Overview
Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe known officially the Republic of Austria. Austria has roughly 8.3 million citizens. The country is bordered by Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Austria has a territory that covers 83,872 square kilometers or about 32,383 square miles. The country’s climate is temperate and alpine climate. Most Austrians speak German, yet other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene. Austrians date the origins of their country to 15 BCE when a Celtic kingdom was conquered by the Romans. This same territory later became Noricum, a Roman province, in the mid 1st century CE. This same territory mostly encloses present day Austria. In 788 CE, the Frankish king Charlemagne took the area and brought Christianity to it. Under the native Habsburg dynasty, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire fell apart in 1918 at the end of World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919. Nazi Germany occupied Anschluss, Austria in 1938. The occupation of Anschluss lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, when Austria became occupied by the Allies and its former democratic constitution was restored. The Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state in 1955. Presently, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy and is made up of nine federal states. Vienna is Austria’s capital and largest city. Its population exceeds 1.6 million, is Vienna. Austria is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. As of 2010 it has a nominal per capita GDP of $43,723. Austria joined the European Union in 1995, and founded the OECD and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.
Finance Information
Austrian National Bank Website
National Bank President: Claus J. Raidl