Flag of Austria - Fast facts

Government: Federal Republic Area: 83,858 sq km Population: 8,139,000 Capital: Vienna Language: German

Currency: EUR Religion: Roman Catholic Climate: moderate, continental Time zone: +1 GMT Member of EU: Yes

Geography

Austria is located in Central Europe. It is an predominantly mountainous country with an area of 83,855 km2. Eight countries namely Italy, Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia form the Austrian border. Vienna is the capital of Austria that lies on the Danube River and is partly surrounded by the hills of the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald).

Austria is divided into nine federal provinces (Bundesländer):

• Vienna (Wien)
• Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)
• Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)
• Salzburg (Salzburg)
• Carinthia (Kärnten)
• Tyrol (Tirol)
• Vorarlberg (Vorarlberg)
• Styria (Steiermark)
• Burgenland (Burgenland)

Population

Austria's population has just topped eight million. 20% of the total population are living in Vienna. 93% of Austrians are German-speaking. The country has a diverse ethnic mix that includes six officially recognized ethnic groups: Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Roma/Sinti, Slovaks and Slovenes.
About 73% of the population is Roman Catholic, there are 11 other officially recognized religions in Austria.

Austrian weather

Austria enjoys a moderate continental climate featuring four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Summers are generally warm and pleasant with cool nights, Winters are sunny, with reliable and frequent snowfalls.
The weather is changeable throughout the year. However, in summer rainfalls are usually heavy and of short duration only. Winters are rather cold in the North-East and can be lightened up by frequent and heavy foehn winds ( a warm and dry wind) in some valleys in the Alps.