Austria, population circa 7.5 million, is a small landlocked country in
Central Europe. It is a federation of nine states. Once the center of power for the large [Austro-Hungarian Empire]
?, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in
World War I. Following annexation by
Nazi Germany in
1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies, Austria's
1955 State Treaty declared the country "permanently neutral" as a condition of
Soviet military withdrawal. Neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet collapse and Austria's increasingly prominent role in
European affairs. A prosperous country, Austria joined the
European Union in
1995 and the
euro monetary system in
1999.
Capital: Vienna population circa 1.8 million
Language Spoken: German and a large number of dialects. See Austria/Language.
Neighbours: Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic.
Currently (2001) there is a right-wing coalition in the government made up of the FPOE and the OEVP.
See also AustriaAdvocacy
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