The coordinates of the extreme points of the country: northern -15 ° 1 ‘ east longitude and 49 ° 1 ‘ north latitude; eastern – 17 ° 10 ‘ east longitude and 48 ° 0 ‘ north latitude; southern – 14 ° 34 ‘ east longitude and 46 ° 22 ‘ north latitude; western – 9 ° 32 ‘ east longitude and 47 ° 16 ‘ north latitude. The greatest length from north to south is 294 km, from west to east – 573 km. Austria has no access to the sea.
The total length of the borders is 2706 km. Austria borders 8 countries: Germany (466 km) and the Czech Republic (816 km) in the north, Slovakia (107 km) and Hungary (354 km) in the east, Slovenia (330 km) and Italy (430 km) in the south, Switzerland ( 166 km) and Liechtenstein (35 km) in the west.
Most of the country’s territory is occupied by the Eastern Alps (62.8%). The highest peak is Grossglockner (3798 m). Along the Danube is a low-lying plain. To the east is the Styrian-Burgenland hilly plain.
Minerals: iron ore, oil, lead-zinc ores (Klagenfurt-Bleyberg), hard and brown coal (Styria, Upper Austria).
Podzolic and brown forest soils predominate; in the southeast, chernozem soils prevail. In the mountains, stony, as well as mountain brown forest and mountain-meadow soils.
In Austria, different climatic zones coexist. In general, the country is characterized by a temperate continental climate, influenced by the Atlantic. In the foothills of the Carpathians, in the northern regions, the climate is more continental. The average temperature in July is approx. +19°C, January approx. 0°C. The average annual rainfall is 800 mm (much more in the western regions, 2100 mm in the mountains).
In Austria, the rivers of the Danube basin flow. The Austrian part of the Danube – 350 km, Mur – 348 km, Inn – 280 km. There are more than 500 relatively small lakes and two large ones on the territory of the country: on the border with Hungary – Neusiedler See (156.9 km2, the Austrian part – 135 km2), on the border with Germany and Switzerland – Lake Constance (total – 538.5 km2).
According to allcitycodes.com, the country is rich in forests (47% of the entire territory). The Austrian flora is characterized by an oak-beech forest in the valleys, and at an altitude of more than 500 m – a beech-spruce mixed forest. Above 1200 m, spruce predominates, larch and cedar are found. Alpine meadows in the foothills.
The fauna is typical Central European. There are roe deer, hare, deer, pheasant, partridge, fox, marten, badger, squirrel. The surroundings of Lake Neusiedl are unique protected nesting sites for birds of various species. In the highlands of the Eastern Alps, the composition of the fauna is typically alpine.
Population of Austria
According to the 2001 census, the total population of Austria was 8.03 million people. There is almost no natural increase in the population in Austria: every year the number of births and deaths is almost the same. At the same time, both the birth rate and the death rate are declining in Austria: in 2001, 75.5 thousand were born, and 74.8 thousand died (by 9.3‰). A slight excess of births over deaths in recent years is provided by foreigners (+8.2 thousand versus -7.5 thousand for the Austrians). Infant mortality 4.8 pers. per 1000 live births. Average life expectancy is 78.8 years, incl. 75.9 years for men and 81.7 years for women (2001). In 2001, there were 3,889,189 men and 4,143,737 women. 20% (including more than 7% – older than 75 years).
The ethnic composition of the population of Austria is homogeneous, approx. 98% are German-speaking Austrians. In addition, there are 6 recognized national minorities: Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Gypsies (a total of about 300 thousand people).
The number of foreigners according to the 2001 census is 707 thousand people. (8.8%), according to estimates – more than 760 thousand, of which 45% are citizens of the former Yugoslavia.
The spoken language is the Austrian dialect of German; There are many local dialects in the country.
According to the 2001 census, 73.6% of Austrians are Catholics, 4.7% are Protestants, 6.5% of the population belongs to other religious denominations (Islam – 4.2%, Orthodox Church – 2.2%, Judaism – 0.1 %; a total of 12 confessions are registered), 12% of the population do not identify themselves with any of the confessions (in 1991 there were only 8.6%).
