AUSTRIAMore about Austria Information about travelling to AustriaAustria is located in Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia |
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Facts about Austria
General info about Austria
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. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999.
Languages spoken German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 census) What about drugs? transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; increasing consumption of European-produced synthetic drugs Ethnic division Austrians 91.1%, former Yugoslavs 4% (includes Croatians, Slovenes, Serbs, and Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, German 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census) HIV/AIDS prevalence rate 0.3% (2003 est.) Climate temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers Resources oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower Economy Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. The global economic downturn led in 2008 to a recession that is widely expected to persist through 2009, following several years of solid demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth in 2008. During the recession, investment is likely to suffer and the Austrian government's economic stabilization measures could drive up the budget deficit from about 0.6% of GDP in 2008 to about 2.8% in 2009 and possibly above 3% in 2010. The Austrian economy has benefed greatly in the past from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe, but these sectors have been vulnerable to recent international financial instabilities, and some of Austria's largest banks have required government support. Even after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor participation to offset its aging population and exceedingly low fertility rate. Environment 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 Cities in Austriaabsam abtenau altach althofen altmunster amstetten anif ansfelden arnoldstein asten axams bad aussee bad goisern bad hall bad hofgastein bad ischl bad sankt leonhard bad voslau baden barnbach bergheim berndorf bischofshofen bludenz braunau bregenz bruck an der leitha bruck an der mur deutsch-wagram deutschlandsberg dornbirn ebbs ebensee ebenthal eberndorf ebreichsdorf eisenerz eisenstadt engerwitzdorf enns feldbach feldkirch feldkirchen feldkirchen an der donau ferlach finkenstein fohnsdorf frankenburg freistadt friesach frohnleiten fugen furstenfeld gallneukirchen ganserndorf garsten gleisdorf gloggnitz gmund gmunden gotzis gratkorn graz grieskirchen grodig guntramsdorf haag hainburg hall hallein hard heidenreichstein hermagor herzogenburg himberg hochst hohenems hollabrunn hopfgarten horbranz horn horsching imst innsbruck jenbach jennersdorf judenburg kapfenberg kindberg kirchbichl kitzbuhel klagenfurt klosterneuburg knittelfeld koflach korneuburg kottingbrunn krems kremsmunster krieglach kuchl kufstein laa laakirchen landeck langenlois langenzersdorf lauterach leibnitz lenzing leoben leonding lienz liezen linz lochau lustenau marchtrenk maria enzersdorf matrei mattersburg melk micheldorf mistelbach mittelberg mittersill modling moosburg murzzuschlag nenzing neudorfl neulengbach neunkirchen neusiedl am see nuziders oberndorf oberwart pasching paternion perchtoldsdorf perg pinkafeld pottendorf poysdorf pressbaum purgstall purkersdorf radstadt rankweil reichenau retz reutte ried rottenmann rum rust saalfelden salzburg sankt andra sankt florian sankt georgen sankt jakob sankt johann im pongau sankt polten sankt valentin sankt veit scharding scharnstein schladming schrems schruns schwaz schwechat seeboden seekirchen seewalchen sieghartskirchen sierning spittal steyr steyregg stockerau strasshof tamsweg telfs ternitz thalgau timelkam traiskirchen traismauer traun trofaiach tulln velden am worthersee vienna villach vocklabruck vocklamarkt voitsberg volkermarkt vols vomp vorchdorf waidhofen wattens weiz wels wernberg wiener neudorf wiener neustadt wilhelmsburg wolfsberg wolfurt wolkersdorf worgl ybbs zell am see zeltweg zirl zistersdorf zwettl |
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The Cheers Travel World / Austria travel