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, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol
Geographic 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
People ———
Population: 8,023,244 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (male 720,696; female 685,179)
15-64 years: 67% (male 2,726,122; female 2,659,162)
65 years and over: 15% (male 451,231; female 780,854) (July 1996
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.41% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 11.19 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 10.43 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)