*Austria, People
Population:
7,915,145 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.55% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
11.54 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
10.42 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
4.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
7.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
76.4 years
male:
73.18 years
female:
79.8 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.47 children born/woman (1993 est.)
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:
age 15 and over can read and write (1974)
total population:
99%
male:
NA%
female:
NA%
Labor force:
3.47 million (1989)
by occupation:
services 56.4%, industry and crafts 35.4%, agriculture and forestry 8.1%
note:
an estimated 200,000 Austrians are employed in other European countries;
foreign laborers in Austria number 177,840, about 6% of labor force (1988)
*Austria, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Austria
conventional short form:
Austria
local long form:
Republik Oesterreich
local short form:
Oesterreich
Digraph:
AU
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)
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
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
Suffrage:
19 years of age, universal; compulsory for presidential elections
Elections:
President:
last held 24 May 1992 (next to be held 1996); results of second ballot -
Thomas KLESTIL 57%, Rudolf STREICHER 43%
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
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)
*Austria, Government
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)
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, COCOM
(cooperating country), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-9, GATT, IADB,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG,
OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIKOM, UNOSOM, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Friedrich HOESS
chancery:
3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035
telephone:
(202) 895-6700
FAX:
(202) 895-6750
consulates general:
Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Roy Michael HUFFINGTON
chancery:
Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091, Unit 27937, Vienna
mailing address:
APO AE 09222
telephone:
[43] (1) 31-339
FAX:
[43] (1) 310-0682
consulate general:
Salzburg
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red
*Austria, Economy
Overview:
Austria boasts a prosperous and stable socialist market 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. Increased export sales resulting from German unification,
continued to boost Austria's economy through 1991. However, Germany's
economic difficulties in 1992 slowed Austria's GDP growth to 2% from the 3%
of 1991. Austria's economy, moreover, is not expected to grow by more than
1% in 1993, and inflation is forecast to remain about 4%. Unemployment will
likely remain at current levels at least until 1994. Living standards in
Austria 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 budgetary
capabilities. The continued opening of Eastern European markets, however,
will increase demand for Austrian exports. Austria, a member of the European
Free Trade Association (EFTA), in 1992 ratified the European Economic Area
Treaty, which will extend European Community rules on the free movement of
people, goods, capital and services to the EFTA countries, and Austrians
plan to hold a national referendum within the next two years to vote on EC
membership.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $141.3 billion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
1.8% (1992)
National product per capita:
$18,000 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
6.4% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues $47.8 billion; expenditures $53.0 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
$43.5 billion (1992 est.)
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% (1991)
Imports:
$50.7 billion (1992 est.)
commodities:
petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, vehicles, chemicals,
textiles and clothing, pharmaceuticals
partners:
EC 67.8% (Germany 43.0%), EFTA 6.9%, Eastern Europe/former USSR 6.0%, Japan
4.8%, US 3.9% (1991)
External debt:
$11.8 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 2.0% (1991)
Electricity:
17,600,000 kW capacity; 49,500 million kWh produced, 6,300 kWh per capita
(1992)
*Austria, Economy
Industries:
foods, iron and steel, machines, textiles, chemicals, electrical, paper and
pulp, tourism, mining, motor vehicles
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
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route
Economic aid:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $2.4 billion
Currency:
1 Austrian schilling (S) = 100 groschen
Exchange rates:
Austrian schillings (S) per US$1 - 11.363 (January 1993), 10.989 (1992),
11.676 (1991), 11.370 (1990), 13.231 (1989), 12.348 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year