• Austria , officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe.
• It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
• The territory of Austria covers 83,872 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,797 metres (12,457 ft).
• The majority of the population speaks German,which is also the country's official language.Other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
• The origins of Austria date back to the time of the Roman Empire when a Celtic kingdom was conquered by the Romans in approximately 15 BC, and later became Noricum, a Roman province, in the mid 1st century AD—an area which mostly encloses today's Austria.
• In 788 AD, the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered the area, and introduced Christianity. Under the native Habsburg dynasty, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe.
• In 1867, the Austrian Empire was merged into Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in 1918 with the end of World War I. After establishing the First Austrian Republic
• in 1919 Austria was de facto annexed into Greater Germany by the Nazi regime in the so-called Anschluss in 1938.
• This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Austria was occupied by the Allies.
• In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the country would become permanently neutral.
• Today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states.
• The capital—and with a population exceeding 1.6 million, Austria's largest city—is Vienna.
• Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,570.
• The country has developed a high standard of living, and in 2008 was ranked 14th in the world for its Human Development Index.
• Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955,joined the European Union in 1995, and is a founder of the OECD.
• Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the European currency, the euro, in 1999.
• (from - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria)