Austria : Country overview

Geography

• Full country name: Republic of Austria
• Population: approximately 8.2 million
• Border countries: situated in southern-central Europe with Liechtenstein and Switzerland to the west, Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Italy and Slovenia to the south, and Hungary and Slovakia to the east.
• Climate: warm in summer, cold in winter with heavy snow in the mountains.
• Terrain: 60% of the country is mountainous.

Living in Austria

• Cost of living: broadly comparable to that in other countries of Western Europe. For useful information about life in Austria, go to Vienna Expats  or see the English-language online magazine Ether . EURES - European Job Mobility Portal  also has some helpful information in its living and working conditions section.
• Utilities: all mains services are available and efficiently managed.
• Internet domain: .at
• Health: Austria has an excellent health service and social security system. If you are resident in Austria for more than a brief period, you will have to pay contributions for medical care to a local social insurance organisation (Sozialversicherungsträger). Ask your employer for information.
• Laws and customs: laws related to drugs are similar to those in the UK and strictly enforced.

Economy and finance

• Currency: Euro (€)
• Type of economy: social market economy
• Health of economy: suffered the recession of 2008-2010 but unemployment did not rise as high as other EU states due to government subsidised working hours which allowed companies to retain employees. Some banks needed government support, including nationalization. Generally, the large service sector and robust industrial sector are coping with the after effects. An overview of current trends is available from EURES - European Job Mobility Portal .
• Unemployment rate: 4.7%
• Main exports: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs.

Culture

• People: 90% German-speaking Austrians, with small Austrian minorities who are Slovene-, Croatian- and Hungarian-speaking. There are small immigrant communities of Turks, Roma, guest workers from Eastern Europe and refugees from the Serbian wars.
• Major religion: Roman Catholic, with a Protestant minority and a small Muslim community.
• History: for an overview of Austrian history see BBC Timeline: Austria .
• Local etiquette: social etiquette tends to be formal. Punctuality is expected and you should use titles and the formal ‘Sie’ rather than ‘du’ with new acquaintances. The usual greeting is a handshake, though women may kiss each other and older men may kiss a woman’s hand. Austrians in general appreciate understated elegance.

Politics

• Type of government: federal parliamentary democratic republic, divided into nine federal states or Bundesland.
• Major political parties: Alliance for the Future of Austria or BZOe; Austrian People's Party or OeVP; Freedom Party of Austria or FPOe; Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe; The Greens.

Travel advice

Find the latest travel advice and a traveller’s checklist on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website.