About Austria

Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked East Alpine country within the southern a part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine federated states (Bundesländer), one among which is Vienna, Austria’s capital and its largest city. It is bordered by Germany to the northwest; the Czech Republic to the north; Slovakia to the northeast; Hungary to the east; Slovenia and Italy to the south; and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Austria occupies a neighborhood of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi) and features a population of nearly 9 million people. While German is that the country’s official language, many Austrians communicate informally during a sort of Bavarian dialects.

Austria initially emerged as a margraviate around 976 and developed into a duchy and archduchy. In the 16th century, Austria started serving because the heart of the Habsburg Monarchy and therefore the junior branch of the House of Habsburg – one among the foremost influential royal dynasties in history. As an archduchy, it had been a serious component and administrative centre of the Holy Roman Empire . Early within the 19th century, Austria established its own empire, which became an excellent power and therefore the leading force of the German Confederation but pursued its own course independently of the other German states. Following the Austro-Prussian War and therefore the compromise with Hungary, the twin Monarchy was established.
Austria was involved in war I under Emperor Francis Joseph following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the presumptive successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne. After the defeat and therefore the dissolution of the Monarchy, the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed with the intent of the union with Germany, which eventually failed due to the Allied Powers and the state remained unrecognized. In 1919 the primary Austrian Republic became the legal successor of Austria. In 1938, the Austrian-born Hitler , who became the Chancellor of the German Reich, achieved the annexation of Austria by the Anschluss. Following the defeat of Third Reich in 1945 and an extended period of Allied occupation, Austria was re-established as a sovereign and self-governing democratic nation referred to as the Second Republic.
Austria may be a parliamentary representative democracy with a directly elected Federal President as head of state and a Chancellor as head of the federal . Major urban areas of Austriainclude Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is consistently ranked within the top 20 richest countries within the world by GDP per capita terms. The country has achieved a high standard of living and in 2018 was ranked 20th within the world for its Human Development Index. Vienna consistently ranks within the top internationally on quality-of-life indicators.
The Second Republic declared its perpetual neutrality in foreign politics in 1955. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and joined the ecu Union in 1995. It plays host to the OSCE and OPEC and may be a founding member of the OECD and Interpol. Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999.