Terrain: in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the
eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
Natural resources: iron ore, petroleum, timber, magnesite, aluminum,
lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 17% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 24% forest and woodland: 39% other: 19%
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1989)
Environment:
current issues: some forest degradation caused by air and soil
pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural
chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired
power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting
Austria between northern and southern Europe
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Air Pollution-Sulpher 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the
Sea, Whaling
Note: landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
@Austria:People
Population: 7,986,664 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 17% (female 681,087; male 711,127)
15-64 years: 67% (female 2,672,554; male 2,677,100)
65 years and over: 16% (female 791,762; male 453,034) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.35% (1995 est.)