Austria
Austria is the republic in central Europe.
It is about 360 miles long and has an
area of about 32,378 square miles.
Vienna is the country’s capital and largest
city. Austria is predominantly a
mountainous country, with an average elevation
of about 3000 feet. Most of
the land falls within the eastern part of the Alps.
In general the major
mountain ranges of Austria run in an eastern-western
direction and are
separated from one another by large valleys. The northernmost
line of ranges
includes the North Tirol Alps and the Salzburg Alps. Among the
central range
is the Hohe Tauern, which tops in the Grossglockner, the highest
elevation in
the country. The Pasterze Glacier, one of Europe’s largest,
descends from the
Grossglockner peak. The southernmost ranges include the Ötztal
Alps, the
Zillertaler Alps, the Carnic Alps, and the Karawanken Mountains.
Besides
these eastern-western ranges, several series of mountain extend in
a
northern-southern direction. The mountain barriers of Austria are broken in
many
places by passes, including the Brenner Pass and the Semmering Pass.
The
principal river is the Danube, which enters Austria at Passau on the
German
border. Austrian tributaries of the Danube include the Inn, Traun,
Enns, and
Ybbs rivers. In the south, important rivers are the Mur and the
Mürz. In
addition to the rivers, the hydrographic system of the country
includes numerous
lakes, Bodensee, and Neusiedler Lake in Burgenland. The
lake is the country’s
lowest elevation point. The Austrian climate varies
with altitude. Mountainous
regions are subject to moderate Atlantic
conditions and experience more
precipitation than the eastern lowlands.
Spring and fall are usually mild
throughout the country. Summers are short
with moderate temperatures. Cold and
often severe winters last about three
months in the valleys. The foehn is
important to Austria’s agricultural
production, allowing for early cultivation
of the southern valleys. Average
annual temperatures range between about 44°
and 48° F throughout the country.
Average annual rainfall is about 26 inches in
Vienna and about 34 inches
in Innsbruck. In some interior valleys, the average
annual rainfall is
between about 60 and 80 inches. Austria has large deposits of
iron ore,
lignite, magnesite, petroleum, and natural gas and is a prime world
agent of
high-grade graphite. Some small deposits of bituminous coal have been
mined,
as well as lead, zinc, copper, kaolin, gypsum, mica, quartz, salt,
bauxite,
antimony, and talc. Deciduous trees, mainly beech, oak, and birch,
are
predominant in the lower altitudes. Spruce, fir, larch, Austrian black
pine, and
stone pine extend to the timberline. The higher altitudes have a
very brief
season during which alpine plants, including edelweiss, gentians,
primroses,
buttercups, and monkshoods, come into brilliant flower. Wildlife
is generally
scarce in Austria. Chamois, deer, and marmot are still
represented; bear, which
were once abundant, are now almost completely
absent. Hunting is strictly
regulated to protect the remaining species. The
Austrian people are
German-speaking, but the country has a varied ethnic
mixture—a legacy from the
time of the multinational Habsburg Austria. About
96 percent of the population
is ethnic Austrian. Minority groups include
Croats and Hungarians,
Slovenes,Czechs, as well as small numbers of
Italians, Serbs, and Romanians. A
large amount of refugees in the years
following World War II increased their
numbers, and new groups, such as the
Turks, were added. According to the 1991
census, Austria had a population of
7,795,786. The 1996 estimated population was
about 8,023,244, giving the
country an overall population density of about 248
people per square mile.
About 61 percent of the population is urban, with more
than one-quarter of
the people living in the five largest cities: Vienna, Graz,
Linz,
Salzburg, and Innsbruck. Austria is divided into nine federal
provinces:
Burgenland, Kärnten, Niederösterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark ,
Tirol, Oberösterreich,
Vienna, and Vorarlberg. Roman Catholicism is the
religion of about 78 percent of
the population of Austria. Reformed Lutherans
and various other Christian
denominations account for 8 percent, and Muslims
make up 2 percent. Those
without a religion or whose faith is unknown
constitute 12 percent of the
population. German is the official language of
Austria. About 2 percent of the
population speak languages other than German,
mainly Croatian, Slovenian, Czech,
and Turkish. The basis of the Austrian
educational system is the national law
that requires school attendance for
all youths between the ages of 6 and 15.
Austria’s long tradition of free
education dates from the Educational Reform
Act of 1774, instituted by
the Empress Maria Theresa. This law, which was
expanded in 1867 and again in
1962, largely accounts for the fact that virtually
all of the adult
population is able to read and write. During the 20th century,
Austria
has received international recognition for the high quality of its
medical
training. In the arts it has sought new approaches to the awakening
of
students’ creative interests, especially in the field of art education
under
the leadership of Franz Cizek. In many aspects, Austrian schools were
among the
first anywhere to be marked by a general trend toward progressive
education.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was a world
center of culture,
particularly in music and literature. Austrian fine art
usually is considered
with the art of southern Germany. A distinctive
Austrian style is manifested in
the refined baroque architecture and
sculpture of the 17th and 18th centuries,
notably in Vienna, Salzburg, and
Melk. The largest of the 2400 libraries in
Austria is the National
Library, founded in 1526. Important research collections
are housed in the
various universities, in several old monasteries, and in a
number of
scientific libraries. The collection of the former royal house
contains state
papers dating from 816; collections of the Holy Roman Empire
dating from
1555; and documents concerning the history of the Austrian Empire,
the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and the period since 1918.The art and
natural
science museums of Vienna are internationally known, as are many
individual
collections. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is famous for its
paintings by members
of the Brueghel family and for the works of Dutch,
Italian, and German painters.
The Albertina collection of prints and
drawings, the collections of jewelry and
relics of the Holy Roman Empire, the
Austrian Gallery, the technical museum, and
the museum for folklore and
ethnography are all well known. Salzburg, birthplace
of the composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, has several museums housing collections
of his manuscripts
and memorabilia, including one in the house where he was
born. The Austrian
economy is based on a balance of private and public
enterprise. All the basic
industries were nationalized in 1946; these included
all oil production and
refining; the largest commercial banks; and the principal
companies in river
and air transportation, railroad equipment, electric
machinery and
appliances, mining, iron, steel, and chemical manufacturing, and
natural-gas
and electric power production. Government control was reduced
through lack of
efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, allowing for the sale
of shares in
many nationalized companies to private investors. Austria has
maintained
close ties with the countries of Eastern Europe. Since the collapse
of
communism in those countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, more
than
1000 Western companies have chosen Austria as their base for new
Eastern
European operations. Of the total land area, about 17 percent is
considered
suitable for cultivation. Meadows and pastures constitute about 24
percent of
the total land area, and market gardens and vineyards account for
slightly more
than 1 percent. About half of Austrian farms are under 25 acres
in size. Major
products in the early 1990s were wheat,barley,maize, grapes,
potatoes, sugar
beets, apples, and rye. Austria’s farms satisfy most of the
food needs of the
country, and some surpluses such as dairy products are
exported. Annual milk
production was about 870 million gallons. Livestock
included 3.7 million pigs,
2.4 million, 312,000 sheep, and 61,400 horses.
Executive power is exercised by
the president of the republic, who is elected
by popular vote every six years,
and by the Council of Ministers, which is
headed by a chancellor, appointed by
the president for a term not exceeding
four years. Suffrage is universal for
citizens 19 years of age and older.
Federal legislative power is vested
principally in the Nationalrat (National
Council), or lower house of the
bicameral Federal Assembly. The Nationalrat
is composed of 183 members elected
for four-year terms by popular vote
according to proportional representation.
The cabinet may remain in
office only so long as it enjoys the confidence of the
Nationalrat. The
Bundesrat (Federal Council), the upper house, consists of 64
members chosen
by the provincial legislatures in proportion to population for
terms ranging
from four to six years, depending on the length of terms of the
provincial
legislatures they represent. Although the powers of the Bundesrat
are
primarily advisory, the council can delay passage of the bills. Each of
the nine
provinces has a unicameral legislature elected on the same basis as
the
Nationalrat. The legislature chooses a provincial governor. All
legislation must
be submitted by the governor to the federal ministry for
approval. The
provincial legislature, however, may override a ministry veto
by majority vote.
Cities and villages are administered by elected
communal councils, which in turn
elect mayors, or burgomasters.The legal
system is based on the division between
legislative, administrative, and
judicial power. There are three supreme courts:
the Supreme Constitutional
Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, and the
Supreme Judicial Court.
The judicial courts include 4 higher provincial courts,
17 provincial and
district courts, and about 200 local courts. The
constitutional court deals
with matters affecting the country’s constitution,
and examines the legality
of administration and legislation. The administrative
court deals with
matters affecting the legality of administration. The new
Socialist
chancellor, Fred Sinowatz, formed a coalition with the Freedom
Party;
however, the alliance collapsed in 1986 when the Freedom Party took a
sharp turn
to the right under its new leader, Jörg Haider. Mismanagement and
layoffs in
the public sector coupled with controversy over privatization
fueled discontent
with the government, the Socialists, and the political
patronage system. The
presidential election in 1986 was won by the People’s
Party candidate, Kurt
Waldheim, former secretary general of the United
Nations, despite allegations
that he had lied about his actions in the German
army during World War II. The
vote reflected the ambiguous attitude of many
Austrians toward their country’s
Nazi past. After parliamentary elections
in November, Chancellor Sinowatz
resigned and Franz Vranitzky, another
Socialist, took office, forming a
coalition with the People’s Party. His
government had to deal with continuing
cutbacks in the public sector, high
budget deficits, and international unease
over Waldheim’s election. The
coalition survived the elections of October
1990, but lost seats to the
right-wing Freedom Party. In 1991 Waldheim announced
that he would not seek
reelection the following year, and the Socialist Party
changed its name to
the Social Democratic Party. Thomas Klestil, a career
diplomat and former
ambassador to the United States, was elected president in
1992, partly on
the promise to press forward Austria’s application to join the
European
Union (EU). In 1994, five years after it was first submitted,
Austria’s
application to join the EU was endorsed by the European Parliament
and
approved by Austrian voters in a nationwide referendum. The
country
officially joined the EU on January 1, 1995. In the mid-1990s a
number of
violent incidents against minorities occurred in Austria, including
numerous
letter bombings. Underground extremist right-wing groups claimed
responsibility
for the attacks, heightening fears of a resurgent neo-Nazi
movement in the
country and spawning large public protests against the
persecution of
minorities. In the October 1994 parliamentary election, the
ruling coalition of
the Social Democratic Party and the People’s Party
retained a legislative
majority but lost 23 seats. It was the worst showing
by the coalition since
1945, reflecting rising dissatisfaction with the
government’s direction. The
Freedom Party, which advocated greater
restrictions on Austria’s ethnic
minorities, continued to make gains, winning
a total of 42 seats in the
Nationalrat. In October 1995 the ruling
coalition collapsed over a budget
dispute. In December the Social Democratic
Party won elections once again, and
in March 1996 it reunited with the
People’s Party to form a new government. By
late 1996 Haidar’s right-wing
Freedom Party had increased in popularity. An
outspoken opponent of
immigration and the EU, Haidar won support among
working-class Austrians by
arguing that both posed dangerous threats to Austrian
jobs. He also tapped
into a growing dissatisfaction among Austrians over
budgetary cuts designed
to meet EU criteria for participation in a common
European currency by
1999. In January 1997 Vranitzky resigned as chancellor and
leader of
Austria’s Social Democratic Party. He designated Finance Minister
Viktor
Klima as his successor.