| Austria |
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| Background: 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 Monetary Union in 1999. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Vienna
geographic coordinates: 48 12 N, 16 22 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Area Total: 83,870 sq km |
| Area Land: 82,444 sq km |
| Area Water: 1,426 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Maine |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate 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 |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Grossglockner 3,798 m |
| Natural Resources: oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower |
| Land Use Arable Land: 16.59% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.85% |
| Land Use Other: 82.56% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 40 sq km (2003) |
| 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 |
| Population |
| Population: 8,199,783 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 15.1% (male 633,375/female 603,459) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 67.5% (male 2,781,291/female 2,749,539) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 17.5% (male 585,747/female 846,372) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 41.3 years |
| Median Age Male: 40.2 years |
| Median Age Female: 42.4 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 0.077% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 8.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 9.84 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 1.012 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.692 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.953 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 4.54 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 5.56 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 3.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 79.21 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 76.32 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 82.26 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 1.37 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.3% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 10,000 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census) |
| Languages: 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) |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 98% |
| Literacy Male: NA |
| Literacy Female: NA |
| Administrative Divisions: 9 states (Bundeslaender, singular - Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten (Carinthia), Niederoesterreich (Lower Austria), Oberoesterreich (Upper Austria), Salzburg, Steiermark (Styria), Tirol, Vorarlberg, Wien (Vienna) |
| 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 |
| Economy |
| Overview: Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. The Austrian economy also benefits greatly from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe. The economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to the new EU economies. The outgoing government has successfully pursued a comprehensive economic reform program, aimed at streamlining government and creating a more competitive business environment, further strengthening Austria's attractiveness as an investment location. It has implemented effective pension reforms; however, lower taxes in 2005-06 led to a small budget deficit in 2006. Weak domestic consumption and slow growth in Europe held the economy to growth rates below 3% in 2002-05. Due to higher growth across Europe, Austria grew 3.3 percent in 2006. To meet increased competition - especially from new EU members and Central European countries - Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor participation by its aging population. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $279.5 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 3.3% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 1.8% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 30.4% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 67.8% (2005) |
| Labor Force: 3.88 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 3%
industry: 27%
services: 70% (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (2006 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 22.5% (2004) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 1.6% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 5.7% (2006 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 64.9 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 29.3% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 67.2% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 3.5% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 65.2 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
| Electricity Exports: 17.73 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
| Electricity Imports: 20.4 billion kWh (2005 est.) |
| Oil Production: 25,360 bbl/day (2004) |
| Oil Consumption: 282,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 80.66 million bbl (2005) |
| Natural Gas Production: 1.637 billion cu m (2005) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 9 billion cu m (2005) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 1.324 billion cu m (2004) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 9.18 billion cu m (2005) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 15.01 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $133.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs |
| Exports Partners: Germany 31.2%, Italy 8.7%, US 5.8%, Switzerland 5.2%, France 4.2% (2005) |
| Imports: $134.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs |
| Imports Partners: Germany 45.9%, Italy 6.6%, Switzerland 4.5% (2005) |
| Debt External: $594.3 billion (October 2006 est.) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 3.705 million (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 8.16 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: highly developed and efficient |
| Telephone System Domestic: there are 45 main lines for every 100 persons; the fiber optic net is very extensive; all telephone applications and Internet services are available |
| Telephone System International: country code - 43; satellite earth stations - 15; in addition, there are about 600 VSATs (very small aperture terminals) (2005) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM 65 (plus several hundred repeaters), shortwave 1 (2001) |
| Radios: 6.08 million (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 10 (plus more than 1,000 repeaters) (2001) |
| Televisions: 4.25 million (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 37 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 4.65 million (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 6,011 km |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 5,568 km 1.435-m gauge (3,427 km electrified) |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 21 km 1.000-m gauge; 422 km 0.760-m gauge (109 km electrified) (2005) |
| Waterways: 358 km (2003) |
| Airports: 55 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 0.9% (2005 est.) |
| Disputes International: in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in a parliamentary motion threatening international legal action |
| IllicitDrugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; increasing consumption of European-produced synthetic drugs |