INTRODUCTION

Austria (in German, Österreich), officially Republic of Austria, republic in central Europe, bordered on the north by the Czech Republic; on the north-east 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 (360 mi) long and has an area of 83,858 sq km (32,378 sq mi). Vienna is the country’s capital and largest city.

LAND AND RESOURCES

Austria is predominantly a mountainous country, with an average elevation of about 910 m (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 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 Zillertal Alps, the Carnic Alps, and the Karawanken Mountains. Besides these latitudinal 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.

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. It includes significant numbers of Croats and Magyars (in Burgenland); Slovenes (in Carinthia); Czechs (in Vienna); small numbers of Italians, Serbs, and Romanians. An influx of refugees in the post-World War II years increased their numbers and new groups—Turks, for example—were added.

Austria has a population of 8,150,835 (2001). Overall population density is about 97 per sq km (252 per sq mi). About 65 per cent of the population is urban, with almost one third of the people living in the five largest cities: Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck.

Principal Cities

Vienna, the capital and largest city, has a population of 1,606,843 (1999 estimate). Other important cities include Graz, a centre for heavy industry, with a population of 240,513 (1999 estimate); Linz, the provincial capital of Upper Austria and a port on the Danube, with 189,073 (1999 estimate); Salzburg, a cultural and tourist centre, with 143,991 (1999 estimate); and Innsbruck, the provincial capital of Tirol and a tourist attraction because of the beauty of the city and its location, with 110,997 (1999 estimate).

Religion

Roman Catholicism is the religion of about 80 per cent of the population of Austria. Various Protestant denominations account for about 6 per cent. Muslims constitute 1 per cent, and a small minority of the population is Jewish.

Language

German is the official language of Austria. About 2 per cent of the population speaks languages other than German, chiefly Croatian, Slovene, Czech, and Turkish.

Education

The basis of the Austrian educational system is the national law that requires school attendance for all children between the ages of 6 and 15. Austria’s long tradition of free education dates from the Educational Reform Act of 1774, instituted by Empress Maria Theresa. This law, which was expanded in 1867 and again in 1962, largely accounts for the fact that 99 per cent of the population is able to read and write. Educational spending accounted for 9.5 per cent of the Austrian national budget in 1993.

Although the foundations of Austria’s present educational system were laid in the 18th century, its roots can be traced to the monastic schools of the Middle Ages. One such school, the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, has been in continuous operation by the order of Benedictines since 1155. Under German occupation from 1938 to 1945, the country’s schools suffered severe restraints on their teaching programmes. Since World War II, various programmes have been inaugurated to expand and strengthen the educational system.

Austria has received international recognition for the high quality of its medical training. In the arts it has sought new approaches to the awakening of students’ creative interests, especially in the field of art education under the leadership of Franz Čizek. In many aspects, Austrian schools were among the first anywhere to be marked by a general trend towards progressive education.

All students attend elementary school (Volksschule) for four years. Children who will end their schooling at the age of 15 either enter vocational school or continue at the Volksschule. Secondary education is limited to ages 10 to 18, and is required for admission to a university. In 1995 some 382,005 students attended about 3,700 primary schools, and more than 496,400 students were enrolled in some 1,180 secondary schools.

Austria has an extensive system of special schools and adult education centres. In 1995 over 309,100 students were enrolled in vocational schools and teacher-training institutions.

The largest of Austria’s 18 university-level institutions is the University of Vienna (1365). Other major universities are the University of Graz, Innsbruck University, and Salzburg University. Austria has two technical universities; colleges of mining, agriculture, veterinary medicine, and commerce; and five academies of fine arts and music, which also offer summer courses that attract foreign students. University enrolment in 1996-1997 was more than 240,632.

Culture

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was a world centre of culture, particularly in music and literature. Austrian fine art is usually considered with the art of southern Germany. A distinctive Austrian style, however, is manifested in the refined Baroque architecture and sculpture of the 17th and 18th centuries, notably in Vienna and Salzburg.

The largest of the 2,400 libraries in Austria is the National Library, founded in 1526. The art and natural science museums of Vienna are internationally known, as are many individual collections. The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) is famous for its paintings by members of the Brueghel family and for the works of Dutch, Italian, and German painters. The Albertina collection of prints and drawings, the collections of jewellery and relics of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Gallery, the technical museum, and the museum of folklore and ethnography are all well known. Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has two museums housing collections of his manuscripts and memorabilia.

Important art contributions include early woodcarvings, tapestries, hand-carved and hand-painted chests, intricately forged grates and other ironwork, stained-glass windows, porcelain, lace, and leatherwork. Woodcarving has long been popular among the people of the Alpine valleys. Among the best-known modern painters of Austria are Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Hundertwasser.

The Land of Music is a name often given to Austria. The composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss the Elder and Younger, Franz von Suppé, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Franz Lehár, and Arnold Schoenberg, as well as the conductors Felix Weingartner, Clemens Krauss, and Herbert von Karajan, are just a few who have enriched Austrian cultural life. The Vienna Boys’ Choir and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are celebrated institutions. Vienna has two famous opera houses, the Volksoper (People’s Opera), opened in 1904, and the Vienna State Opera, completed in 1869 and known for its magnificent architecture and the high quality of its performances. In addition, every provincial capital has its own theatre, and the summer festivals in Vienna, Salzburg, and Bregenz are outstanding musical events.

IV ECONOMY

The Austrian economy was based on a balance of private and public enterprise. However, the basic industries were nationalized after 1946; these include all oil production and refining; the largest commercial banks; and the principal companies in river and air transport, rail equipment, electrical machinery and appliances, mining, iron, steel, and chemical manufacturing, and natural gas and electric power production. A programme of privatization was initiated that resulted in many industries passing out of public ownership by the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s only a few enterprises, among them the postal service, parts of the banking system, and fixed-line telecommunications, remained in the public sector.

The gross national product (GNP) of Austria in 1999 was US$206 billion (World Bank estimate), or US$25,430 per capita. In the 1998 the estimated annual national budget included revenues of US$79.02 billion and expenditures of US$85.49 billion. In 1999 the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) was US$208 billion.

Tourism

Austria has a substantial tourist industry, owing to its wealth of cultural and recreational attractions. In 1999 almost 17.5 million tourists visited the country, spending some US$9.20 billion. Popular destinations include Vienna, Salzburg, and the Austrian Alps. Austria derives the highest proportion of its GNP, 6.3 per cent, from tourism of any of the 29 OECD member states.

Energy

Austria has numerous hydroelectric installations, which together produce more than two thirds of the country’s electrical output. In 1994 Austria had an electricity-generating capacity of some 17.2 million kW, and approximately 59 billion kWh of electricity were generated in 1999. Substantial amounts of electricity were exported to other European countries.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Austria is the single currency of the European Union (EU), the euro (1.07 euros equal U.S. $1; 1999 average). Austria is among 12 EU member states to adopt the euro. The euro was introduced on January 1, 1999, for electronic transfers and accounting purposes only, and Austria’s national currency, the schilling, was used for other purposes. On January 1, 2002, euro-denominated coins and bills went into circulation, and the schilling ceased to be legal tender.

As a participant in the single currency, Austria must follow economic policies established by the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB is located in Frankfurt, Germany, and is responsible for all EU monetary policies, which include setting interest rates and regulating the money supply. On January 1, 1999, control over Austrian monetary policy was transferred from the central bank of Austria, the Austrian National Bank, to the ECB. After the transfer, the Austrian National Bank joined the national banks of the other EU countries that adopted the euro as part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Austria has more than 1,100 commercial, savings, cooperative, and mortgage banks.

Commerce and Trade

The value of imports in 2000 was $64 billion. Industrial and general machinery, transportation equipment, clothing and accessories, metals, food products, metal manufactures, textiles, office machines, and petroleum and petroleum products were among the chief import commodities. Austrian exports totaled $58.6 billion in the same period. The principal products exported included specialized and general industrial machinery, metal manufactures, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, paper and paper manufactures, iron and steel, textiles, engines, and telecommunications and sound equipment. Germany is the largest market for and supplier to Austrian industry. Other leading markets for exports include Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. Leading sources for imports (in addition to Germany) are Italy, the United States, France, and Switzerland. Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995.

Transportation

Austria has a highly developed system of rail, air, water, and highway transportation. In 2000 the country had 5,780 km (3,592 mi) of railroads, about 90 percent of which were owned by the state. As a landlocked and mountainous country, Austria depends on rail passage for a major share of its foreign trade. Improved highways and roads totaled about 200,000 km (124,274 mi). Water transportation is confined largely to the Danube River. The state-owned First Danube Steamship Company, the largest shipping company in Austria, provides both freight and passenger service on the river. Many international carriers serve Austrian airports, with most traffic to Schwechat, near Vienna. Austrian Airlines, the national airline, serves many European and domestic routes.

GOVERNMENT

Austria is a democratic, federal republic governed according to the constitution of 1920, as amended in 1929 and subsequently modified. This constitution, abrogated in 1934 by the right-wing Chancellor Englebert Dollfuss and suspended after annexation by Germany in 1938, was restored in 1945. Like the constitutions of many other Western democracies, the constitution of Austria provides for a distinct division of power between 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.

Federal legislative power is vested principally in the National Council (Nationalrat), or lower house, composed of 183 members elected for four-year terms by popular vote according to proportional representation. The Cabinet may remain in office only so long as it enjoys the confidence of the National Council. The Federal Council (Bundesrat), the upper house, consists of 64 members chosen by the provincial legislatures in proportion to population for terms ranging from four to six years. Although the powers of the Federal Council are primarily advisory, the council can delay passage of bills.

Political Parties

Austrian politics in the second half of the 20th century were dominated by two main parties, the Social Democratic Party (called the Socialist Party until 1991) and the Austrian People’s Party. Beginning in the late 1980s, however, the right-wing Freedom Party gradually gained strength. Other national parties included a coalition of Green parties, which are affiliated with the international Greens environmental movement, and the Liberal Forum.

Health and Welfare

The Austrian system of social insurance is comprehensive, including sickness, disability, accident, old-age, and unemployment benefits, allowances for families with children, and rent subsidy. The system is financed by compulsory employer and employee contributions. Health insurance and some others are voluntary for those who are self-employed. In 1998 Austria had 1 doctor per 333 people; in 2001 the infant mortality rate was 4 deaths per 1,000 live births. Just over 14 per cent of the national budget was spent on health care in 1997.

International Organizations

Austria is a member of the UN, the Council of Europe, the Central European Initiative, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Schengen Agreement. Austria joined the EU in 1995. The treaty restoring Austrian sovereignty in 1955 prevented Austria from joining military alliances, but it is now a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

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