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| Anthem | "Bundeshymne der Bundesrepublik Österreich" | ||||||
| Capital | Selzthal | ||||||
| Largest city | Vienna | ||||||
| Language official |
German | ||||||
| others | Croatian, Hungarian, Turkish | ||||||
| Religion main |
Catholics | ||||||
| others | Eastern Orthodox, Protestants | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Austrians | ||||||
| others | Hungarians, Turks, Yugoslavs | ||||||
| Demonym | Austrian | ||||||
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional republic | ||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | ||||||
| President | Doris Bures (SPÖ) | ||||||
| Chancellor | Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ) | ||||||
| Established | 30 December 1990 (unification) | ||||||
| Time Zone | CET (UTC+01:00)
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| summer | CEST (UTC+02:00)
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| Date Format | dd.mm.yyyy | ||||||
| Driving Side | Right | ||||||
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz | ||||||
| Plug Types | C, F | ||||||
| Calling Code | +43 | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .at | ||||||
| Organizations |  NATO United Nations
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The Federal Republic of Austria (German: Bundesrepublik Österreich), colloquially known as Austria (Österreich), is a sovereign state located in the Central Europe. The nation is bordered by Bavaria and Czechomoravia in the north; Hungary and Slovakia in the east; Italy and Yugoslavia in the south; and Liechtenstein and Switzerland in the west. Vienna is the country's capital and largest city.
Austria emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium. Originally a margraviate of the Duchy of Bavaria, it later developed into a separate duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1156 (later an archduchy in 1453). As of the 16th century, Vienna began serving as the administrative imperial capital and Austria thus became the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy. Following the empire's dissolution in 1806, Austria established their own empire, which became a great power and the dominant member of the German Confederation. The Austrian Empire's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 led to the end of the Confederation and paved the way for the creation of Austria-Hungary in 1867.
Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, which resulted in the small conflict expanding into World War I. The war resulted in the full dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of a small republic. After a period under Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945, Austria was officially reestablished as a republic under Allied occupation. After a major crisis surrounding Johann Koplenig's chancellorship in the late-1940s, Austria became divided between the Soviet-backed Socialist Republic of Austria (also known as East Austria) and the Federal Republic of Austria (known as West Austria). West Austria emerged as a regional power during the late-20th Century, with a large military and high economy. After an agreement, the two Austrias unified in 1990.
Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy with a popularly elected president as head of state and a chancellor as head of government and chief executive. Major urban areas include Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. Austria is consistently listed as one of the richest countries in the world by GDP per capita, one of the countries with the highest standard of living, and was ranked 15th in the world for its Human Development Index in 2020.
Austria has been a member of NATO since 1955 and of the United Nations since 1973. It plays host to the OSCE and is a founding member of the OECD and Interpol.
History[]
Post-War Situation[]
In the aftermath of the Second World War, after Austria was liberated from Nazi Germany by the Allies, the country was divided into four occupation zones. The Soviet Union established their own government headed by Johann Koplenig (without the consent of the other Allies), sparking a post-war crisis. The United States and the Western bloc refused to recognize Koplenig's government as legitimate. Attempts to negotiate reunification began but ultimately went nowhere.
Era of Division[]
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Map of the Occupation Zones of Austria.
Reunification[]
Towards the end of the Cold War, as relations between the Western and Eastern blocs warmed in the 1980s thanks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's new foreign policy, the idea of Austrian reunification came into question for the first time since the end of failed negotiations in 1949. In 1989, major anti-communist demonstrations in Vienna led to the dismantling of the Vienna Wall (being seen as the beginning of the end of communism in Europe). East Austrian hardliner leader Franz Muhri attempted to suppress the rebellion, but after Gorbachev pressured him to act otherwise, he resigned in favor of reformist Franz Vranitzky, who began a policy of negotiating a reunification agreement with West Austria. Border control between the two countries was ultimately far less restricted, allowing a large movement of Austrian immigration between the two countries for the first time since the end of the Second World War.
In April 1990, an attempted coup was launched by communist hardliners, who wanted to restore Muhri to the leadership of East Austria to prevent reunification with what they called "capitalist scum". The failure of the April Coup only accelerated the process of reunification. With the signing of the Treaty on the Reunification of Austria in Vienna on 30 December 1990, the Federal Republic of Austria was officially reunified into one nation for the first time since the 1940s.
Modern Era[]
