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Austria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Austria (disambiguation).

"Österreich" and "Oesterreich" redirect here. For the surname rendered in either of these two ways, see Österreich (surname). For the Austrian national anthem, whose melody is often given the short-form name "Österreich" or "Oesterreich", see Land der Berge, Land am Strome.

Not to be confused with Australia.

Republic of Austria Republik Österreich
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  Land der Berge, Land am Strome  (German) Land of Mountains, Land by the River MENU 0:00
Location of  Austria  (dark green) – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  –  [Legend]
Capital and largest city		Vienna 48°12′N 16°21′E
Official languages		German [a]
Ethnic groups (2012)		81.1% Austrians[1] 5.1% ex-Yugoslavs[2] 2.7% Germans 2.2% Turks 8.9% other / unspecified
Demonym		Austrian
Government		Federal parliamentaryrepublic
-	President	Heinz Fischer
-	Chancellor	Werner Faymann (SPÖ)
-	President of the National Council	Barbara Prammer (SPÖ)
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper house	Federal Council
-	Lower house	National Council
Independence
-	Margraviate of Austria	976
-	Duchy of Austria	1156
-	Archduchy of Austria	1453
-	Austrian Empire	1804
-	Austro-Hungarian Empire	1867
-	First Republic	1918
-	Federal State	1934
-	Anschluss	1938
-	Second Republic	since 1945
-	State Treaty in effect	27 July 1955
-	Joined the European Union	1 January 1995
Area
-	Total	83,871 km2 (115th) 32,383 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1.7
Population
-	2014 census	8,504,850
-	Density	101.4/km2 (107th) 262.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2014 estimate
-	Total	$373.133 billion[3]
-	Per capita	$43,796[3]
GDP (nominal)		2014 estimate
-	Total	$444.867 billion[3]
-	Per capita	$52,216[3]
Gini (2011)		26.3[4] low
HDI (2013)		0.895[5] very high · 18th
Currency		Euro (€)[b] (EUR)
Time zone		CET (UTC+01)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+02)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+43
ISO 3166 code		AT
Internet TLD		.at[c]
a.	^ Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Romani, Slovak and Sloveneare officially recognised by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).
b.	^ Austrian schilling before 1999; Virtual Euro since 1 Jan 1999; Euro since 1 Jan 2002.
c.	^ The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with otherEuropean Union member states.

Austria (ⁱ/ˈɔːstriə/ or /ˈɒstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German:  Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a federal republic and a landlocked country of roughly 8.5 million people^[6] in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italyto the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of theAlps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft).^[7] The majority of the population speak local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language,^[8] and German in its standard form is the country's official language.^[9] Other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.^[7]

The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. From the time of the Reformation, many Northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. The Thirty Years War, the influence of the Kingdom of Sweden andKingdom of France, the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Napoleonic invasions all weakened the power of the Emperor in the North of Germany, but in the South, and in non-German areas of the Empire, the Emperor and Catholicism maintained control. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria was able to retain its position as one of the great powers of Europe^[10][11] and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. Following Napoleon's defeat, Prussia emerged as Austria's chief competitor for rule of a larger Germany. Austria's defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary. After the defeat of France in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Austria was left out of the formation of a new German Empire, although in the following decades its politics, and its foreign policy, increasingly converged with those of the Prussian-led Empire. During the 1914 July Crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the German Empire guided Austria in issuing the ultimatum to Serbia that led to the declaration of the First World War.

After the collapse of the Habsburg (Austro-Hungarian) Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I, Austria adopted and used the name the Republic of German-Austria (Deutschösterreich, later Österreich) in an attempt for union with Germany, but was forbidden due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919). The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919. In the 1938 Anschluss, Austria was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany.^[12] This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria's former democratic constitution was restored. In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral.

Today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states.^[7][13] The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna.^[7][14] Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $46,330 (2012 est.). The country has developed a high standard of living and in 2011 was ranked 19th in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955,^[15] joined the European Union in 1995,^[7] and is a founder of the OECD.^[16] Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995,^[17] and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Etymology
• 2 History
  • 2.1 Middle Ages
  • 2.2 17th and 18th centuries
  • 2.3 19th century
  • 2.4 20th century
  • 2.5 Post-war settlement
  • 2.6 Post-war developments
  • 2.7 After World War II
• 3 Governance
  • 3.1 Recent developments
  • 3.2 Foreign relations
  • 3.3 Military
  • 3.4 Administrative divisions
• 4 Geography
  • 4.1 Climate
• 5 Economy
  • 5.1 Energy
  • 5.2 Transport
• 6 Demographics
  • 6.1 Largest cities
  • 6.2 Language
  • 6.3 Ethnic groups
  • 6.4 Religion
  • 6.5 Education
• 7 Culture
  • 7.1 Music
  • 7.2 Art and architecture
  • 7.3 Cinema and theatre
  • 7.4 Science and philosophy
  • 7.5 Literature
  • 7.6 Food and beverages
  • 7.7 Sports
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Etymology[edit]

Main article: Name of Austria

First appearance of the word "ostarrichi", circled in red. Modern Austria honours this document, dated 996, as the founding of the nation.

The German name for Austria, Österreich, means "eastern realm" or "eastern empire", and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi, which first appears in the "Ostarrîchi document" of 996.^[18] This word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local (Bavarian) dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976. The word "Austria" is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. At the time, the Danube basin of Austria (Upper and Lower Austria) was the easternmost extent of Bavaria, and in fact of all the Germans, as at the time the territory of the former East Germany was populated by Slavic Sorbs and Polabians.

Friedrich Heer, a 20th-century Austrian historian, stated in his book Der Kampf um die österreichische Identität (The Struggle Over Austrian Identity),^[19] that the Germanic form Ostarrîchi was not a translation of the Latin word, but both resulted from a much older term originating in the Celtic languages of ancient Austria: more than 2,500 years ago, the major part of the actual country was called Norig by the Celtic population (Hallstatt culture); according to Heer, no- or nor- meant "east" or "eastern",^{[dubious – discuss]} whereas -rig is related to the modern German Reich, meaning "realm".^{[dubious – discuss]} Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same asOstarrîchi and Österreich, thus Austria.^{[dubious – discuss]} The Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern day Austria, in around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid 1st century AD.^[20]

History[edit]

Main article: History of Austria

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC. Museum of Natural History Vienna

Settled in ancient times,^[13] the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. Present day Petronell-Carnuntum in Eastern Austria was an important army camp turned capital city in what became known as the Upper Pannonia province. Carnuntum was home for 50,000 people for nearly 400 years.^[21]

"Heidentor" - Remains of theRoman military city of Carnuntum

After the fall of the Roman Empire the area was invaded by Bavarians, Slavs and Avars.^[22] Charlemagne conquered the area in AD 788, encouraged colonisation and introduced Christianity.^[22] As part of Eastern Francia, the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of Babenberg. The area was known as the marchia Orientalis and was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976.^[23]

The first record showing the name Austria is from 996, where it is written as Ostarrîchi, referring to the territory of the Babenberg March.^[23]In 1156 the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria. With the death of Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergs was extinguished.^[24]

As a result Ottokar II of Bohemia effectively assumed control of the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia.^[24] His reign came to an end with his defeat at Dürnkrut at the hands of Rudolph I of Germany in 1278.^[25] Thereafter, until World War I, Austria's history was largely that of its ruling dynasty, the Habsburgs.

Middle Ages[edit]

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria. In 1438 DukeAlbert V of Austria was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund. Although Albert himself only reigned for a year, henceforth every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a Habsburg, with only one exception.

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

The Habsburgs began also to accumulate lands far from the hereditary lands. In 1477 Archduke Maximilian, only son of Emperor Frederick III, married the heiress Maria of Burgundy, thus acquiring most of the Netherlands for the family.^[26][27] His son Philip the Fair marriedJoanna the Mad, the heiress of Castile and Aragon, and thus acquired Spain and its Italian, African and New World appendages for the Habsburgs.^[26][27]

In 1526 following the Battle of Mohács, Bohemia and the part of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans came under Austrian rule.^[28]Ottoman expansion into Hungary led to frequent conflicts between the two empires, particularly evident in the so-called Long War of 1593 to 1606. The Turks made incursions into Styria nearly twenty times;,^[29] which some of them are cited as "burning, pillaging, and taking thousands of slaves".^[30]

17th and 18th centuries[edit]

The Congress of Vienna met in 1814–15. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

During the long reign of Leopold I (1657–1705) and following the successful defense of Vienna in 1683 (under the command of the King of Poland, John III Sobieski),^[31] a series of campaigns resulted in bringing all of Hungary to Austrian control by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699.

Emperor Charles VI relinquished many of the gains the empire made in the previous years, largely due to his apprehensions at the imminent extinction of the House of Habsburg. Charles was willing to offer concrete advantages in territory and authority in exchange for recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction that made his daughter Maria Theresa his heir. With the rise of Prussia the Austrian–Prussian dualism began in Germany. Austria participated, together with Prussia and Russia, in the first and the third of the threePartitions of Poland (in 1772 and 1795).

19th century[edit]