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. In January 2009, Austria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.

Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia

slightly smaller than Maine

temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers

in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping

oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower

landslides; avalanches; earthquakes

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

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

8,210,281 (July 2010 est.)

8.65 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

9.98 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

1.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.39 children born/woman (2010 est.)

fewer than 100 (2003 est.)

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)

Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census)

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)

9 states (Bundeslaender, singular - Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten (Carinthia), Niederoesterreich (Lower Austria), Oberoesterreich (Upper Austria), Salzburg, Steiermark (Styria), Tirol (Tyrol), Vorarlberg, Wien (Vienna)

12 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 976 (Margravate of Austria established); 17 September 1156 (Duchy of Austria founded); 11 August 1804 (Austrian Empire proclaimed)

National Day, 26 October (1955); note - commemorates the passage of the law on permanent neutrality

1920; revised 1929; reinstated 1 May 1945; note - during the period 1 May 1934-1 May 1945 there was a fascist (corporative) constitution in place

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

16 years of age; universal; note - reduced from 18 years of age in 2007

bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung consists of Federal Council or Bundesrat (62 seats; members chosen by state parliaments with each state receiving 3 to 12 members in proportion to its population; members serve five- or six-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Judicial Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof; Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgerichtshof

Alliance for the Future of Austria or BZOe [Josef BUCHER]; Austrian People's Party or OeVP [Josef PROELL]; Freedom Party of Austria or FPOe [Heinz Christian STRACHE]; Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe [Werner FAYMANN]; The Greens [Eva GLAWISCHNIG]

Austrian Trade Union Federation or OeGB (nominally independent but primarily Social Democratic); Federal Economic Chamber; OeVP-oriented Association of Austrian Industrialists or IV; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action

ACCT (observer), ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red; the flag design is certainly one of the oldest - if not the oldest - national banners in the world; according to tradition, in 1191, following a fierce battle in the Third Crusade, Duke Leopold V of Austria's white tunic became completely blood-spattered; upon removal of his wide belt or sash, a white band was revealed; the red-white-red color combination was subsequently adopted as his banner

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. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis and global economic downturn in 2008 led to a recession that persisted until the third quarter of 2009. Austrian GDP contracted 3.5% in 2009 but it will probably see positive growth of nearly 2% in 2010. Unemployment has not risen as steeply in Austria as elsewhere in Europe, partly because its government has subsidized reduced working hour schemes to allow companies to retain employees. Such stabilization measures, stimulus initiatives, and the government's income tax reforms pushed the budget deficit to about 4% of GDP in 2009, from only about 1.3% in 2008. The Austrian economy has benefited 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. Some of Austria's largest banks have required government support - including in some instances, nationalization - to prevent insolvency and possible regional contagion. In the medium-term all large Austrian banks will need additional capital. 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 growing unemployment and Austria's aging population and exceedingly low fertility rate.

$321.8 billion (2009 est.)

$333.1 billion (2008 est.)

$327.2 billion (2007 est.)

$381.9 billion (2009 est.)

3.68 million (2009 est.)

20.8% of GDP (2009 est.)

69.3% of GDP (2009 est.)

62.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

6.82% (31 December 2008)

6.3% (31 December 2007)

$606.2 billion (31 December 2008)

$504.8 billion (31 December 2007)

$104.8 billion (31 December 2009)

$72.3 billion (31 December 2008)

$228.7 billion (31 December 2007)

grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber

construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism

66.78 billion kWh (2008 est.)

68.37 billion kWh (2008 est.)

14.93 billion kWh (2008 est.)

19.8 billion kWh (2008 est.)

25,410 bbl/day (2009 est.)

273,700 bbl/day (2009 est.)

50,160 bbl/day (2008)

263,200 bbl/day (2008 est.)

50 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

1.668 billion cu m (2009)

8.232 billion cu m (2009)

3.961 billion cu m (2009 est.)

10.96 billion cu m (2009)

16.14 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

$8.73 billion (2009 est.)

$13.44 billion (2008)

$129 billion (2009 est.)

$172.2 billion (2008)

machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs

Germany 30.96%, Italy 8.17%, Switzerland 4.99%, US 3.99% (2009)

$138.7 billion (2009 est.)

$179.8 billion (2008)

machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs

Germany 45.07%, Switzerland 6.76%, Italy 6.66%, Netherlands 4.03% (2009)

$18.05 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$16.7 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$808.9 billion (30 September 2009)

$864.2 billion (31 December 2008)

$286.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$279.1 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$290.5 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$286 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005)

3.285 million (2008)

10.816 million (2008)

Austria's public broadcaster, ORF, was the main broadcast source until commercial radio and television service was introduced in the 1990s; cable and satellite TV are available, including German TV stations (2008)

3.266 million (2010)

5.937 million (2008)

gas 2,721 km; oil 663 km; refined products 157 km (2009)

Enns, Krems, Linz, Vienna

Land Forces (KdoLdSK), Air Forces (KdoLuSK)

18-35 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for male or female voluntary service; service obligation 6 months of training, followed by an 8-year reserve obligation; conscripts cannot be deployed in military operations outside Austria (2009)

while threats of international legal action never materialized in 2007, 915,220 Austrians, with the support of the newly elected Freedom Party, signed a petition in January 2008, demanding that Austria block the Czech Republic's accession to the EU unless Prague closed its nuclear power plant in Temelin, bordering Austria

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; increasing consumption of European-produced synthetic drugs