Official name Republik Österreich (= Republic Austria)
Area 83,858 square km. (almost 2x the Netherlands)
Number of inhabitants 8.2 million (July 2002)
Population density 97 people per square kilometer
Capital Wien (Vienna)
Monetary unit The Euro since 2002. (1 ? = $ 1.24; 1 Dollar = ? 0.7; Rate in Jan. 2009)
Fuel prices Gas: ? 0.80 to ? 0.98; Diesel: ? 0.73; LPG: ? 0.60
License plate of cars A
Telephone country prefix 43
Internet country code .at
Time difference GMT+1; the same as in Holland
Road network Most roads in Austria are very good. A toll ticket is obligatory for the highways. Some roads in the Alps can be quite narrow and sometimes there are no guard rails. For some roads, like the Grossglocknerstraase and Col Timmelsjoch one has to pay toll, also.
Prices in general The prices of food and other things show clearly that Austria is a prosperous country. For a cup of coffee and a large pint of beer we had to pay at least ? 4,50. Because of the many toll-roads and high entree fees we spent in 5 days more money in Austria than we did in two weeks travelling though Hungary and Croatia.
The best in Austria The majestic Alps always are a fantastic sight, especially the area of the Grossglocknerstrasse (Hohe Tauern) and the mountain road over Col Timmelsjoch (Western-Tirol). Vienna is also an impressive city, but a but too bombastic for our taste.
Geographical data
Austria is situated in Central Europe and more than half of it's surface is covered by Alps. The highest mountain is the Grossglockner with 3797 meters.
More information at insidecountryinfo.com.
Population
56% of the Austrians live in the lager cities, more than 20% lives in the capital, Vienna. There are only small groups of ethnic minorities. Look at 1upinfo.com to find out more about the social minorities.
Languages
In Austria German is the main language, more than 97% of the population speaks it. Have a look at eurolang.net to get to know more about the lesser-used languages in Austria and the minorities that speak it.
History
Austria is best known in history for its part in the Habsburg Empire, but after world war I just a small republic was left of this empire.
We have decided not to write a detailed history anymore, since we would have to cite other sources that are often on the internet already. Instead a few links with more information about Austrian history:
Climate
Austria has mainly moderate climate, characterized by cool winters and Mail us when you know a good website about the climate of Austria!
Flora and fauna
Austria has a land climate in the east, but because of the mountains it also has a mountain climate. We noticed it when we were there: while it was very hot and dry on the eastern plains, it could be very cold in the valleys between the high mountains.