Austria

Geography

Austria is a landlocked country in Western Europe and borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. There is therefore no access to the open sea. The landscape is dominated by the Alps in the west and south, while the hills of the Vienna Woods and the Pannonian Plain (Lower Austria and Burgenland) predominate in the east. The highest mountain in Austria is the Grossglockner on the border between Carinthia and Tyrol at an altitude of 3,798 meters. On average, the country lies at an altitude of 910 meters above sea level.

Austria has an area of around 83,879 square kilometers and a population of 9.04 million people. The population density is therefore 107.8 inhabitants per square kilometer. Just over half of the population (59.3%) lives in urban areas. The urban area of the capital Vienna alone is so large that around one in five Austrians live here. Graz and Linz follow as the next largest cities, but together they are not even a quarter of the size of Vienna.

Austria is known for its alpine landscape and historic cities. In addition to the winter sports areas, the city of Vienna in particular attracts tourists from all over the world with its countless buildings, cultural offerings and special charm.

Climate in Austria

Austria's climate is significantly influenced by the Alps. The main ridge is the alpine climate divide between continental Europe in the north and the extended Mediterranean region in the south (East Tyrol, Styria and Carinthia). In the western high mountains of the Alps, some of which are over 3,000 meters high, the overall climate is alpine, but extremely varied depending on the orientation and shading of the valleys. The lower-lying areas in the east, especially around the Vienna Basin, are much warmer, as expected. With temperatures sometimes exceeding 25°C (Vienna), it is warmest here in July. In winter, temperatures drop only a few degrees below zero, even at night.

• Detailed climate data for Austria and 9 individual federal states

Languages

Mother tongue	Distribution
German	88.6 %
Turkish	2.3 %
Serbian	2.2 %
Croatian	1.6 %
Hungarian	0.5 %
Slovenian	0.3 %
Czech	0.2 %
other	4.4 %

Religions

Religion	Distribution
Orthodoxes	2.2%
Roman Catholics	73.6%
other Catholics	0.2%
Protestants	4.9%
Alevites	0.7%
other Muslims	3.5%
nondenominational	12.0%
other	2.9%

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Economy

GDP:	470.94 bn $
Exportations:	292.01 bn $
Importations:	290.28 bn $
Budget deficit:	15,053 M $
› Tourism receipts:	11.41 bn $
› Debt rate:	77.79 %
› Unemployment rate:	5.27 %
› Inflation rate:	8.55 %
› Corruption index:	71 (good)
› Energy consumption:	69.9 bn kWh

With a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.926, Austria counts as one of the high developed economies by UN definition. The IMF also shares this classification.

With an average annual income of 55,720 USD Austria is one of the high-income countries. Even considering purchasing power parity, it is still among the 20 richest countries in the world.

Land use

33% Agricultural areas:	27,630 km²
47% Forest:	39,633 km²
2% Water areas:	1,356 km²
20% Others:	16,616 km²

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Transport

Roadways:	126,233 km
Railways:	6,123 km
Waterways:	351 km
Reg. vehicles:	5,633,525
› Airports: