Geography
Area: 83,858 km2
Austria is located in southern Central Europe. It has common borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The Austrian landscape points to a rich natural structure: High and central mountain regions, hill country and plains. The Alpine region (Eastern Alps, High Tauern, Carnican Alps, Southern Karawank mountains and parts of the Southern Alps) stretches from the West to the South to the Vienna Basin, and takes up approximately two thirds of the country's surface area. The western part of the country is mountainous while the east is hill country and flatlands which stretch to the Pannonian Plain in northern Burgenland.

The highest mountain is the Grossglockner with 3,797 m, the major river is the Danube with an approximate length of 350 km in the Austrian area. Brief History

• August 13, 1961: beginning of the building of the Berlin wall
• November 9, 1989: abolition of the border between the two Germanys
• October 3, 1990: unification of Germany, with Berlin as the capital

Status
Federal republic since 1948

Government
Austria is a federal republic state with a parliamentary democracy. It consists of 9 independent federal states (Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna) with their own provincial governments. The federal legislation is exercised by the national council (Nationalrat) together with the Upper House of Parliament (Bundesrat) ­ the two chambers of Parliament.

Austria is a member of the European Union, the United Nations as well as most UN organizations.

Capital
Berlin

Main cities
Cologne, Dresden, Dûsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart,

Principal ports
Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Lubeck, Rostock

Language
Of the approximately 8 million inhabitants of Austria, 98% speak German. The six ethnic groups officially recognized in Austria (Burgenlandic Croatians, Roma, Slovaks, Slovenians, Czechs and Hungarians) are concentrated in the east and south of the country.

Currency
Euro

Principal industries
Building, chemistry, energy, metals, precision mechanics and optics, transportation, mechanical construction, textiles and confectionery

Agriculture
Wheat, cattle, grains, barley, potatoes, hogs, wine

Climate
Temperate. The average summer temperature ranges from 20 to 27° C, while the average winter temperature ranges from -5 to 3° C.

Telephone country code
49

Traveling with pets
A rabies vaccination certificate from your veterinarian is necessary if you are bringing in a cat or dog. The format of the certificate is available from the German Tourism Office.