Austria

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.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
* Central bank discount rate: 
* Commercial banks lending rate: 6.82% (31 December 2008)
* is part of the Eurozone
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Austria: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	210 930	191 200	190 155	205 955	252 034	289 026	304 008	322 788	370 684	413 503
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Austria: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	65.717 	65.884 	66.372 	68.677 	67.504 	67.247 	67.719 	63.896 	60.052 	64.543
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Austria: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	38.380 	37.835 	39.693 	38.824 	38.680 	38.795 	37.743 	37.240 	37.486 	37.353
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Austria: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.	41.408 	40.617 	41.065 	40.751 	41.099 	44.078 	40.097 	39.518 	38.782 	38.367
Debt to revenue (years) 	1.712 	1.741 	1.672 	1.769 	1.745 	1.733 	1.794 	1.716 	1.602 	1.728
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Austria on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Austria
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
* Hyperinflation, Money Demand, and the Crack-up Boom by Thorsten Polleit, January 2010
* Finance and Banking in the Austrian Empire and the Republic of Austria by Ludwig von Mises, 1921
Category:Countries