Query: "Austria is today seeing its earliest snowfall in history with 30 to 40 centimetres already predicted in the mountains.

Relevant passages:
Austria <=SEP=> Austria ( listen ) , is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe . It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north , Hungary and Slovakia to the east , Slovenia and Italy to the south , and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west . The territory of Austria covers 83879 km2 . The terrain is highly mountainous , lying within the Alps ; only 32 % of the country is below 500 m , and its highest point is 3798 m . The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language , and Austrian German in its standard form is the country 's official language . Other local official languages are Hungarian , Burgenland Croatian , and Slovene .   The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty , when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire . From the time of the Reformation , many northern German princes , resenting the authority of the Emperor , used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion . The Thirty Years War , the influence of the Kingdom of Sweden and Kingdom of France , the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia , and the Napoleonic invasions all weakened the power of the Emperor in the north of Germany , but in the south , and in non-German areas of the Empire , the Emperor and Catholicism maintained control . During the 17th and 18th centuries , Austria retained its position as one of the great powers of Europe and , in response to the coronation of Napoleon as the Emperor of the French , the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804 . Following Napoleon 's defeat , Prussia emerged as Austria 's chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany . Austria 's defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz , during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 , cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany . In 1867 , the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary . After the defeat of France in the 1870-1 Franco-Prussian War , Austria was excluded from the new German Empire , although in the following decades , its politics , and its foreign policy , increasingly converged with those of the Prussian-led Empire . During the 1914 July Crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28 , Austria-Hungary , emboldened by a pledge of German support , on July 28 declared war on Serbia because that country had not fully complied with an Austrian ultimatum . Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis , which would ultimately escalate into World War I.   After the collapse of the Habsburg ( Austro-Hungarian ) Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I , Austria adopted and used the name the Republic of German-Austria ( Deutschösterreich ) , later changed to Österreich , in an attempt at union with Germany , but this was forbidden under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye ( 1919 ) . The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919 . In 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss . This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945 , after which Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria 's former democratic constitution was restored . In 1955 , the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state , ending the occupation . In the same year , the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral .   Today , Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states . The capital and largest city , with a population exceeding 1.7 million , is Vienna . Other major urban areas of Austria include Graz , Linz , Salzburg and Innsbruck . Austria is one of the richest countries in the world , with a nominal per capita GDP of $ 43,724 . The country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index . Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 , joined the European Union in 1995 , and is a founder of the OECD . Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995 , and adopted the euro currency in 1999 .

Vienna <=SEP=> Vienna ( -LSB- viˈɛnə -RSB- Wien , -LSB- viːn -RSB- ) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria . Vienna is Austria 's primary city , with a population of about 1.8 million ( 2.6 million within the metropolitan area , nearly one third of Austria 's population ) , and its cultural , economic , and political centre . It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union . Until the beginning of the 20th century , it was the largest German-speaking city in the world , and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I , the city had 2 million inhabitants . Today , it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin . Vienna is host to many major international organizations , including the United Nations and OPEC . The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic , Slovakia , and Hungary . These regions work together in a European Centrope border region . Along with nearby Bratislava , Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants . In 2001 , the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site .   Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy , Vienna is also said to be `` The City of Dreams '' because it was home to the world 's first psycho-analyst -- Sigmund Freud . The city 's roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city , and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . It is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre , from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century . The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles , including Baroque castles and gardens , and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings , monuments and parks .   Vienna is known for its high quality of life . In a 2005 study of 127 world cities , the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first ( in a tie with Vancouver , Canada and San Francisco , USA ) for the world 's most liveable cities . Between 2011 and 2015 , Vienna was ranked second , behind Melbourne , Australia .  For eight consecutive years ( 2009 -- 2016 ) , the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual `` Quality of Living '' survey of hundreds of cities around the world , a title the city still held in 2016 . Monocle 's 2015 `` Quality of Life Survey '' ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world `` to make a base within . ''   The UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013 .  The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008 , and sixth globally ( out of 256 cities ) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index , which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas : culture , infrastructure , and markets . Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners .   Between 2005 and 2010 , Vienna was the world 's number-one destination for international congresses and conventions . It attracts over 6.8 million tourists a year .