Location: Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia

Geographic coordinates: 47 20 N, 13 20 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 83,858 sq km
land: 82,738 sq km
water: 1,120 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maine

Land boundaries:
total: 2,562 km
border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain in lowlands and snow in mountains; cool 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: iron ore, oil, timber, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 23%
forests and woodland: 39%
other: 20% (1996 est.)

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

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-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

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

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Population: 8,131,111 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 17% (male 697,283; female 663,459)
15-64 years: 68% (male 2,787,555; female 2,731,446)
65 years and over: 15% (male 474,067; female 777,301) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.25% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 9.9 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 9.91 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.68 years
male: 74.52 years
female: 80.99 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.39 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Austrian(s)
adjective: Austrian

Ethnic groups: German 98%, Croatian, Slovene, other (includes Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Roma)

Religions: Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant 5%, Muslim and other 17%

Languages: German

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: NA%
female: NA%

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Telephones - main lines in use: 3.726 million (plus 83,100 ISDN or Integrated Services Digital Network connections) (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.31 million (1998)

Telephone system:
domestic: highly developed and efficient
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 2 Eutelsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 61 (plus several hundred repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios: 6.08 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 51 (plus 920 repeaters) (1999)

Televisions: 4.25 million (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 35 (1999)

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Railways:
total: 6,123 km (3,523 km electrified)
standard gauge: 5,639 km 1.435-m gauge (3,429 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 484 km (13 km 0.600-m gauge, 468 km 0.760-m gauge - 94 km electrified, and 3 km 0.600-m gauge) (1999)

Highways: 200,000 km
paved: 200,000 km (including 1,613 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1999)

Waterways: 358 km (1999)

Pipelines: crude oil 777 km; natural gas 840 km (1999)

Ports and harbors: Linz, Vienna, Enns, Krems

Merchant marine:
total: 20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 65,284 GRT/91,951 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 15, combination bulk 2, container 2 (1999 est.)
Airports: 55 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 22
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 12 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 33
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 29 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1999 est.)

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