Economic and geographical characteristics of Austria. Austria Characteristics of austria according to plan

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Plan. 1. Business card 2. EGP Austria 3. Historical background. 4. Economy of the country. 5. Nature 1) Relief 2) Climate 3) Natural resources 4) Mineral resources 5) Fauna 6) Environment 6. Population. 1) Ethnic composition 2) Demographic situation 3) Population distribution structure 4) Religion 5) Education 6) Mass media 7) National holidays 8) Taxation. 7. Economy. 8. Geography of foreign economic relations Political and economic situation in Austria. Austria - a small country located in the center of Europe, consists of 9 federal states: Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Burgerland, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Vienna and Salzburg. The city of Vienna - the capital of Austria - is administratively equated to the lands. The division of the country into lands has developed historically: almost each of the lands is a former independent feudal possession. In fact, modern Austria is a centralized state. Austria is landlocked. Here, on an area of 84 thousand square meters. km is home to about 11 million people, i.e. less than in Greater London. The geographical position of Austria contributes to its communication with other European countries, of which it directly borders on the family: in the east - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, in the west - Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein. This provides Austria with favorable transport and geographical conditions for mutually beneficial trade with neighboring countries. The territory of Austria is elongated in the form of a wedge, strongly narrowed in the west and widened in the east. This configuration of the country resembles, according to some, a bunch of grapes. The largest cities are Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg. The location in the center of Europe makes Austria the crossroads of a number of trans-European meridional routes (from the Scandinavian countries and states of central Europe through the Brenner and Semmering Alpine passes to Italy and other countries). Serving the transit of goods and passengers gives Austria a certain amount of income in foreign currency. In addition, as it is easy to establish from a physical map, the state borders of Austria for the most part coincide with natural boundaries - mountain ranges or rivers. Only with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (on a small stretch), they pass almost on flat terrain. When our compatriot, heading to Austria by train, crosses the Czech-Austrian border in the northeastern corner of the country, he is somewhat disappointed. Where is Alpine Austria? Around, as far as the eye can see, a treeless, plowed plain, flat as a table. Here and there green islands of orchards and vineyards, brick houses and lonely trees on the borders and along the roads flicker. Plains and hilly lowlands extend from here far to the south along the entire border with Hungary and occupy 20% of the territory. But upon reaching Vienna, we find ourselves in a more typical Austrian natural environment: mountains, the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) - the northeastern outpost of the mighty Alps and the high-hilly wide and open Danube valley, which rises noticeably in the western direction. If you climb one of the peaks of the Vienna Woods, for example, Kahlenberg (“Bald Mountain”), then far in the north and north-west in the blue haze beyond the Danube you can see the low, wooded, granite ridge of Šumava, only some peaks of which rise several above 700 meters. This ancient hill occupies 1/10 of the country's territory. Undoubtedly, the Alps are the dominant landscape in Austria, they (together with the foothills) occupy 70% of the country's area. These are the Eastern Alps. So it is customary to call the part of the Alpine mountain system lying to the east of the Upper Rhine valley, along which the state border with Switzerland passes here. What is the difference between the Eastern and Western Alps? To the east of the Rhine fault, the alpine ridges take a latitudinal direction, begin to fan out, as it were, and descend. The Eastern Alps are wider and lower than the Western ones, they are more accessible. There are fewer glaciers here, and the largest of them are about half the size of Switzerland. In the Eastern Alps there are more meadows and especially forests, and the Eastern Alps are much richer in minerals than the Western ones. If you cross the Alps from north to south, it is easy to see that the geological structure and composition of the rocks composing them are located symmetrically relative to the axial zone. This zone is the highest and most powerful group of ridges covered with glaciers and snows, among which the Hohe Tauern stands out with the highest point of the country - the double-headed peak Glosglockner (“Big Bell”), reaching 3997 m; Ötztal, Stubai, Zillertay Alps. All of them, together with the ridges adjoining from the west and east, are composed of hard crystalline rocks - granites, gneisses, crystalline schists. The largest glacier - Pastertse - has a length of about 10 km and an area of 32 km 2. To the north and south of the axial zone there are ridges composed of solid sedimentary rocks, mainly limestones and dolomites: the Lichtal Alps, Karwendel, Dakhshtein, Hohshvat and other ridges of the Northern The limestone Alps up to the aforementioned Vienna Woods in the extreme northeast. Unlike the peaked peaks of crystalline ridges, limestone mountains are giant blocks with more or less flat, slightly sloping surfaces and almost steep or even overhanging slopes. The years are mostly bare, there are sinkholes of soil, caves and other forms of karst relief, formed by thawed rainwater in soluble limestone and dolomite. The peripheral zone of the Alps is formed by the low with soft outlines of the peaks and slopes of the Predalps, composed of loose sedimentary rocks. And within Austria, this zone is well expressed in the north, but in the south it is absent. One of the peculiarities of the Alps is that they are dissected by deep and wide transverse valleys, thanks to which the deep parts of the Alps are relatively easily accessible, and the low, comfortable passes allow you to easily cross the country from north to south in a number of places. So, the famous Brenner Pass has a height of 1371 m, and the Semmering Pass - 985 m. It is no coincidence that railways have long been laid through the Alpine passes, some of them without tunnels. Historical reference. In ancient times and in the earlier Middle Ages, many different tribes passed through the lands of modern Austria, located at the crossroads of important trade routes, the main of which was the route along the Danube. Some of them have left their mark on the ethnogenesis of the Austrian people; a noticeable influence on the formation of the Austrian Ethnic community was exerted by the Celts who settled here in the 5th-6th centuries BC. The conquest of the Austrian lands by the Romans, which began in the 2nd century BC, led to a gradual romanization of the local Celtic population. Administratively, these lands were included in different Roman provinces: Pannonia - in the east, Noricum - in the center, Rezia - in the West. The settlement of its lands in centuries by Germanic (Bavars, Alemanni) and Slavic (mainly Slovenes) tribes was of great importance for the history of Austria. On the basis of the predominantly Germanic tribes of the Bavars and Alemans who merged with some Slavic tribes and with the remnants of the Celtic and other tribes of the early Middle Ages, the Austrian ethnic community was formed. In the 7th-8th centuries, the lands of present-day Austria did not yet form a single whole, but were included in various European states: western and northern (with a Germanic population) - into the Bavarian Duchy, eastern (with a Slavic population) - into the Slavic state of Carantania. At the end of the 8th century, both of these states were incorporated into the Frankish empire of Charlemagne, and after its partition in 843 they became part of the German East Frankish kingdom. In the 7th-10th centuries, the lands of modern Austria were subjected to devastating raids by nomads, first by the Bavars (VIII century), and then by the Hungarians (IX-X centuries). In the second half of the 10th century, on the territory of modern Upper and Lower Austria, the Bavarian Oriental mark was formed, which began to be called Ostarrichi (Austria). It was she who later became the core of the Austrian state. In the XII century, Austria, like many other European states, became part of the "Holy Roman Empire". In the 15th century, almost all of its modern lands were included in the Austrian state, with the exception of Salzburg and Burgenland. However, this political association was still unstable, its borders often changed, the regions included in the state were connected only by dynastic ties. In the XII-XV centuries, Austria was one of the economically prosperous countries in Europe. The development of feudalism in Austria was distinguished by some peculiarities. Until the 15th century, the feudal dependence of the peasants was much weaker in it than in neighboring countries; enslavement of the peasants took place here more slowly due to long-term displacement of the population and the raids of nomads. In the mountainous cattle-breeding regions, especially in Tyrol, a free peasantry remained, united in rural communities. In the 15th century, Austria became not only the economic, but also the political center of the "Holy Roman Empire", and its dukes - the Habsburgs - were emperors. Against the background of a general economic and political upsurge, the culture of medieval Austrian cities flourishes, first of all Vienna, then Graz and Linz. The foundation of the University of Vienna in 1365 was of great importance. In the 16th century, Austria led the struggle of the countries of southeastern Europe against the Turkish invasion. Taking advantage of the weakening in the wars with the Turks of the Czech Republic and Hungary, Austria included most of their territories in its possessions, starting from that time to turn into a multinational state. During this period, the country's economy is increasingly strengthening and developing. In the mining industry (mining of iron and lead ores in Tyrol, Styria, Upper Austria), the emergence of capitalist relations began in the 16th century. The first manufactories appeared in the production of velvet, silk, and luxury goods. In the 17th-18th centuries, the Austrian Habsburgs continued to expand their possessions: the entire territory of Hungary, almost all of Croatia and Slavia, the Southern Netherlands, some regions of Italy, and a number of Polish and Ukrainian lands were annexed to Austria. By its area, Austria began to occupy the second place in Europe after Russia. In the 18th-19th centuries, feudal-absolutist Austria was a stronghold of Catholic reaction in Europe. She initiated the intervention against revolutionary France, and later participated in all anti-French coalitions, led the struggle against the revolutionary movement in Europe. The defeat of Napoleonic France in the European wars of the early 19th century further strengthened Austria's external position. By decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815. she not only returned the lands conquered by Napoleon, but also gave the region of Northern Italy in exchange for the southern Netherlands. In the second half of the 19th century, Austria lost its hegemony in European affairs. The struggle with Prussia for supremacy among the German states ended with the defeat of Austria in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The creation of the union of German states (1867) took place under the auspices of Prussia and without the participation of Austria. In 1867 Austria became a dualist monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Austrian and Hungarian ruling classes formed an alliance to exploit and suppress the resistance of other peoples. At the end of the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century, changes took place in Austria's foreign policy: having failed to achieve hegemony among the German states that were united by Prussia in 1871, Austria launched an offensive in the Balkans, which led to aggravation of relations with Russia and rapprochement with Germany. In 1882, the so-called Triple Alliance was concluded between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy, which came out in the First World War of 1914 against the Entente countries. In 1918, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy split into three states - Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary: in addition, part of its lands became part of Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland. In 1938, the troops of Nazi Germany occupied Austria. The entire economy of the country was subordinated to the military needs of Germany. In World War II, Austria participated as part of Germany. In March 1945, Soviet troops crossed the Austrian border. On April 13, they entered Vienna, and shortly thereafter, the Soviet Army and allied forces liberated the entire country. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, by agreement between the USSR, the USA, Britain and France, the entire territory of Austria was temporarily divided into 4 zones of occupation. On the initiative of the Soviet Union in 1955, the State Treaty was signed on the restoration of an independent and democratic Austria and the occupation was ended. In the same year, the Austrian parliament passed a law on the permanent neutrality of Austria. A country's economy. Austria is one of the most developed countries in Europe. In recent years, the country's economy has been developing at an accelerated pace. The largest foreign investor is Germany (about 30% of investments). Industrial production increased in 1995 by 4.6% and reached 334.5 billion shillings. The leading industries are mechanical engineering, metallurgy, as well as the chemical, pulp and paper, mining, textile and food industries. One third of the volume of industrial production is accounted for by the state sector of the economy. Austria has a productive agriculture. Almost all types of agricultural products necessary to provide for the population are produced. The most important branch of agriculture is animal husbandry. Foreign tourism is one of the most profitable sectors of the Austrian economy. Annual receipts from foreign tourism amount to over 170 billion shillings. Austria trades with more than 150 countries around the world. About 65% of exports and 68% of imports go to the countries of the European Union. The main trading partners are Germany (40%), Italy, Switzerland. The share of Russia is only 1.5%. The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves in 1994 amounted to 218 billion shillings. In terms of per capita income, Austria ranks 9th in the world. The rise in prices for consumer goods in 1995 was 2.3%. The unemployment rate was 6.5%. NATURE. 1.Relief. The main thing that determines the natural features of almost not the entire territory of Austria is the Alps. Their white-headed peaks are visible from everywhere in the country. Almost ѕ of the country is occupied by the Eastern Alps, which are lower and wider than the Western ones. The border between them coincides with the western border of Austria and runs along the valley of the upper Rhine. The Eastern Alps have fewer glaciers, more forests and meadows than the Western ones. The highest point of Austria - the Großglockner mountain in the Hohe Tauern - does not reach 4 thousand meters. (3797 m). From the highest peaks flows down the largest glacier of the Eastern Alps - Pasierce - over 10 km long. Other peaks of the ridge granite-gneiss zone of the Ötztal, Stubai, and Zillertal Alps are also covered with snow and ice. In this crystalline zone, the so-called alpine landforms are most pronounced - sharp ridges, steep-walled valleys plowed out by glaciers. To the north and south of the ridge zone is the famous ice - Eisriesenwelt (world of ice giants) in the Tennengebirge mountains, south of Salzburg. The names of the mountain ranges themselves speak of the coldness, wildness of these places: Totes-Gebirge (meter-high mountains), Hellen-Gebirge (hellish mountains), etc. The limestone Alps to the north pass into the Prealps, which descend in steps to the Danube. These are low, rolling mountains, overgrown with forest, in some places their slopes are plowed up, and wide sunny valleys are quite densely populated. If it is appropriate to compare the geologically young Alps with the Caucasus, then the mountains lying on the other, left side of the Danube, resemble the Urals. These are the southern spurs of Šumava, part of the ancient Bohemian massif, almost to the ground destroyed by time. The height of this border elevation is only 500 meters and only in a few places it reaches 1000 meters. Areas with calm relief, flat or hilly lowlands occupy only about 1/5 of the country's area. This is, first of all, the Danube part of Austria and the adjacent western edge of the Middle Danube plain. The overwhelming majority of the population lives here and is the "center of gravity" of the entire country. 2. Climate. Large contrasts of relief - from lowlands to snowy mountains - determine the vertical zoning of the climate, soils, and vegetation. Austria has vast areas of fertile land, warm and rather humid (700-900 mm of precipitation per year) "grape" climate. This word is everything: a rather warm, long summer with an average temperature of + 20 degrees in July and a warm sunny autumn. On the plains and foothills, there is a relatively mild winter with an average January temperature of 1-5 degrees. However, most of the Alpine part of the country is "deprived" of warmth. With a rise for every 100 meters, the temperature drops by 0.5 - 0.6 degrees. The snow line is located at an altitude of 2500-2800 meters. Summers in the high mountains are cold, damp, windy, and often sleet. In winter, there is even more precipitation here: giant thickets of snow accumulate on the slopes of the mountains, which often for no apparent reason break down and rush down in avalanches. crushing everything in its path. A rare winter goes by without casualties; dwellings, roads, power lines are destroyed ... And sometimes in the middle of winter the snow suddenly disappears. This was the case, for example, in the days of the "White" Olympics at the beginning of 1976 in the vicinity of Innsburg. Usually snows are "driven away" by warm southerly winds - hair dryers. 3. Natural resources. The mountainous part of the country is distinguished by an abundance of clean fresh water. It accumulates in the form of snow and glaciers for most of the year, only to rush down to the Danube in summer with thousands of roaring streams, filling the lake basins along the way. Alpine rivers also determine the regime of the Danube: it is especially abundant in the summer, when plain rivers usually become shallow. Danube tributaries - Inn, Salzach, Ens, Drava - are fraught with large reserves of energy, but all of them are not navigable and are only partially used for timber rafting. There are many lakes in the country, especially in the northern foothills of the Alps and in the south, in the Klagenfurt Basin. They are of glacial origin, their pits are plowed up by ancient glaciers; the lakes are generally deep, with cold, clear water. This type is in the vast Lake Constance, partly owned by Austria. Vegetation zones on the territory of Austria replace one another in the following order: broad-leaved (oak, beech, ash) forests in the Danube Valley (though heavily thinned out) are replaced by a mixed forest of foothills. Above 2000 - 2200 m, they are replaced by coniferous (mainly spruce-fir, partly pine) forests. Mountain forests are one of the national treasures of Austria. On the vegetation map of Central Europe, the Austrian Eastern Alps appear as the only large green island. Among the small Western European states, only Finland and Sweden surpass Austria in forest area. There are especially many industrially exploitable forests in Upper (mountain) Styria, for which it is called the “green heart of Austria”. Apparently, it is no coincidence that the color of the flag of the land of Styria and its folk costumes are green. During the German occupation of World War II, the Austrian forests suffered enormous damage. Above the forests and sparse dwarf shrubs, there are subalpine (matt) and alpine (alma) meadows. In the hot summer months, rapid melting of snow begins in the mountains, which leads to large floods, including on the Danube, the level of which sometimes rises by 8 - 9 m. Nevertheless, the Alps, as “moisture collectors”, are of invaluable importance for Austria: the deep rivers flowing from them, especially the Inn, Ens, Salzach, Drava, serve as the richest sources of inexhaustible water energy. In addition, Austria has large reserves of clean fresh water, concentrated in addition to glaciers and rivers in numerous alpine lakes (the predominance of lakes in the Salzkammergut area). In addition, Austria owns the southeastern part of the large and deep Lake Constance on the western outskirts of the country and almost entirely the shallow lake Neusiedlersee on its eastern outskirts. 4. Mineral resources. In Austria, the set of minerals is quite diverse, but among them there are very few of those whose value would go beyond the borders of the country. The exception is magnesite, which is used for the production of refractories and, in part, for the production of metallic magnesium from it. Magnesite occurs in the Styrian, Carinthian and Tyrolean Alps. There are very few energy minerals. These are very modest deposits of oil (23 million tons) and natural gas (20 billion tons). cubic meters) in Lower and partly in Upper Austria. Even with the Austrian production scale, these reserves are projected to be depleted within two decades. The reserves of brown coal are somewhat larger (in Styria, Upper Austria and Burgenland), but it is of poor quality. Comparatively high quality iron ores, but with a high metal content, are found in Styria (Erzberg) and a little in Carinthia (Hüttenberg). Non-ferrous metal ores are found in small quantities - lead-zinc in Carinthia (Bleiberg) and copper in Tyrol (Mitterberg). Of the chemical raw materials, only table salt is of practical importance (in the Salzkamergut), and of other minerals - graphite and feldspar. 5. Fauna In mountain forests, mainly in reserves, ungulates live - red deer, chamois, mountain sheep, mountain goats. From birds - wood grouse, black grouse, partridge. On the plains, where almost all the land has been cultivated, large wild animals have long been gone. But foxes, hares, and rodents are still found here. 6. Environment The environment in most of Austria is not yet under the threat of pollution as in most other industrialized countries in Europe. First of all, this applies to the Alps with their sparse population and generally insignificant industry in relation to this vast territory. The Austrian authorities, interested in attracting foreign tourists to the country, are taking some measures aimed at limiting environmental pollution, but not enough. The democratic public and academia in Austria are sounding the alarm over the unacceptable level of industrial waste pollution of the Danube below Vienna and the rivers Mura and Mürz. Reserves play an important role in the system of nature conservation measures. There are 12 of them in Austria with a total area of 0.5 million hectares. They are found in all natural zones - from the steppe surroundings of Lake Neusiedler See to the high Tauern. Most of the nature reserves are located in the Alps. POPULATION. 1. Ethnic composition. The population of Austria is relatively homogeneous in terms of ethnicity: about 97% of its population are Austrians. In addition, in Austria, in certain regions of Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland, small groups of Slovenes, Croats and Hungarians live, and in Vienna there are also Czechs and Jews. Many Austrian citizens consider themselves not only Austrians, but, by origin from this or that province, also Styrians, Tyroleans, etc. Austrians speak the Austro-Bavarian dialects of the German language, which differ significantly from the literary one. Literary German is used mainly in writing or on official occasions, as well as in conversations with foreigners. Under the influence of local dialects, his vocabulary and grammar also acquired some originality. 2. Demographic situation. One of the main features of the Austrian population is the cessation of its growth since the beginning of the 70s. This is explained by a large drop in the birth rate. If it were not for the markedly increased average life expectancy, which in 1990 reached 75 years, the demographic situation would have been even more unfavorable. The fall in the birth rate is associated with the difficult material situation of the majority of the Austrian population, as well as with the consequences of the Second World War. A small natural increase has been preserved even in the less developed western alpine lands, as well as in the countryside. Austrian experts predict that the population in the country will not change significantly until 2000, however, a decrease in the proportion of young ages and an increase in the proportion of the elderly threaten to reduce the labor force. 3. Population distribution structure The country's territory is populated very unevenly. With an average density in the country of 90 people per 1 sq. Km, it ranges from 150-200 or more people in the eastern regions adjacent to Vienna, to 15-20 in the Alps. In most of the country's territory, the rural population lives in farms and separate yards - the lack of convenient land affects. Due to the harsh living conditions, the proportion of the Alpine population is continuously decreasing, there is a flight from the mountains - "bergflucht". Above 1000 m above sea level, 2% of the country's population constantly lives. 77% of the population lives in cities (with a population of more than 2 thousand people), but Austria does not impress the traveler as an urban country. The fact is that more than a quarter of the city dwellers are concentrated in the largest city in the country - Vienna. Half of the entire urban population lives in small towns with a population of up to 100 thousand people. Thus, large cities with a population of 100 to 250 thousand are not typical for this country. There are only four of them Graz, Linz, Salzbkrg and Insburg. The functions of these cities, not to mention Vienna, are varied, which cannot be said about the mass of small towns, which for the most part are "unambiguous". They are dominated, as a rule, by one or two industrial sectors. The rapid growth in the number of urban residents is associated with an increase in the share of non-agricultural occupations of the economically active population. In 1990, in industry, including construction and handicrafts, its share was more than 41%, and in agriculture and forestry - about 12% (against 33% in 1960), in transport and communications - 7%. 4. Religion. According to an international study of values, conducted in 1990-91, 44% of Austrians visit churches and other houses of worship once a month and more often (8th out of 27 countries in Europe and North America). If we combine the data of these international studies in 1990-91 and 1995-97, then Austria will take 23rd place out of 59 countries in the world in terms of church attendance once a week and more often (30% of Austrians attended churches in 1990-91 with this regularity). At the same time, during the 1991 survey, only 6.1% of Austrians declared that they do not believe in God (another 8.3% believe in God, but do not believe in life after death). (On the territory of Austria, Christianity began to spread from the end. Religious organizations The largest religious organization is the Roman Catholic Church of the III century). The state supports the Church: there is a 1% church tax in the country, which all citizens of the country are obliged to pay. The Roman Catholic Church in 2000 had 5,651,479 adherents (72.1% of the population). The second largest is the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg and Helvetian Confession (ECAiGI), which unites two autonomous Churches (Lutherans and Reformed). Lutherans and reformists finally received the right to freely profess their beliefs only in 1781, and fully equal in rights with Catholics - a century later. 5. Education. Compulsory education in Austria starts at the age of six and lasts for 9 years. Education in public schools and higher education are free. There are 18 universities, 12 universities. The University of Vienna (founded in 1365) is the oldest existing university in German-speaking countries. 6. Mass media. Over 20 daily newspapers are published in Austria. The one-time circulation is about 3 million copies. Television and radio broadcasting is carried out by the state-owned company ERF. National Information Agency - Austrian Press Agency (APA). 7. National holidays. The Ascension of Christ, the Second Day of the Trinity, the Feast of the Body of Christ, the Dormition of the Theotokos (15.8), the National Day of the Austrian Republic (26.10), the Feast of All Saints (1.11): St. Virgin Mary (8.12), as well as Christmas (25 and 26.12). 8. Taxation. Austria, like most Western European countries, has a rather complex, multi-tier taxation system, with most of the taxes collected through the Federal Tax Service. Local taxes are not very significant. Austrian law divides all individuals and legal entities into taxpayers with unlimited and limited tax liability. Unlimited liability means that tax is paid on all income received both domestically and abroad. This responsibility is borne by individuals with a permanent residence in Austria, as well as companies with a registered office or management bodies in Austria. Accordingly, limited tax liability is borne by individuals residing abroad, and corporations that have neither governing bodies nor a legal address in the country. In this case, certain types of income received in Austria are subject to taxation, for example, income from activities carried out through permanent establishments or branches. The main types of taxes: 1) on investments; 2) for income; 3) corporate; 4) for entrepreneurial activity; 5) property; 6) from turnover (value added); 7) for real estate; 8) inheritance and donation. Household. 1. General information After the formation of Austria as an independent state in 1918, during the 1920s and 1930s, it experienced a severe economic and political crisis. Having lost its peripheral possessions - the industrial Czech Republic and the agricultural territories of Hungary, as well as burdened with huge expenses for the maintenance of the numerous bureaucratic apparatus that previously ruled a huge empire, and now left out of work, Austria could not adapt to new conditions for a long time. During the years of the Anschluss, the German monopolies controlled thousands of Austrian enterprises and sought to establish the exploitation of Austria's natural resources in the interests of Germany. Numerous hydroelectric power plants, enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical plants were built. After the Second World War, the former German property passed into the hands of the state in Austria, which was in the interests of the Austrian people. At the present time, the main enterprises of heavy industry and banks have been nationalized in Austria. State-owned enterprises mainly produce electricity, cast iron and steel, aluminum, mines iron ore, brown coal, oil and natural gas, refines oil, produces nitrogen fertilizers, artificial fibers, and some mechanical engineering products. Mainly enterprises of the light and food industries, as well as a group of industries related to the harvesting, processing and processing of wood, remained unnationalized. Foreign capital plays a significant role in the Austrian economy. Whole industries are under his strong influence, and in some cases even under his control: electrical, electronic, petrochemical, magnesite, and the production of certain types of equipment. Foreign capital limits the economic independence of Austria, in particular, it inhibits the development of the public sector. Austria is one of the economically developed countries with a relatively rapidly developing industry. Although the world economic crisis of 1974-1975 did not spare Austria either. but here it began a little later. The economic development of Austria is also favorably influenced by the fact that, as a neutral state, it has relatively low military expenditures. In the post-war period, the industrial development of Austria made significant headway. Now Austria belongs to the industrial countries, and although in terms of the value of production, industry surpasses agriculture by about 7 times, Austria satisfies its needs for basic agricultural products by 85% from its own production. Austria's dependence on the external market is reflected in the fact that it imports the missing energy raw materials and exports surplus products of the manufacturing industry. The main industrial and agricultural region of the country is the Danube lands. Here, on 1/5 of the territory of Austria, are its vital economic centers. The rest of the country, especially in the high-mountainous part of the Alps, is dominated by almost unpopulated areas, still little connected with the outside world and with each other. As in many Western European countries, Austrian industry is characterized by uneven development of individual industries. Some critical manufacturing industries are absent altogether, such as aircraft manufacturing, while others are not very significant - these include the automotive industry and the manufacture of electronic equipment. 1. Mining, heavy, light industries The mining industry, due to the poverty of minerals, plays an extremely insignificant role in the economy, with the exception of magnesite, which is of export importance. In these industries, Austria has excess capacity, and a significant part of their production is exported to Western European countries. 2. Fuel Industry One of the weakest points of the Austrian economy is its fuel industry. Austria imports all the necessary bituminous coal, more than half of brown coal, about 4 oil, almost half of natural gas. Since the beginning of the 70s, the cost of imports of primary energy sources began to exceed their production within the country. Especially high costs are associated with the transportation of oil and gas. Oil and natural gas account for about 60% of all energy consumption, while solid fuels and hydroelectric power account for 20% each. The country produces less than 2 million tons of oil per year, and its production is gradually decreasing. However, the oil is relatively shallow and of high quality. The main deposits are located northeast of Vienna. Near the capital, in the city of Schwechat, at the only large oil refinery, almost all oil refining is concentrated. From abroad (mainly from Arab countries) it is received through the Trieste-Vienna oil pipeline, which runs along the southeastern outskirts of Austria outside the Alps. Parallel to it, but in the opposite direction, a gas pipeline has been laid from Russia, through which Russian gas goes to Austria and Italy. 3. Power Engineering More than half of electricity is produced at numerous hydroelectric power plants, but the importance of hydropower is decreasing, and the production of electricity at thermal power plants is growing faster. Hydroelectric power plants are mainly built on alpine rivers in the west of the country, from where part of the electricity is transmitted to the eastern regions, part is exported and only a little is consumed locally. 4. Ferrous metallurgy One of the most important branches of the Austrian industry is ferrous metallurgy. Smelting of pig iron and steel far exceeds the needs of the country, and most of the ferrous metal is exported. Most of the pig iron is smelted in Linz, Upper Austria, the rest in Leoben. Steel production is roughly equally divided between Linz and the Styrian region. Austria is the birthplace of a new, more efficient technological steelmaking, namely oxygen-converter, which is increasingly replacing the open-hearth process. The needs of metallurgical plants are only covered by 3 local ore. All alloying metals and metallurgical coke are imported from abroad. 5. Non-ferrous metallurgy In non-ferrous metallurgy, only the production of aluminum is of great importance. The development of this industry in Austria, which does not have bauxite in its depths, is associated with the use of cheap electricity from numerous hydroelectric power plants on the Inn River. Here, in Ranshofen, near Braunau, one of the largest aluminum smelters in Western Europe was built. Other non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises do not even cover the domestic needs of the country. Only a little copper and lead are smelted from the local ore. 6. Mechanical engineering Although mechanical engineering forms the core of all Austrian industry, it is less developed than in other Western European countries, as a result of which Austria imports more mechanical engineering products than it exports. Machine-building enterprises, as a rule, are small: many of them employ no more than 50 people. Machines and apparatus for the light and food industries, some types of machine tools, and equipment for the mining industry are produced in large quantities. Locomotives and small sea vessels are also produced. The largest engineering center is Vienna. 7.Lumber_complex.Also typical for Austria is a complex of industries, including the harvesting of wood, its processing and the production of pulp, paper and cardboard. The significance of the timber industry complex goes far beyond the borders of the country. Forest products account for about a third of the country's total exports. Large areas of timber harvesting are carried out in the mountainous regions of Styria, and mainly its primary processing is also carried out here. 8.Agriculture In Austria, agriculture is quite developed. At present, the yield of the main grain crops - wheat and barley - exceeds 35 kg / ha, the productivity of dairy cows reaches 3 thousand kg of milk per year. More than 2 agricultural products are provided by animal husbandry. This is facilitated by the fact that natural meadows and pastures occupy more than half of the total agricultural area. In addition, about a quarter of the arable land is sown with forage crops. And another part of the feed is imported. All this allows keeping 2.5 million head of cattle. Recently, the production of meat and milk covers the entire effective demand of the population. The cultivated area is small. There are lands that are not constantly cultivated. These are the so-called egarten (transporation). They are used alternately as arable land, then as a pasture. Egarten is characteristic of the Alpine regions. The main agricultural crops - wheat, barley and sugar beets - are cultivated mainly where there is a warm climate and fertile soils - in often Danube Austria and on its eastern flat-hilly outskirts. Rye, oats and potatoes are also sown here. But their crops are spread even more widely - they are also found in the foothills of the Alps and in the mountain valleys, on the Šumava plateau. Outside the mountainous regions, vegetable growing, fruit growing and especially viticulture are widespread. The grapes are grown only in the warm regions of the northeastern and eastern outskirts of the country. 9. Transport The network of communications in Austria is quite dense and not only on the plains, but also in the mountains, which is facilitated by the significant dissection of the Eastern Alps by deep transverse and longitudinal valleys. But, despite the deep dissection of the relief, nevertheless it was necessary to go to the construction of numerous road engineering structures: tunnels, bridges, viaducts. In Austria, there are over 10 tunnels, each more than a kilometer long. The Arlberg Road Tunnel is the longest, with a length of 14 km. The construction of mountain railways and highways contributed to the development of forest, hydropower and other resources of mountain regions. The main modes of transport in Austria are rail and road. About 1 of the total length of railways is electrified. Electric traction sites are mainly located in the mountainous part of the country, where cheap electricity from local hydroelectric power plants is used and where there are many steep climbs. Electric vehicles are also the most important international directions, including to Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and transalpine roads. In other directions, diesel traction prevails. From Vienna, as the largest railway junction, the most important highways diverge in a ray-like manner. The main of them departs in a westerly direction, linking the Danube and Alpine lands. In the northwest direction from this trans-Austrian highway there are roads to the countries of the former Czechoslovakia and Germany. Of great importance is the Semmering Main Line extending from Vienna to the southwest, which connects the capital with Upper Styria and Italy. The main highways are connected by two high mountain lines crossing the Alps from north to south (Linz - Leoben and Salzburg - Villach). Automobile transport successfully competes with railway transport in the transportation of both goods and especially passengers. Now, only intercity buses carry twice as many passengers as by rail. Over the past decades, several sections of new motorway-type highways have been built, the most important of which is the Vienna-Salzburg highway. The design of the highway network is similar to that of the railways. The only navigable river in Austria is the Danube. It is navigable along the entire Austrian stretch of 350 km. It is especially full of water in summer, when mountain snows and glaciers melt. Nevertheless, river transport accounts for less than a tenth of the country's total cargo turnover. The largest port in Austria is Linz, where metallurgy consumes a huge amount of coal and coke, iron ore and other raw materials imported mainly by river. Vienna is more than twice behind it in terms of cargo turnover. Geography of foreign economic relations. The Austrian economy cannot develop without close ties with foreign countries, and its import of goods and capital exceeds their export. But the services provided to foreign partners exceed the services received from them. First of all, we are talking about tourism, which plays an important role in the country's economy. Foreign trade of Austria has a negative balance, that is, the value of imports of its goods exceeds exports. Raw materials and semi-finished products occupy a significant place in Austria's exports: timber and products of its partial processing, ferrous metals, products of the chemical industry, and electricity. Some types of machinery and equipment, river vessels are exported from finished products. Small quantities of food are exported. Mostly finished products are imported, and primarily consumer goods, while the import of machinery and equipment, automobiles, and consumer and industrial electronics is of somewhat lesser importance. Oil, natural gas, coal and coke, ferrous and non-ferrous metal ores, and chemical raw materials are imported in large quantities. Food and flavoring goods, tropical agriculture products, and a lot of fodder are also imported. In general, more than 85% of Austria's foreign trade is oriented towards the world capitalist market. Germany takes the first place in exports, and especially in imports of Austria. The policy of state neutrality pursued by Austria is a good basis for the further development of foreign economic relations with all countries of the world.

1.Business card

2. EGP of Austria

3. Historical background.

4. Economy of the country.

5. Nature

3) Natural resources

4) Minerals

5) Animal world

6) Environment

6. Population.

Ethnic composition

Demographic situation

Population distribution structure

Education

Mass media

National Holidays

Taxation.

7. Economy.

8. Geography of foreign economic relations

Political and economic situation in Austria.

Austria is a small country located in the center of Europe and consists of 9 federal states: Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Burgerland, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Vienna and Salzburg. The city of Vienna - the capital of Austria - is administratively equated to the lands. The division of the country into lands has developed historically: almost each of the lands is a former independent feudal possession. In fact, modern Austria is a centralized state.

Austria is landlocked. Here, on an area of 84 thousand square meters. km is home to about 11 million people, i.e. less than in Greater London. The geographical position of Austria contributes to its communication with other European countries, of which it directly borders on the family: in the east - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, in the west - Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein. This provides Austria with favorable transport and geographical conditions for mutually beneficial trade with neighboring countries.

The territory of Austria is elongated in the form of a wedge, strongly narrowed in the west and widened in the east. This configuration of the country resembles, according to some, a bunch of grapes.

The largest cities are Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg.

The location in the center of Europe makes Austria the crossroads of a number of trans-European meridional routes (from the Scandinavian countries and states of central Europe through the Brenner and Semmering Alpine passes to Italy and other countries). Serving the transit of goods and passengers gives Austria a certain amount of income in foreign currency.

In addition, as it is easy to establish from a physical map, the state borders of Austria for the most part coincide with natural boundaries - mountain ranges or rivers. Only with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (on a small stretch), they pass almost on flat terrain.

When our compatriot, heading to Austria by train, crosses the Czech-Austrian border in the northeastern corner of the country, he is somewhat disappointed. Where is Alpine Austria? Around, as far as the eye can see, a treeless, plowed plain, flat as a table. Here and there green islands of orchards and vineyards, brick houses and lonely trees on the borders and along the roads flicker. Plains and hilly lowlands extend from here far to the south along the entire border with Hungary and occupy 20% of the territory. But upon reaching Vienna, we find ourselves in a more typical natural environment for Austria: mountains, the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) - the northeastern outpost of the mighty Alps and the high-hilly wide and open Danube valley, which rises noticeably in the western direction. If you climb one of the peaks of the Vienna Woods, for example, Kahlenberg (“Bald Mountain”), then far in the north and north-west in the blue haze beyond the Danube you can see the low, wooded, granite ridge of Šumava, only some peaks of which rise several above 700 meters. This ancient hill occupies 1/10 of the country's territory.

Undoubtedly, the Alps are the dominant landscape in Austria, they (together with the foothills) occupy 70% of the country's area. These are the Eastern Alps. So it is customary to call the part of the Alpine mountain system, lying to the east of the Upper Rhine valley, along which the state border with Switzerland passes here. What is the difference between the Eastern and Western Alps? To the east of the Rhine fault, the alpine ridges take a latitudinal direction, begin to fan out, as it were, and descend. The Eastern Alps are wider and lower than the Western ones, they are more accessible. There are fewer glaciers here, and the largest of them are about half the size of Switzerland. In the Eastern Alps, there are more meadows and especially forests, and the Eastern Alps are much richer in minerals than the Western ones.

The division of the country into lands has developed historically: almost each of the lands is a former independent feudal possession. In fact, modern Austria is a centralized state.

Austria is landlocked. Here, on an area of 84 thousand square meters. km is home to about 11 million people, i.e. less than in Greater London.

The geographical position of Austria contributes to its communication with other European countries, of which it directly borders on the family: in the east - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, in the west - Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein. This provides Austria with favorable transport and geographical conditions for mutually beneficial trade with neighboring countries.

The territory of Austria is elongated in the form of a wedge, strongly narrowed in the west and widened in the east. This configuration of the country resembles, according to some, a bunch of grapes.

The largest cities are Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg.

When our compatriot, heading to Austria by train, crosses the Czech-Austrian border in the northeastern corner of the country, he is somewhat disappointed. Where is Alpine Austria? Around, as far as the eye can see, a treeless, plowed plain, flat as a table. Here and there green islands of orchards and vineyards, brick houses and lonely trees on the borders and along the roads flicker. Plains and hilly lowlands extend from here far to the south along the entire border with Hungary and occupy 20% of the territory. But upon reaching Vienna, we find ourselves in a more typical Austrian natural environment: mountains, the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) - the northeastern outpost of the mighty Alps and the high-hilly wide and open Danube valley, which rises noticeably in the western direction. If you climb one of the peaks of the Vienna Woods, for example, Kahlenberg (“Bald Mountain”), then far in the north and north-west in the blue haze beyond the Danube you can see the low, wooded, granite ridge of the Šumava, only some of the peaks that rise slightly above 700 meters.

This ancient hill occupies 1/10 of the country's territory.

If you cross the Alps from north to south, it is easy to see that the geological structure and composition of the rocks composing them are located symmetrically relative to the axial zone. This zone is the highest and most powerful group of ridges covered with glaciers and snows, among which the Hohe Tauern stands out with the highest point of the country - the double-headed peak Glosglockner (“Big Bell”), reaching 3997m; Ötztal, Stubai, Zillertay Alps. All of them, together with the ridges adjoining from the west and east, are composed of hard crystalline rocks - granites, gneisses, crystalline schists. The largest glacier, Pasterce, has a length of about 10 km and an area of 32 km 2.

To the north and south of the axial zone, there are ridges composed of hard sedimentary rocks, mainly limestones and dolomites: the Lichtal Alps, Karwendel, Dakhshtein, Hochshvat and other ridges of the Northern Limestone Alps up to the aforementioned Vienna Woods in the extreme northeast. In contrast to the peaked peaks of crystalline ridges, limestone mountains are giant blocks with more or less flat, slightly sloping surfaces and almost steep or even overhanging slopes. The years are mostly bare, there are sinkholes of soil, caves and other forms of karst relief, formed by thawed rainwater in soluble limestone and dolomite.

The peripheral zone of the Alps is formed by the low with soft outlines of the peaks and slopes of the Predalps, composed of loose sedimentary rocks. And within Austria, this zone is well expressed in the north, but in the south it is absent.

One of the features of the Alps is that they are dissected by deep and wide transverse valleys, making the deep parts of the Alps relatively easy to access, and low, comfortable passes allow you to easily cross the country from north to south in a number of places. So, the famous Brenner Pass has a height of 1371m, and the Semmering Pass - 985m. It is no coincidence that railways have long been laid through the Alpine passes, some of them without tunnels.

POPULATION: About 7.9 million (1993). Austrians make up approximately 98% of the population. Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Hungarians also live.

GEOGRAPHY: Austria is located in the heart of Europe. In the north, the country is bordered by the Czech Republic, in the northeast with Slovakia, in the east with Hungary, in the south with Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland, in the west with Austria bordered by Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany. The total area of the country is 83.8 thousand square kilometers.

CLIMATE: Moderate, continental. The coldest winter month is January, the temperature drops to -2 C. The hottest are July and August, the temperature is about +20 C. The precipitation is from 600 to 1100 mm.

LANGUAGE: The official language is German.

CURRENCY: Austrian Schilling (ATS). 1 shilling is equal to 100 grosz. In circulation, banknotes of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 shillings.

RELIGION: 78% of the population are Catholics, 8% are Protestants, 2% are Muslims, 12% are atheists.

POLITICAL STATE: federal parliamentary republic with a presidential form of government.

TIME: 2 hours behind Moscow.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS: above all the beauty of Vienna and the most famous ski resorts. The Alps have picturesque villages, excellent skiing conditions, professional instructors. Vienna: the symbol of the city - St. Stephen's Cathedral, Graben Street, St. Ruprecht Church and Schönbrunn Castle, Vienna Amusement Park, Vatican Church, City Hall, Belvedere Palace, Musical Society Meeting, Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments at the Museum of Art History, Museum of Graphics - Albertina Gallery, Austria's main art museum - the Museum of Art History, St. Bernard's Chapel, the Town Hall and Parliament buildings, in front of which the statue of Pallas Athena, the Burgtheater, the Staatsoper, the old Vienna parks Augarten and Prater. Very popular among tourists are the Vienna State Museum of Art, the Albertina Museum, the Vienna Woods, 70 km west of Vienna - the ruins of the Dürnstein fortress (XII century), the State Jewish Museum, 25 km south-west - the Cistercian monasteries in Heiligenkreutz. The pearl of Vienna is the former imperial court of the Hofburg (XIII century) with the "Schatzkammer" - one of the richest gold storehouses in the world, where the treasures of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the highest order of Austria and Spain, are kept. One of the masterpieces of the collection is the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, made in 962, and the Austrian imperial crown, which the Habsburgs were crowned with. Salzburg: Salzburg Lakes, Salzburg Cathedral (founded in the 8th century, rebuilt in 1611-1628), surrounded by three squares with the luxurious residence of the princes-archbishops, the Baroque Museum, the Salt Mountains, the house in which Mozart was born, the palaces of Helburn with a magnificent a park decorated with fire fountains; and Mirabel, Geerfidegasse, the Eisriesenwelt ("world of the ice giants") cave in Tennengebirge, south of Salzburg. Styria and Carinthia attract with a huge number of medieval castles and majestic nature. Innsbruck: Ambras Castle (16th century), ski resort. Kitzbühel is a resort located in the Tyrolean Alps. Karnish is a famous sports center and resort located in the very south of Austria. Saalbach and Hinterglemm are the most popular ski resorts. Lech in Arlberg is a fashionable resort offering the highest level of service. Baden is a spa with healing hot sulfur springs, located 25 km south of Vienna, and has been popular with crowned heads and artists for a long time. The most popular ski resorts are Innsbruck, Kitzbühel, Badgastein, Baden bei Vin, Seefeld, Otztal, Zillertal, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, St. Anton, Zell am See-Kaprun, Galtür, Gaschurn, Stubochall, Santitz , Carinthia, Salzkammergut, St. Wolfgang, Hintertux.

RULES OF ENTRANCE: Austria is part of the Schengen area. To enter, you must have a passport, a visa obtained on the basis of an invitation, and a paid consular fee of 400 Austrian schillings. Regardless of the type of invitation, the embassy issues a multivisa for multiple entry into the country within the period specified in the visa.

CUSTOMS RULES: in Austria there are no restrictions on the import or export of foreign and local currency (export of national currency - no more than 50 thousand shillings). It is prohibited to export, without special permission, objects and things of historical and artistic value.

REFERENCE PHONE: throughout Austria 1611