Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/16.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 11.6 KB | 393 lines

@node Geography (Austria)
@section Geography (Austria)

@display

Location:
  Central Europe, between Germany and Hungary
Map references:
  Africa, Arctic Region, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:   83,850 km2
 land area:
  82,730 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:
  total 2,496 km, Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy
  430 km, Liechtenstein 37 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 262 km, Switzerland
  164 km
Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
  none; landlocked
International disputes:
  none
Climate:
  temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain in lowlands
  and snow in mountains; cool summers with occasional showers
Terrain:
  in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and
  northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
Natural resources:
  iron ore, petroleum, timber, magnesite, aluminum, lead, coal, lignite,
  copper, hydropower
Land use:
 arable land:
  17%
 permanent crops:
  1%
 meadows and pastures:
  24%
 forest and woodland:
  39%
 other:
  19%
Irrigated land:
  40 km2 (1989)
Environment:
  population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor
  soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
Note:
  landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many
  easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube



@end display

@node People (Austria)
@section People (Austria)

@display

Population:
  7,915,145 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  0.55% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  11.54 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  10.42 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  4.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  7.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  76.4 years
 male:
  73.18 years
 female:
  79.8 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  1.47 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Austrian(s)
 adjective:
  Austrian
Ethnic divisions:
  German 99.4%, Croatian 0.3%, Slovene 0.2%, other 0.1%
Religions:
  Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 6%, other 9%
Languages:
  German
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1974)
 total population:
  99%
 male:
  NA%
 female:
  NA%
Labor force:
  3.47 million (1989)
 by occupation:
  services 56.4%, industry and crafts 35.4%, agriculture and forestry 8.1%
 note:
  an estimated 200,000 Austrians are employed in other European countries;
  foreign laborers in Austria number 177,840, about 6% of labor force (1988)



@end display

@node Government (Austria)
@section Government (Austria)

@display

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Republic of Austria
 conventional short form:
  Austria
 local long form:
  Republik Oesterreich
 local short form:
  Oesterreich
Digraph:
  AU
Type:   federal republic
Capital:
  Vienna
Administrative divisions:
  9 states (bundeslander, singular - bundesland); Burgenland, Karnten,
  Niederosterreich, Oberosterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg,
  Wien
Independence:
  12 November 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Constitution:
  1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1945)
Legal system:
  civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts
  by a Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme
  courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
  National Day, 26 October (1955)
Political parties and leaders:
  Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO), Franz VRANITZKY, chairman;
  Austrian People's Party (OVP), Erhard BUSEK, chairman; Freedom Party of
  Austria (FPO), Jorg HAIDER, chairman; Communist Party (KPO), Walter
  SILBERMAYER, chairman; Green Alternative List (GAL), Johannes VOGGENHUBER,
  chairman
Other political or pressure groups:
  Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Austrian Trade Union Federation
  (primarily Socialist); three composite leagues of the Austrian People's
  Party (OVP) representing business, labor, and farmers; OVP-oriented League
  of Austrian Industrialists; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay
  organization, Catholic Action
Suffrage:
  19 years of age, universal; compulsory for presidential elections
Elections:
 President:
  last held 24 May 1992 (next to be held 1996); results of second ballot -
  Thomas KLESTIL 57%, Rudolf STREICHER 43%
 National Council:
  last held 7 October 1990 (next to be held October 1994); results - SPO 43%,
  OVP 32.1%, FPO 16.6%, GAL 4.5%, KPO 0.7%, other 0.32%; seats - (183 total)
  SPO 80, OVP 60, FPO 33, GAL 10
Executive branch:
  president, chancellor, vice chancellor, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
  bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) consists of an upper council
  or Federal Council (Bundesrat) and a lower council or National Council
  (Nationalrat)



@end display

@node Government (Austria 2. usage)
@section Government (Austria 2. usage)

@display

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Judicial Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) for civil and criminal cases,
  Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) for bureaucratic cases,
  Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) for constitutional cases
Leaders:
 Chief of State:   President Thomas KLESTIL (since 8 July 1992)
 Head of Government:
  Chancellor Franz VRANITZKY (since 16 June 1986); Vice Chancellor Erhard
  BUSEK (since 2 July 1991)
Member of:
  AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, COCOM
  (cooperating country), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-9, GATT, IADB,
  IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
  INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG,
  OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO,
  UNIKOM, UNOSOM, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Friedrich HOESS
 chancery:
  3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035
 telephone:
  [phone]
 FAX:
  [phone]
 consulates general:
  Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Roy Michael HUFFINGTON
 chancery:
  Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091, Unit 27937, Vienna
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09222
 telephone:
  [43] (1) 31-339
 FAX:
  [43] (1) 310-0682
 consulate general:
  Salzburg
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red



@end display

@node Economy (Austria)
@section Economy (Austria)

@display

Overview:
  Austria boasts a prosperous and stable socialist market economy with a
  sizable proportion of nationalized industry and extensive welfare benefits.
  Thanks to an excellent raw material endowment, a technically skilled labor
  force, and strong links to German industrial firms, Austria occupies
  specialized niches in European industry and services (tourism, banking) and
  produces almost enough food to feed itself with only 8% of the labor force
  in agriculture. Increased export sales resulting from German unification,
  continued to boost Austria's economy through 1991. However, Germany's
  economic difficulties in 1992 slowed Austria's GDP growth to 2% from the 3%
  of 1991. Austria's economy, moreover, is not expected to grow by more than
  1% in 1993, and inflation is forecast to remain about 4%. Unemployment will
  likely remain at current levels at least until 1994. Living standards in
  Austria are comparable with the large industrial countries of Western
  Europe. Problems for the l990s include an aging population, the high level
  of subsidies, and the struggle to keep welfare benefits within budgetary
  capabilities. The continued opening of Eastern European markets, however,
  will increase demand for Austrian exports. Austria, a member of the European
  Free Trade Association (EFTA), in 1992 ratified the European Economic Area
  Treaty, which will extend European Community rules on the free movement of
  people, goods, capital and services to the EFTA countries, and Austrians
  plan to hold a national referendum within the next two years to vote on EC
  membership.
National product:
  GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $141.3 billion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
  1.8% (1992)
National product per capita:
  $18,000 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  4% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  6.4% (1992 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $47.8 billion; expenditures $53.0 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
  $43.5 billion (1992 est.)
 commodities:
  machinery and equipment, iron and steel, lumber, textiles, paper products,
  chemicals
 partners:
  EC 65.8% (Germany 39%), EFTA 9.1%, Eastern Europe/former USSR 9.0%, Japan
  1.7%, US 2.8% (1991)
Imports:
  $50.7 billion (1992 est.)
 commodities:
  petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, vehicles, chemicals,
  textiles and clothing, pharmaceuticals
 partners:
  EC 67.8% (Germany 43.0%), EFTA 6.9%, Eastern Europe/former USSR 6.0%, Japan
  4.8%, US 3.9% (1991)
External debt:
  $11.8 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate 2.0% (1991)
Electricity:
  17,600,000 kW capacity; 49,500 million kWh produced, 6,300 kWh per capita
  (1992)



@end display

@node Economy (Austria 2. usage)
@section Economy (Austria 2. usage)

@display

Industries:
  foods, iron and steel, machines, textiles, chemicals, electrical, paper and
  pulp, tourism, mining, motor vehicles
Agriculture:
  accounts for 3.2% of GDP (including forestry); principal crops and animals -
  grains, fruit, potatoes, sugar beets, sawn wood, cattle, pigs, poultry;
  80-90% self-sufficient in food
Illicit drugs:
  transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route
Economic aid:
  donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $2.4 billion
Currency:
  1 Austrian schilling (S) = 100 groschen
Exchange rates:
  Austrian schillings (S) per US$1 - 11.363 (January 1993), 10.989 (1992),
  11.676 (1991), 11.370 (1990), 13.231 (1989), 12.348 (1988)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Austria)
@section Communications (Austria)

@display

Railroads:
  5,749 km total; 5,652 km government owned and 97 km privately owned (0.760-,
  1.435- and 1.000-meter gauge); 5,394 km 1.435-meter standard gauge of which
  3,154 km is electrified and 1,520 km is double tracked; 339 km 0.760-meter
  narrow gauge of which 84 km is electrified
Highways:
  95,412 km total; 34,612 km are the primary network (including 1,012 km of
  autobahn, 10,400 km of federal, and 23,200 km of provincial roads); of this
  number, 21,812 km are paved and 12,800 km are unpaved; in addition, there
  are 60,800 km of communal roads (mostly gravel, crushed stone, earth)
Inland waterways:
  446 km
Pipelines:
  crude oil 554 km; natural gas 2,611 km; petroleum products 171 km
Ports:
  Vienna, Linz (Danube river ports)
Merchant marine:
  29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 154,159 GRT/256,765 DWT; includes 23
  cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 1 oil tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 3 bulk
Airports:
 total:
  55
 usable:
  55
 with permanent-surface runways:
  20
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  6
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  4
Telecommunications:
  highly developed and efficient; 4,014,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 6
  AM, 21 (545 repeaters) FM, 47 (870 repeaters) TV; satellite ground stations
  for Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, Indian Ocean INTELSAT, and EUTELSAT systems



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Austria)
@section Defense Forces (Austria)

@display

Branches:
  Army (including Flying Division)
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 2,016,464; fit for military service 1,694,140; reach
  military age (19) annually 50,259 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $1.7 billion, 0.9% of GDP (1993 est.)



@end display