Population:
7,867,541 (July 1992), growth rate 0.7% (1992)
Birth rate:
12 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
5 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
8 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
73 years male, 80 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
1.5 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Austrian(s); adjective - Austrian
Ethnic divisions:
German 99.4%, Croatian 0.3%, Slovene 0.2%, other 0.1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 6%, other 9%
Languages:
German
Literacy:
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1974 est.)
Labor force:
3,470,000 (1989); services 56.4%, industry and crafts 35.4%, agriculture and
forestry 8.1%; an estimated 200,000 Austrians are employed in other European
countries; foreign laborers in Austria number 177,840, about 6% of labor
force (1988)
Organized labor:
60.1% of work force; the Austrian Trade Union Federation has 1,644,408
members (1989)
:Austria Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Austria
Type:
federal republic
Capital:
Vienna
Administrative divisions:
9 states (bundeslander, singular - bundesland); Burgenland, Karnten,
Niederosterreich, Oberosterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg,
Wien
Independence:
12 November 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Constitution:
1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1945)
Legal system:
civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts
by a Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme
courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
National Day, 26 October (1955)
Executive branch:
president, chancellor, vice chancellor, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) consists of an upper council
or Federal Council (Bundesrat) and a lower council or National Council
(Nationalrat)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Judicial Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) for civil and criminal cases,
Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) for bureaucratic cases,
Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) for constitutional cases
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Thomas KLESTIL (since 8 July 1992)
Head of Government:
Chancellor Franz VRANITZKY (since 16 June 1986); Vice Chancellor Erhard
BUSEK (since 2 July 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO), Franz VRANITZKY, chairman;
Austrian People's Party (OVP), Erhard BUSEK, chairman; Freedom Party of
Austria (FPO), Jorg HAIDER, chairman; Communist Party (KPO), Walter
SILBERMAYER, chairman; Green Alternative List (GAL), Johannes VOGGENHUBER,
chairman
Suffrage:
universal at age 19; compulsory for presidential elections
Elections:
National Council:
last held 7 October 1990 (next to be held October 1994); results - SPO 43%,
OVP 32.1%, FPO 16.6%, GAL 4.5%, KPO 0.7%, other 0.32%; seats - (183 total)
SPO 80, OVP 60, FPO 33, GAL 10
President:
last held 24 May 1992 (next to be held 1996); results of Second Ballot -
Thomas KLESTIL 57%, Rudolf STREICHER 43%
Communists:
membership 15,000 est.; activists 7,000-8,000
:Austria Government
Other political or pressure groups:
Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Austrian Trade Union Federation
(primarily Socialist); three composite leagues of the Austrian People's
Party (OVP) representing business, labor, and farmers; OVP-oriented League
of Austrian Industrialists; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay
organization, Catholic Action
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE,
EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-9, GATT, HG, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM,
ISO, ITU, LORCS, MTRC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Friedrich HOESS; Embassy at 3524 International Court NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 895-6700; there are Austrian
Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
US:
Ambassador Roy Michael HUFFINGTON; Embassy at Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091,
Vienna (mailing address is APO AE 09108-0001); telephone [43] (1) 31-55-11;
FAX [43] (1) 310-0682; there is a US Consulate General in Salzburg
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red
:Austria Economy
Overview:
Austria boasts a prosperous and stable capitalist economy with a sizable
proportion of nationalized industry and extensive welfare benefits. Thanks
to an excellent raw material endowment, a technically skilled labor force,
and strong links to German industrial firms, Austria occupies specialized
niches in European industry and services (tourism, banking) and produces
almost enough food to feed itself with only 8% of the labor force in
agriculture. Improved export prospects resulting from German unification and
the opening of Eastern Europe, boosted the economy during 1990 and to a
lesser extent in 1991. GDP growth slowed from 4.9% in 1990 to 3% in 1991 -
mainly due to the weaker world economy - and is expected to drop to around
2% in 1992. Inflation is forecasted at about 4%, while unemployment probably
will increase moderately through 1992 before declining in 1993. Living
standards are comparable with the large industrial countries of Western
Europe. Problems for the l990s include an aging population, the high level
of subsidies, and the struggle to keep welfare benefits within budget
capabilities. Austria, which has applied for EC membership, was involved in
EC and European Free Trade Association negotiations for a European Economic
Area and will have to adapt its economy to achieve freer interchange of
goods, services, capital, and labor within the EC.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $164.1 billion, per capita $20,985; real
growth rate 3% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.3% (1991, annual rate)
Unemployment rate:
5.8% (1991)
Budget:
revenues $47.7 billion; expenditures $53.0 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1990)
Exports:
$40 billion (1991)
commodities:
machinery and equipment, iron and steel, lumber, textiles, paper products,
chemicals
partners:
EC 65.8%, (Germany 39%), EFTA 9.1%, Eastern Europe/former USSR 9.0%, Japan
1.7%, US 2.8%
Imports:
$50.2 billion (1991)
commodities:
petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, vehicles, chemicals,
textiles and clothing, pharmaceuticals
partners:
EC 67.8% (Germany is 43.0%), EFTA 6.9%, Eastern Europe/former USSR 6.0%,
Japan 4.8%, US 3.9%
External debt:
$11.8 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
2.0% (1991)
Electricity:
17,600,000 kW capacity; 49,500 million kWh produced, 6,500 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
foods, iron and steel, machines, textiles, chemicals, electrical, paper and
pulp, tourism, mining
:Austria Economy
Agriculture:
accounts for 3.2% of GDP (including forestry); principal crops and animals -
grains, fruit, potatoes, sugar beets, sawn wood, cattle, pigs, poultry;
80-90% self-sufficient in food
Economic aid:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $2.4 billion
Currency:
Austrian schilling (plural - schillings); 1 Austrian schilling (S) = 100
groschen
Exchange rates:
Austrian schillings (S) per US$1 - 11.068 (January 1992), 11.676 (1991),
11.370 (1990), 13.231 (1989), 12.348 (1988), 12.643 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Austria Communications