AUSTRIA, LOWER (Ger. Niederösterreich or Österreich unter der Enns, "Austria below the river Enns"), an archduchy and crownland of Austria, bounded E. by Hungary, N. by Bohemia and Moravia, W. by Bohemia and Upper Austria, and S. by Styria. It has an area of 7654 sq. m. and is divided into two parts by the Danube, which enters at its most westerly point, and leaves it at its eastern extremity, near Pressburg. North of this line is the low hilly country, known as the Waldviertel, which lies at the foot and forms the continuation of the Bohemian and Moravian plateau. Towards the W. it attains in the Weinsberger Wald, of which the highest point is the Peilstein, an altitude of 3478 ft., and descends towards the valley of the Danube through the Gföhler Wald (2368 ft.) and the Manhartsgebirge (1758 ft.). Its most south-easterly offshoots are formed by the Bisamberg (1180 ft.), near Vienna, just opposite the Kahlenberg. The southern division of the province is, in the main, mountainous and hilly, and is occupied by the Lower Austrian Alps and their offshoots. The principal groups are: the Voralpe (5802 ft.), the Dürrenstein (6156 ft.), the Ötscher (6205 ft.), the Raxalpe (6589 ft.) and the Schneeberg (6806 ft.), which is the highest summit in the whole province. To the E. of the famous ridge of Semmering are the groups of the Wechsel (5700 ft.) and the Leithagebirge (1674 ft.). The offshoots of the Alpine group are formed by the Wiener Wald, which attains an altitude of 2929 ft. in the Schöpfl and ends N.W. of Vienna in the Kahlenberg (1404 ft.) and Leopoldsberg (1380 ft.).
Lower Austria belongs to the watershed of the Danube, which with the exception of the Lainsitz, which is a tributary of the Moldau, receives all the other rivers of the province. Its principal affluents on the right are: the Enns, Ybbs, Erlauf, Pielach, Traisen, Wien, Schwechat, Fischa and Leitha; on the left the Isper, Krems, Kamp, Göllersau and the March. Besides the Danube, only the Enns and the March are navigable rivers. Amongst the small Alpine lakes, the Erlaufsee and the Lunzer See are worth mentioning. Of its mineral springs, the best known are the sulphur springs of Baden, the iodine springs of Deutsch-Altenburg, the iron springs of Pyrawarth, and the thermal springs of Vöslau. In general the climate, which varies with the configuration of the surface, is moderate and healthy, although subject to rapid changes of temperature. Although 43.4% of the total area is arable land, the soil is only of moderate fertility and does not satisfy the wants of this thickly-populated province. Woods occupy 34.2%, gardens and meadows 13.1% and pastures 3.2%. Vineyards occupy 2% of the total area and produce a good wine, specially those on the sunny slopes of the Wiener Wald. Cattle-rearing is not well developed, but game and fish are plentiful. Mining is only of slight importance, small quantities of coal and iron-ore being extracted in the Alpine foothill region; graphite is found near Mühldorf. From an industrial point of view, Lower Austria stands, together with Bohemia and Moravia, in the front rank amongst the Austrian provinces. The centre of its great industrial activity is the capital, Vienna (q.v.); but in the region of the Wiener Wald up to the Semmering, owing to its many waters, which can be transformed into motive power, many factories are spread. The principal industries are, the metallurgic and textile industries in all their branches, milling, brewing and chemicals; paper, leather and silk; cloth, objets de luxe and millinery; physical and musical instruments; sugar, tobacco factories and foodstuffs. The very extensive commerce of the province has also its centre in Vienna. The population of Lower Austria in 1900 was 3,100,493, which corresponds to 405 inhabitants per sq. m. It is, therefore, the most densely populated province of Austria. According to the language in common use, 95% of the population
was German, 4.66% was Czech, and the remainder was composed of Poles, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Croatians and Italians. According to religion 92.47% of the inhabitants were Roman Catholics; 5.07% were Jews; 2.11% were Protestants and the remainder belonged to the Greek church. In the matter of education, Lower Austria is one of the most advanced provinces of Austria, and 99.8% of the children of school-going age attended school regularly in 1900. The local diet is composed of 78 members, of which the archbishop of Vienna, the bishop of St Pölten and the rector of the Vienna University are members ex officio. Lower Austria sends 64 members, to the Imperial Reichsrat at Vienna. For administrative purposes, the province is divided into 22 districts and three towns with autonomous municipalities: Vienna (1,662,269), the capital (since 1905 including Floridsdorf, 36,599), Wiener-Neustadt (28,438) and Waidhofen on the Ybbs (4447). Other principal towns are: Baden (12,447), Bruck on the Leitha (5134), Schwechat (8241), Korneuburg (8298), Stokerau (10,213), Krems (12,657), Mödling (15,304), Reichenau (7457), Neunkirchen (10,831), St Pölten (14,510) and Klosterneuburg (11,595).
The original archduchy, which included Upper Austria, is the nucleus of the Austrian empire, and the oldest possession of the house of Habsburg in its present dominions.
See F. Umlauft, Das Erzherzogtum Österreich unter der Enns, vol. i. of the collection Die Lander Österreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild (Vienna, 1881-1889, 15 vols.); Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol. 4. (Vienna. 1886-1902, 24 vols.); M. Vansca, Gesch. Nieder- u. Ober-Österreichs (in Heeren's Staatengesch., Gotha, 1905).
AUSTRIA, UPPER (Ger. Oberösterreich or Österreich ob der Enns, "Austria above the river Enns"), an archduchy and crown-land of Austria, bounded N. by Bohemia, W. by Bavaria, S. by Salzburg and Styria, and E. by Lower Austria. It has an area of 4631 sq. m. Upper Austria is divided by the Danube into two unequal parts. Its smaller northern part is a prolongation of the southern angle of the Bohemian forest and contains as culminating points the Plöcklstein (4510 ft.) and the Sternstein (3690 ft.). The southern part belongs to the region of the Eastern Alps, containing the Salzkammergut and Upper Austrian Alps, which are found principally in the district of Salzkammergut (q.v.). To the north of these mountains, stretching towards the Danube, is the Alpine foothill region, composed partly of terraces and partly of swelling undulations, of which the most important is the Hausruckwald. This is a wooded chain of mountains, with many branches, rich in brown coal and culminating in the Göblberg (2950 ft.). Upper Austria belongs to the watershed of the Danube, which flows through it from west to east, and receives here on the right the Inn with the Salzach, the Traun, the Enns with the Steyr and on its left the Great and Little Mühl rivers. The Schwarzenberg canal between the Great Mühl and the Moldau establishes a direct navigable route between the Danube and the Elbe. The climate of Upper Austria, which varies according to the altitude, is on the whole moderate; it is somewhat severe in the north, but is mild in Salzkammergut. The population of the duchy in 1900 was 809,918, which is equivalent to 174.8 inhabitants per sq. m. It has the greatest density of population of any of the Alpine provinces. The inhabitants are almost exclusively of German stock and Roman Catholics. For administrative purposes, Upper Austria is divided into two autonomous municipalities, Linz (58,778) the capital, and Steyr (17,592) and 12 districts. Other principal towns are Wels (12,187), Ischl (9646) and Gmunden (7126). The local diet, of which the bishop of Linz is a member ex officio, is composed of 50 members and the duchy sends 22 members to the Reichsrat at Vienna. The soil in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the hills is fertile, indeed 35.08% of the whole area is arable. Agriculture is well developed and relatively large quantities of the principal cereals are produced. Upper Austria has the largest proportion of meadows in all Austria, 18.54%, while 2.49% is lowland and Alpine pasturage. Of the remainder, woods occupy 34.02%, gardens 1.99% and 4.93% is unproductive. Cattle-breeding is also in a very advanced stage and together with the timber-trade forms a considerable resource of the province. The principal mineral wealth of Upper Austria is salt, of which it extracts nearly 50% of the total Austrian production. Other important products are lignite, gypsum and a variety of valuable stones and clays. There are about thirty mineral springs, the best known being the salt baths of Ischl and the iodine waters at Hall. The principal industries are the iron and metal manufactures, chiefly centred at Steyr. Next in importance are the machine, linen, cotton and paper manufactures, the milling, brewing and distilling industries and shipbuilding. The principal articles of export are salt, stone, timber, live-stock, woollen and iron wares and paper.
See Edlbacher, Landeskunde von Oberösterreich (Linz, 2nd ed., 1883); Vansca, op. cit. in the preceding article.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, or the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Ger. Österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie or Österreichisch-ungarisches Reich), the official name of a country situated in central Europe, bounded E. by Russia and Rumania, S. by Rumania, Servia, Turkey and Montenegro, W. by the Adriatic Sea, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the German Empire, and N. by the German Empire and Russia. It occupies about the sixteenth part of the total area of Europe, with an area (1905) of 239,977 sq. m. The monarchy consists of two independent states: the kingdoms and lands represented in the council of the empire (Reichsrat), unofficially called Austria (q.v.) or Cisleithania; and the "lands of St Stephen's Crown," unofficially called Hungary (q.v.) or Transleithania. It received its actual name by the diploma of the emperor Francis Joseph I. of the 14th of November 1868, replacing the name of the Austrian Empire under which the dominions under his sceptre were formerly known. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy is very often called unofficially the Dual Monarchy. It had in 1901 a population of 45,405,267 inhabitants, comprising therefore within its borders, about one-eighth of the total population of Europe. By the Berlin Treaty of 1878 the principalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina with an area of 19,702 sq. m., and a population (1895) of 1,591,036 inhabitants, owning Turkey as suzerain, were placed under the administration of Austria-Hungary, and their annexation in 1908 was recognized by the Powers in 1909, so that they became part of the dominions of the monarchy.
Government.—The present constitution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (see Austria) is based on the Pragmatic Sanction of the emperor Charles VI., first promulgated on the 19th of April 1713, whereby the succession to the throne is settled in the dynasty of Habsburg-Lorraine, descending by right of primogeniture and lineal succession to male heirs, and, in case of their extinction, to the female line, and whereby the indissolubility and indivisibility of the monarchy are determined; is based, further, on the diploma of the emperor Francis Joseph I. of the 20th of October 1860, whereby the constitutional form of government is introduced; and, lastly, on the so-called Ausgleich or "Compromise," concluded on the 8th of February 1867, whereby the relations between Austria and Hungary were regulated.
The two separate states—Austria and Hungary—are completely independent of each other, and each has its own parliament and its own government. The unity of the monarchy is expressed in the common head of the state, who bears the title Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary, and in the common administration of a series of affairs, which affect both halves of the Dual Monarchy. These are: (1) foreign affairs, including diplomatic and consular representation abroad; (2) the army, including the navy, but excluding the annual voting of recruits, and the special army of each state; (3) finance in so far as it concerns joint expenditure.