German areas of the Empire, the Emperor and Catholicism maintained control.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria was able to retain its position as one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804.
Following Napoleon's defeat, Prussia emerged as Austria's chief competitor for rule of a larger Germany.
Austria's defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany.
In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
After the defeat of France in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Austria was left out of the formation of a new German Empire, although in the following decades its politics, and its foreign policy, increasingly converged with those of the Prussian-led Empire.
During the 1914 July Crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Germany guided Austria in issuing the ultimatum to Serbia that led to the declaration of World War I.
After the collapse of the Habsburg (Austro-Hungarian) Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I, Austria adopted and used the name the Republic of German-Austria (Deutschösterreich, later Österreich) in an attempt for union with Germany, but was forbidden due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919).
The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919.
In the 1938 Anschluss, Austria was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany.
This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria's former democratic constitution was restored.
In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation.
In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral.
Today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states.
The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna.
Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $52,216 (2014 est.).
The country has developed a high standard of living and in 2011 was ranked 19th in the world for its Human Development Index.
Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, and is a founder of the OECD.
Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.
ETYMOLOGY
The German name for Austria, Österreich, means "eastern realm" or "eastern empire", and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi, which first appears in the "Ostarrîchi document" of 996.
This word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local (Bavarian) dialect.
Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976.
The word "Austria" is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century.
The Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern day Austria, in around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid 1st century AD.
LARGEST CITIES OR TOWNS IN AUSTRIA
Statistik Austria 1 January 2012
Rank: 1
Name: Vienna
State: Vienna
Population: 1,775,843
Rank: 2
Name: Graz
State: Styria
Population: 269,997
Rank: 3
Name: Linz
State: Upper Austria
Population: 193,814
Rank: 4
Name: Salzburg
State: Salzburg
Population: 146,631
Rank: 5
Name: Innsbruck
State: Tyrol
Population: 124,579
Rank: 6
Name: Klagenfurt
State: Carinthia
Population: 96,640
Rank: 7
Name: Villach
State: Carinthia
Population: 60,004
Rank: 8
Name: Wels
State: Upper Austria
Population: 59,339
Rank: 9
Name: Sankt Pölten
State: Lower Austria
Population: 52,145
Rank: 10
Name: Dornbirn
State: Vorarlberg
Population: 46,883
Rank: 11
Name: Wiener Neustadt
State: Lower Austria
Population: 42,273
Rank: 12
Name: Steyr
State: Upper Austria
Population: 38,120
Rank: 13
Name: Feldkirch
State: Vorarlberg
Population: 31,428
Rank: 14
Name: Bregenz
State: Vorarlberg
Population: 28,412
Rank: 15
Name: Leonding
State: Upper Austria
Population: 26,174
Rank: 16
Name: Klosterneuburg
State: Lower Austria
Population: 26,395
Rank: 17
Name: Baden
State: Lower Austria
Population: 25,229
Rank: 18
Name: Wolfsberg
State: Carinthia
Population: 24,993
Rank: 19
Name: Leoben
State: Styria
Population: 24,466
Rank: 20
Name: Krems
State: Lower Austria
Population: 24,085
STATES IN AUSTRIA
State: Burgenland
Capital: Eisenstadt
Area (sq km): 3,962
Population: 287,600
State: Carinthia
Capital: Klagenfurt
Area (sq km): 9,538
Population: 557,000
State: Lower Austria
Capital: Sankt Pölten
Area (sq km): 19,186
Population: 1,629,000
State: Salzburg
Capital: Salzburg
Area (sq km): 7,156
Population: 536,500
State: Styria
Capital: Graz
Area (sq km): 16,401
Population: 1,217,000
State: Tyrol
Capital: Innsbruck
Area (sq km): 12,640
Population: 723,600
State: Upper Austria
Capital: Linz
Area (sq km): 11,980
Population: 1,429,000
State: Vienna
Capital: Vienna
Area (sq km): 415
Population: 1,776,000
State: Vorarlberg
Capital: Bregenz
Area (sq km): 2,601
Population: 376,300