Austria

Background of Austria

Austria has a well-developed social market economy with a high standard of living and close ties to other EU economies, especially Germany's.

Geography of Austria

• Location: Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
• Geographic coordinates: 47 20 N, 13 20 E
• Area: total: 83,871 sq km
• land: 82,445 sq km
• water: 1,426 sq km
• Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maine
• Land boundaries: total: 2,524 km
• border countries: Czech Republic 402 km, Germany 801 km, Hungary 321 km, Italy 404 km, Liechtenstein 34 km, Slovakia 105 km,
• Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
• Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
• Climate: temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers
• Terrain: in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
• Elevation extremes: lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m
• highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m
• Natural resources: oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower
• Land use: arable land: 16.25%
• permanent crops: 0.77%
• other: 82.98% (2011)
• Irrigated land: 1,170 sq km (2007)
• Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 3.66 cu km/yr (18%/79%/3%)
• per capita: 452.4 cu m/yr (2008)
• Natural hazards: landslides; avalanches; earthquakes
• Environment - current issues: 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: 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
• Geography - note: 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

Demographics of Austria

• Population: 8,223,062 (July 2014 est.)
• Age structure: 0-14 years: 13.6% (male 573,146/female 546,596),15-24 years: 11.6% (male 488,564/female 468,891),25-54 years: 42.9% (male , 1,766,729/female 1,756,880) ,55-64 years: 12.7% (male 515,913/female 528,988), 65 years and over: 19.2% (male 670,750/female 906,605) (2014 est.)
• Dependency ratios: total dependency ratio: 49.1 %, youth dependency ratio: 21.6 %,elderly dependency ratio: 27.6 %, potential support ratio: 3.6 (2014 est.)
• Median age: total: 44.3 years, male: 43.2 years, female: 45.3 years (2014 est.)
• Population growth rate: 0.01% (2014 est.)
• Birth rate: 8.76 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.