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Capital Vienna
48°12? N 16°21? E Largest city Vienna Official language(s) German
Slovenian (reg.) Croatian (reg.) Hungarian (reg.)
1919 Area
• Total
• Water (%)
8,206,524 (86th)
8,032,926
97/km² (78th)
251/mi² 2005 estimate
$267 billion (35th)
$32,962 (9th) 0.936 (17th) – high Currency Time zone
• Summer (DST) CET (UTC+1)
CEST (UTC+2) Internet TLD .at Calling code +43 |
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Austria Information
For more details on this topic, see History of Austria.
Austria and the Holy Roman Empire
The territory of Austria originally known as the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, was a long time ally of Rome. It was occupied rather than conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus and made the province Noricum in 16 BC. Later it was conquered by Huns, Rugii, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Bavarii, Avars (until c. 800), and Franks (in that order). Finally, after 48 years of Hungarian rule (907 to 955), the core territory of Austria was awarded to Leopold of Babenberg in 976. Being part of the Holy Roman Empire the Babenbergs ruled and expanded Austria from the 10th century to the 13th century.
 Battle of Vienna 1683
Battle of Vienna 1683
After Duke Frederick II died in 1246 and left no successor, Rudolf I of Habsburg gave the lands to his sons marking the beginning of the line of the Habsburgs, who continued to govern Austria until the 20th century.
With the short exception of Charles VII Albert of Bavaria, Austrian Habsburgs held the position of German Emperor beginning in 1438 with Albert II of Habsburg until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 14th and 15th century Austria continued to expand its territory until it reached the position of a European imperial power at the end of the 15th century until the end of the Habsburg monarchy in 1918.
Modern history
Just two years before the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, in 1804 the Empire of Austria was founded, which was transformed in 1867 into the dual-monarchy Austria-Hungary. The empire was split into several independent states in 1918, after the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, with most of the German-speaking parts becoming a republic. (See Treaty of Saint-Germain.) Between 1918 and 1919 it was officially known as the Republic of German Austria (Republik Deutschösterreich). After the Entente powers forbade German Austria to unite with Germany, they also forbade the name, and then it was changed to simply Republic of Austria. The democratic republic lasted until 1933 when the chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß established an autocratic regime oriented towards Italian fascism (Austrofascism).
Austria became part of Germany in 1938 through the Anschluß and remained under Nazi rule until the end of World War II. After the defeat of the Axis Powers, the Allies occupied Austria until 1955, when the country became a fully independent republic under the condition that it would remain neutral (see: Austrian State Treaty). Austria also became a member of the UN in the same year. After the collapse of communist states in Eastern Europe, Austria became increasingly involved in European affairs, and in 1995, Austria joined the European Union, and the Euro monetary system in 1999.
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For more details on this topic, see Economy of Austria.
 The Belvedere Palace, an example of the Baroque
Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the Germany and elsewhere in the world affected Austria, slowing its growth to 1.2% in 2001. But since Austria became a member state of the European Union it has gained closer ties to other European Union economies, reducing its economic dependence on Germany. In addition, membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspiring economies. Therefore estimates of growth in 2005 (up to 2%) are much more favourable than in the crippling German economy.
Agriculture: Austrian farms, like those of other west European mountainous countries, are small and fragmented, and production is relatively expensive.
Industry: Although some industries, such as several iron and steel works and chemical plants, are large industrial enterprises employing thousands of people, most industrial and commercial enterprises in Austria are relatively small on an international scale.
Services: Like in other western countries, the biggest contributor to Austria's GDP is its service sector. Most notably is tourism, especially winter tourism.
To meet increased competition from both EU and Central European countries, Austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate the service sector, and lower its tax burden.
See also: List of Austrian companies
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 Charles V Austrian Habsburg ruler and one of the major figures within the Counter-Reformation.
Charles V Austrian Habsburg ruler and one of the major figures within the Counter-Reformation.
While northern and central Germany was the origin of the Reformation, Austria (and Bavaria) were the heart of the Counter-Reformation in the 16th and 17th century, when the absolute monarchy of Habsburg imposed a strict regime to maintain Catholicism's power and influence among Austrians. Despite this establishment of Catholicism as the predominant Christian religion (Protestants have throughout Austria's history remained a relatively small group), Austria's history as a multinational state has made it necessary for Habsburg rulers to deal with a heterogeneous religious population. Religious freedom was declared a constitutional right as early as 1867 and Austria-Hungary was home of numerous religions beside Roman Catholicism such as Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, and Bulgarian Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims (Austria neighboured the Ottoman empire for centuries), Mormons and both Calvinists and Lutheran Protestants.
Still Austria remained largely influenced by Catholicism. After 1918 First Republic Catholic leaders such as Germany, Austrian Catholicism stopped its support of Nazism later on and many former religious public figures became involved with the resistance during the Third Reich. After 1945 a stricter secularism was imposed in Austria and religious influence on politics has nearly vanished.
As of the end of the 20th century about 73% of Austria's population are registered as Roman Catholic, while about 5% consider themselves Protestants. Both these numbers have been on the decline for decades, especially Roman Catholicism, which has suffered an increasing number of seceders of the church. This is due partly to child sexual abuse scandals by priests as well as the alleged unwillingness of the Roman Catholic Church to implement reforms. In addition, Austrian Catholics are obliged to pay a mandatory tax (calculated by income – ca 1%) to the Austrian Roman Catholic Church, which acts as another incentive to leave the church.
About 12% of the population declare that they do not belong to any Germany with 67%. [3]
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