"text":"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 EU in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999."
"text":"Czech Republic 402 km, Germany 801 km, Hungary 321 km, Italy 404 km, Liechtenstein 34 km, Slovakia 105 km, Slovenia 299 km, Switzerland 158 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"0 km (landlocked)"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"text":"none (landlocked)"
},
"Climate":{
"text":"temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly mountains (Alps) in the west and south; mostly flat or gently sloping along the eastern and northern margins"
"text":"some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere"
"text":"German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in South Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 est.)"
"text":"the name Oesterreich means \"eastern realm\" or \"eastern march\" and dates to the 10th century; the designation refers to the fact that Austria was the easternmost extension of Bavaria, and in fact of all the Germans; the word Austria is a Latinization of the German name"
"text":"12 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 976 (Margravate of Austria established); 17 September 1156 (Duchy of Austria founded); 11 August 1804 (Austrian Empire proclaimed)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"National Day, 26 October (1955); note - commemorates the passage of the law on permanent neutrality"
"text":"several previous; latest adopted 1 October 1920, revised 1929, replaced May 1934 (authoritarian-corporate constitution), replaced by German Weimar constitution in 1938 following German annexation; latest reinstated 1 May 1945 (1920 constitution with 1929 revisions); amended many times, last in 2014 (2016)"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held on 24 April 2016 (first round) and 22 May 2016 (second round), the latter was ruled invalid and a re-vote will be held 4 December 2016; next presidential elections to be held in April 2022; chancellor appointed by the president but determined by the majority coalition parties in the Federal Assembly; vice chancellor appointed by the president on the advice of the chancellor"
"text":"percent of vote: first-round results - Norbet HOFER (FPOe) 35.1%, Alexander van der BELLIEN (independent, allied with the Greens) 21.3%, Irmgard GRISS (independent) 18.9%, Rudolf HUNDSTORFER (SPOe) 11.3%, Andreas KHOL (OeVP) 11.1%, Richard LUGNER (independent) 2.3%; second round results - Alexander van der BELLIEN 50.3%, Norbet HOFER 49.7%; on 1 July 2016, the Constitutional Court ordered a rerun of the 22 May 2016 runoff election to be held 2 October 2016; former President Heinz FISCHER's term ended July 8; his functions were replaced by the three Presidents of the National Council Doris BURES (SPOe), Karlheinz KOPF (OeVP), and Norbert HOFER (FPOe)"
"text":"bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung consists of the Federal Council or Bundesrat (62 seats; members appointed by state parliaments with each state receiving 3 to 12 seats in proportion to its population; members serve 5- or 6-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (183 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"National Council - last held on 29 September 2013 (next to be held by September 2018)"
"text":"National Council - percent of vote by party - SPOe 26.8%, OeVP 24.0%, FPOe 20.5%, Greens 12.4%, Team Stronach 5.7%, NEOS 5.0%, other 5.6%; seats by party - SPOe 52, OeVP 47, FPOe 40, Greens 24, Team Stronach 11, NEOS 9; note - currently: SPOe 52, OeVP 50, FPOe 38, Greens 24, NEOS 9, Team Stronach 6, without faction 4"
"text":"Supreme Court of Justice or Oberster Gerichtshof (consists of 85 judges organized into 17 senates or panels of 5 judges each); Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgerichtshof (consists of 20 judges including 6 substitutes; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof - 2 judges plus other members depending on the importance of the case)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court judges nominated by executive branch departments and appointed by the president; judges serve for life; Constitutional Court judges nominated by several executive branch departments and approved by the president; judges serve for life; Administrative Court judges recommended by executive branch departments and appointed by the president; terms of judges and members determined by the president"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Courts of Appeal (4); Regional Courts (20); district courts (120); county courts"
"text":"Austrian People's Party or OeVP [Reinhold MITTERLEHNER] ++ Communist Party of Austria or KPOe [Mirko MESSNER] ++ Freedom Party of Austria or FPOe [Heinz Christian STRACHE] ++ The Greens [Eva GLAWISCHNIG] ++ NEOS - The New Austria [Matthias STROLZ] ++ Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe [Christian KERN] ++ \"Team Stronach\" [Frank STRONACH]"
"text":"Austrian Trade Union Federation or OeGB (nominally independent but primarily Social Democratic) ++ Federal Agriculture Chamber (OeVP-dominated) ++ Federal Economic Chamber (OeVP-dominated) ++ Labor Chamber or AK (Social Democratic-leaning think tank) ++ OeVP-oriented Association of Austrian Industrialists or IV ++ Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action",
"text":"three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party or OeVP representing business, labor, farmers, and other nongovernment organizations in the areas of environment and human rights"
"text":"Ambassador Alexa Lange WESNER (since 22 October 2013)"
},
"embassy":{
"text":"Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1090, Vienna"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"use embassy street address"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[43] (1) 31339-0"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[43] (1) 3100682"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red; the flag design is certainly one of the oldest - if not the oldest - national banners in the world; according to tradition, in 1191, following a fierce battle in the Third Crusade, Duke Leopold V of Austria's white tunic became completely blood-spattered; upon removal of his wide belt or sash, a white band was revealed; the red-white-red color combination was subsequently adopted as his banner"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"golden eagle, edelweiss, Alpine gentian; national colors: red, white"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Bundeshymne\" (Federal Hymn)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Paula von PRERADOVIC/Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART or Johann HOLZER (disputed)"
"text":"adopted 1947; the anthem is also known as \"Land der Berge, Land am Strome\" (Land of the Mountains, Land by the River); Austria adopted a new national anthem after World War II to replace the former imperial anthem composed by Franz Josef HAYDN, which had been appropriated by Germany in 1922 and was thereafter associated with the Nazi regime; a gendered version of the lyrics was adopted by the Austrian Federal Assembly in fall 2011 and became effective 1 January 2012"
"text":"Austria, with its well-developed market economy, skilled labor force, and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a relatively sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. ++ ++ Economic growth has been relatively weak in recent years, approaching 0.9% in 2015. Austria's 5.8% unemployment rate, while low by European standards, is at its highest rate since the end of World War II, driven by an increased number of refugees and EU migrants entering the labor market. Without extensive vocational training programs and generous early retirement, the unemployment rate would be even higher. ++ ++ Although Austria's fiscal position compares favorably with other euro-zone countries, it faces several external risks, such as unexpectedly weak world economic growth threatening the export market, Austrian banks' continued exposure to Central and Eastern Europe, repercussions from the Hypo Alpe Adria bank collapse, political and economic uncertainties caused by the European sovereign debt crisis, the current refugee crisis, and continued unrest in Russia/Ukraine. Early signs point towards a slight improvement in 2016, driven by low interest rates on government debt. Currently, the budget deficit stands at 2.7% of GDP and public debt has reached a post-war high of 84.2% of the GDP."
"text":"this is general government gross debt, defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year; it covers the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; as a percentage of GDP, the GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product in current year prices"
"text":"see entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 18 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders"
}
},
"Stock of broad money":{
"text":"$428.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.) ++ $439.3 billion (31 December 2013 est.)"
"text":"fixed-line subscribership has been in decline since the mid-1990s with mobile-cellular subscribership eclipsing it by the late 1990s; the fiber-optic net is very extensive; all telephone applications and Internet services are available; broadband is available in major cities"
"text":"worldwide cable and satellite TV are available; the public incumbent ORF competes with three other major, several regional domestic, and up to 400 international TV stations; TV coverage is in principle 100%, but only 90% use broadcast media; Internet streaming not only complements, but increasingly replaces regular TV stations (2016)"
"text":"registration requirement at age 17, the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory military service (6 months), or optionally, alternative civil/community service (9 months); males 18 to 50 years old in the militia or inactive reserve are subject to compulsory service; in a January 2012 referendum, a majority of Austrians voted in favor of retaining the system of compulsory military service (with the option of alternative/non-military service) instead of switching to a professional army system (2015)"
"text":"transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; increasing consumption of European-produced synthetic drugs"
