Austria

**Austria** (, ;  ), officially the **Republic of Austria** ( ), is a country in Central Europe. Around Austria are the countries of Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

The people in Austria speak German, a few also speak Hungarian, Slovenian and Croatian. The capital of Austria is Vienna (_Wien_).

## History

Austria is more than 1000 years old. Its history can be followed to the 9th century. At that time, the first people moved to the land now known as Austria. The name _Ostarrichi_ is first written in an official document from 996. Since then, that word developed into the Modern German word _Österreich,_ which literally means "Eastern Empire."

### Ancient times

There has been human settlement in the area that is now Austria for a long time. The first settlers go back to the Paleolithic Age, the time of the Neanderthals. They left works of art such as the Venus of Willendorf. In the Neolithic Age people, lived there to dig for mineral resources, especially copper. Ötzi, a mummy found in a glacier between Austria and Italy, is from that time.

During the Bronze Age, people built larger settlements and fortresses, especially where there were mineral resources. Salt mining began near Hallstatt. At that time, Celts began to form the first states.

### The Romans

The Romans came 15 BC to Austria and made the Celtic Regnum Noricum to a Roman province. What is now Austria, was part of three provinces, Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia. The border in the north was the Danube.

### Holy Roman Empire

From the Early Middle Ages, the area of modern-day Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The capital of the Holy Roman Empire was the Austrian city of Vienna. The Austrian Habsburg family became the rulers of the empire, and the son of the Holy Roman Emperor held the title of Archduke of Austria.

In 1806, France defeated the Holy Roman Empire and replaced it with the Confederation of the Rhine. Former Holy Roman Emperor Francis II became the Emperor of the new Austrian Empire, which later became Austria-Hungary.

### Modern history

In 1869, the first postcards were sent from Austria. Within three months, almost 3 million cards had been sold.

In 1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and this led to World War I. In 1918, both Austria and Hungary became republics and split into separate countries that were much smaller tha before.

In 1938, Austria became part of Nazi Germany. However, Austrias became independent again in May 1945.

## Geography

Austria is a mountainous country since it is partially in the Alps. Grossglockner is the tallest mountain in Austria. The high mountainous Alps in the west of Austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country where the Danube flows.

### Climate

Austria has a continental climate.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Austria was , on 8 August 2013 in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Austria was , on 19 February 1932 at Grünloch doline.

## Politics

Austria is a democratic republic. The President of Austria is the head of state and the Chancellor of Austria is the head of government.

It is a neutral state, that means it does not take part in wars with other countries. It has been in the United Nations since 1955 and in the European Union since 1995.

Austria is also a federal state and divided into nine states ():
1. Burgenland (_Burgenland_)
1. Carinthia (_Kärnten_)
1. Lower Austria (_Niederösterreich_)
1. Upper Austria (_Oberösterreich_)
1. Salzburg(erland) (_Salzburg_)
1. Styria (_Steiermark_)
1. Tyrol (_Tirol_)
1. Vorarlberg (_Vorarlberg_)
1. Vienna (_Wien_)

A new cabinet (Austria) was formed (February 2025). It is formed by political parties ÖVP, SPÖ, and Neos.

The chancellor is Christian Stocker since 2025. Austria has been a member-state of the United Nations since 1955, the European Union since 1995 and OPEC since 2019.

More information: _States of Austria_.

### Music and arts

Many famous composers were Austrians or born in Austria. There are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss, Sr., Johann Strauss, Jr. and Gustav Mahler. In modern times there were Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg, who belonged to the Second Viennese School.

Austria has many artists, there are Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele or Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Inge Morath or Otto Wagner and scienc.

### Food

Famous Austrian dishes are Wiener Schnitzel, Apfelstrudel, Schweinsbraten, Kaiserschmarren, Knödel, Sachertorte and Tafelspitz. But you can also find a lot of local dishes like Kärntner Reindling (a kind of cake), Kärntner Nudeln (also called "Kärntner Kasnudeln", you may write it "...nudln" too), Tiroler Knödl (may be written "...knödel"; ), Tiroler Schlipfkrapfen (another kind of "Kärntner Nudeln"), Salzburger Nockerl (also may be written ..."Nockerln"), Steirisches Wurzelfleisch (..."Wurzlfleisch") or Sterz ("Steirischer Sterz").

### UNESCO World Heritage Sites

1. Historic Centre of Salzburg — 1996
1. Schönbrunn Palace — 1996
1. Hallstatt–Dachstein Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape — 1997
1. Semmering Railway — 1998
1. Historic Centre of Graz and Schloss Eggenberg — 1999 (extended in 2010)
1. Wachau Cultural Landscape — 2000
1. Historic Centre of Vienna — 2001
1. Lake Neusiedl — 2001

## Related pages

- List of rivers of Austria

## Other websites

- Austria Maps

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Republic of Austria
- **common name**: Austria
- **image flag**: Flag of Austria.svg
- **image coat**: Austria Bundesadler.svg
- **image map**: EU-Austria.svg
- **capital**: Vienna
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: German language, German
- **languages2 type**: Recognised languages
- **ethnic groups year**: 2012
- **religion year**: 2018
- **demonym**: Austrians, Austrian
- **government type**: Federation, Federal Parliament, parliamentary republic
- **leader title1**: President of Austria, President
- **leader name1**: Alexander Van der Bellen
- **leader title2**: Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor
- **leader name2**: Christian Stocker
- **leader title3**: Vice Chancellor of Austria, Vice Chancellor
- **leader name3**: Andreas Babler
- **legislature**: Austrian Parliament, Parliament
- **upper house**: Federal Council (Austria), Federal Council
- **lower house**: National Council (Austria), National Council
- **sovereignty type**: History of Austria, Establishment history
- **established event1**: Margraviate of Austria
- **established date1**: 976
- **established event2**: Duchy of Austria
- **established date2**: 1156
- **established event3**: Archduchy of Austria
- **established date3**: 1453
- **established event4**: Austrian Empire
- **established date4**: 1804
- **established event5**: Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire
- **established date5**: 1867
- **established event6**: First Republic of Austria, First Republic
- **established date6**: 1918
- **established event7**: Federal State of Austria, Federal State
- **established date7**: 1934
- **established event8**: Anschluss
- **established date8**: 1938
- **established event9**: Second Austrian Republic, Second Republic
- **established date9**: since 1945
- **established event10**: Austrian State Treaty, State Treaty in effect
- **established date10**: 27 July 1955
- **established event11**: United Nations Security Council Resolution 109, Admitted to the United Nations
- **established date11**: 14 December 1955
- **established event12**: 1995 enlargement of the European Union, Joined the European Union
- **established date12**: 1 January 1995
- **area km2**: 83,883
- **area rank**: 113th
- **area sq mi**: 32,385.86
- **percent water**: 0.84 (as of 2015)
- **population estimate**: 8,935,112
- **population estimate year**: October 2020
- **population estimate rank**: 97th
- **population density km2**: 106
- **population density sq mi**: 262.6
- **population density rank**: 106th
- **gdp ppp**: $461.432 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2018
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $51,936
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 17th
- **gdp nominal**: $446,315 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2019
- **gdp nominal rank**: 27th
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $50,277
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 15th
- **gini**: 27.5
- **gini year**: 2019
- **gini change**: increase
- **gini rank**: 14th
- **hdi**: 0.922
- **hdi year**: 2019
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 18th
- **currency**: Euro (Euro sign, €)
- **currency code**: EUR
- **time zone**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset**: +1
- **utc offset dst**: +2
- **time zone dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Austria, +43
- **cctld**: .at
- **footnote a**: There is an official dictionary, the _Österreichisches Wörterbuch_, published on commission by the Austrian Ministry of Education.
- **footnote b**: Burgenland Croatian, Croatian, Czech language, Czech, Hungarian language, Hungarian, Romani language, Romani, Slovak language, Slovak, and Slovene language, Slovene are officially recognised by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).
- **footnote c**: Austrian schilling before 1999; Virtual Euro since 1 January 1999; Euro since 1 January 2002.
- **footnote d**: The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.