AUSTRIA

Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. This neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet collapse of 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995. A prosperous country, Austria entered the European Monetary Union in 1999

This European heartland combines a wide variety of landscapes, climatic conditions and flora. Austria's landscapes range from the peaks of the Alps to hill country and plains. The foothills of the Alps and the Carpathians, the Vienna Basin and the Austrian segment of the Pannonian Plain in the East are the principal areas of settlement and economic activity. Austria's highest mountain is the Grossglockner (3,797 metres / 12,530 feet). Its longest river is the Danube, which flows through Austria for a length of some 350 kilometres (220 miles). Austria is located within a temperate climatic zone. In the west and northwest the influence of the temperate Atlantic climate is felt more strongly, in the east the influence of the continental climate. Precipitation levels vary significantly along a west-east axis and rise with altitude. The diversity of topographical and climatic conditions accounts for the country's abundant flora and fauna. Austria is one of Europe's most heavily wooded countries (46% of its surface area). Austria is a federal state consisting of nine independent federal states: Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria, Vienna and Vorarlberg