Austria (original) (raw)

Republic of Austria

Republik Österreich

CAPITAL : Vienna (Wien)

FLAG : The flag consists of a white horizontal stripe between two red stripes.

ANTHEM : Land der Berge, Land am Ströme (Land of Mountains, Land on the River).

MONETARY UNIT : The euro replaced the schilling as the national currency in 2002. The euro is divided into 100 cents. There are coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 euro and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 euros. As of May 2003, €1 = 1.0977(or1.0977 (or 1.0977(or1 = €0.911).

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : The metric system is in use.

HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; Epiphany, 6 January; May Day, 1 May; Assumption, 15 August; National Day, 26 October; All Saints' Day, 1 November; Immaculate Conception, 8 December; Christmas, 25 December; St. Stephen's Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Easter Monday, Ascension, Whitmonday, and Corpus Christi. In addition, there are provincial holidays.

TIME : 1 PM = noon GMT.

CLIMATE

Climatic conditions depend on location and altitude. Temperatures range from an average of about -7 to -1° C (20 to 30° F ) in winter to about 18 to 24° C (65 to 75° F ) in July. Rainfall ranges from more than 102 cm (50 in) annually in the western mountains to less than 66 cm (26 in) in the driest region, near Vienna.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Austrians are a people of mixed Dinaric, Nordic, Alpine, and East Baltic origin. Germans constitute about 88% of the total population. Ethnic minorities include Croatians in the Burgenland, making up about 0.3% of the population, and Slovenes in southern Carinthia, accounting for about 0.2%. Other groups comprise the remaining 0.1%, including Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbians, and Italians.

LANGUAGES

The official language is German and nearly 99% of the inhabitants speak it as their mother tongue. People in Vorarlberg Province speak German with an Alemannic accent, similar to that in Switzerland. In other provinces, Austrians speak various Bavarian dialects. There are also Croatian, Slovene, and Hungarian speaking minorities, and small groups of Czech, Slovak, and Polish speakers in Vienna.

ARMED FORCES

The Austrian army, which included the air service, numbered some 34,600 active personnel in 2002. Reserve strength was 72,000 ready with another 990,000 having military training but no commitment. Equipment included 160 main battle tanks and 52 combat aircraft. The 2001–02 defense budget was $1.5 billion or 0.8% of GDP. Austria provided support to ten peacekeeping and UN missions.

FISHING

Fishing is not important commercially, and fish do not constitute a large part of the Austrian diet. Commercial catches consist mainly of carp and trout. The total catch in 1997 was 3,486 tons. Aquacultural production in 1997 was 3,021 tons, of which rainbow trout comprised 2,160 tons. A sizable segment of the population engages in sport fishing.

DEPENDENCIES

Austria has no territories or colonies.

Location, size, and extent

Topography

Flora and fauna

Environment

Population

Migration

Religions

Transportation

History

Government

Political parties

Local government

Judicial system

International cooperation

Economy

Income

Labor

Agriculture

Animal husbandry

Forestry

Mining

Energy and power

Industry

Science and technology

Domestic trade

Foreign trade

Balance of payments

Banking and securities

Insurance

Public finance

Taxation

Customs and duties

Foreign investment

Economic development

Health

Housing

Education

Libraries and museums

Media

Organizations

Tourism, travel, and recreation

Famous austrians

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ake, Anne. Austria. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2001.

Austria. Singapore: APA Publications, 2001.

Austria: A Country Study. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, 1994.

Austrian Women in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Providence, R.I.: Berghahn Books, 1996.

Bader, William B. Austria Between East and West, 1945–1955. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1966.

Barker, Elisabeth. Austria, 1918–72. Coral Gables, Fla.: University of Miami Press, 1973.

Bischof, Gunter and Anton Pelinka (eds.) Austria in the New Europe. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1993.

Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. The Austrians: A Thousand Year Odyssey. London: Harper Collins, 1996.

Cohen, Bernard. Waldheim. New York: Adama Books, 1987.

Contemporary Austrian Politics. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1996.

Federal Press Service. Austria: Facts and Figures. Vienna: Federal Press Service, 1992.

Fitzmaurice, John. Austrian Politics and Society Today: in Defence of Austria. Foreword by Bruno Kreisky. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.

International Smoking Statistics: A Collection of Historical Data from 30 Economically Developed Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Kurzer, Paulette. Business and Banking: Political Change and Economic Integration in Western Europe. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993.

MacHardy, Karin Jutta. War, Religion and Court Patronage in Habsburg Austria: The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Political Interaction, 1521–1622. New York: Palgrave, 2002.

State and Society in Early Modern Austria. West Lafayette, Ind.,: Purdue University Press, 1994.

Sweeney, Jim and Josef Weidenholzer (eds.) Austria: a Study in Modern Achievement. Brookfield, Vt.: Avebury, 1988.