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. Following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995, some Austrians have called into question this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999.
Full Name: Republic of Austria
Area: 83,870 sq km (water: 1,426 sq km, land: 82,444 sq km)
Population: 8,199,783 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Vienna
People: 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)
Language: 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)
Religion: Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census)
Government Type: Federal Republic
Chief of State: President Heinz FISCHER (since 8 July 2004)
Head of Government: Chancellor Alfred GUSENBAUER (SPOe) (since 11 January 2007); Vice Chancellor Wilhelm MOLTERER (OeVP) (since 11 January 2007)
GDP: $US 284.1 billion (2006 est.)
GDP per Capita: $US 34,700 (2006 est.)
Inflation: 1.6% (2006 est.)
Unemployment: 4.9% (2006 est.)
Industries: Construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Member of EU: Yes
|
