Climate and Landscape.—Though from the variations of elevation the climates of different parts of Austria-Hungary are very diverse, three broad divisions may be recognized—(1) the climate of the countries which lie north of the Carpathian heights, in which the winters are long and cold, and in which the vine does not flourish; (2) that of the central plains and slopes of Hungary, favorable to wheat and vines; and (3) the Mediterranean climate of the Adriatic shores, which yield oil and silk.
Generally speaking, all the mountainous borders of Austria-Hungary are forest-covered, the woods occupying a third of the whole surface of those regions; the great plain of Hungary, on the other hand, is an open, treeless steppe.
Peoples and Races.—Austria-Hungary extends over the area in which many different races of Europe meet and interlace. Its population includes Germanic, Slavonic, Magyar, and Romanic elements, with their various tongues and dialects. The Germanic prevails in the Alpine regions and in the valley of the Danube in the west, and is widely mingled with the Slavonic and Magyar in the northern and central parts of the country.
The Slavs, the most numerous branch, forming about forty-five per cent of the whole population, appear in two divisions, a northern and southern; to the northern Slavs belong the Czechs of Bohemia, the Moravians and Slovaks, Poles and Ruthenians, or Russniaks of Galicia and Bukowina; to the southern Slavs belong the Slovenes, Croats and Servians, who occupy the southern border lands of Hungary, between the Drave and Save, westward to the peninsula of Istria and the Dalmatian coasts of the Adriatic. The Romanic element appears in the southeast on the Danube frontier, in southern Transylvania and eastern Bukowina (Wallachians), and in the southwest, where the Italians prevail in numbers on the borders of Venetia. The Magyars occupy the central plains of Hungary. The Szeklers of eastern Transylvania are a branch of the same family, by some believed to be the descendants of the once formidable Huns. Among minor elements of population, Jews are numerous in the northern provinces, Gypsies in Hungary, and Armenians in Transylvania and Galicia.
Religion and Education.—The state religion is the Roman Catholic, and this is professed by two-thirds of the population; a large proportion on the eastern borders next to Russia adhere to the Greek Church; Protestants are most numerous in Hungary and Transylvania, but form only a tenth part. General education, excepting in German Austria, where the compulsory system is enforced, is in a very backward state. There are, however, eleven universities in Austria-Hungary: Vienna, Prague (two), Budapest, Graz, Innsbruck, Cracow, Lemberg, Czernowitz, Klausenburg, and Agram.
Industries and National Resources.—The occupations of the country naturally divide themselves between the mining and pastoral industries of the mountains, and the agricultural and pastoral of the plains.
Agriculture employs by far the largest share of the population; and the lower lands of Austria-Hungary are among the most fertile portions of Europe. Oats, rye, barley, wheat, and maize, are the commonest grains; flax and hemp are widely grown; wines and tobacco chiefly in Hungary; hops in Bohemia.
Horticulture is carried to great perfection; and the orchards of Bohemia, Austria proper, Tyrol, and many parts of Hungary produce a profusion of fruit. Great quantities of cider are made in Upper Austria and Carinthia, and of plum-brandy in Slavonia. In Dalmatia, oranges, lemons and a few olives are produced.
In the production of wine, Austria is second only to France. With the exception of Galicia, Silesia, and Upper Austria, the vine is cultivated in all the provinces; but Hungary stands first, yielding not only the finest quality of wine, but four-fifths the total amount produced in the empire.
Animal Products.—The central Hungarian steppes are full of cattle, and those of the Alpine regions are an exceedingly fine breed. Merino sheep are carefully reared, especially in Moravia, Bohemia and Hungary. The river fisheries are important all over the land. The coast fisheries are of the utmost importance in rocky Dalmatia, where there is little cultivable land.