Austria

Austria, officially called the Republic of Austria, sits landlocked in Central Europe within the Eastern Alps. The country is a federation made up of nine states; its capital, Vienna, is both the most populous city and one of those states. Austria shares borders with Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Covering an area of 83,879 square kilometers, it is home to roughly 9.2 million people.

People have lived in what is now Austria since at least the Paleolithic period. Around 400 BC, Celtic tribes inhabited the region, and the Romans annexed it in the late 1st century BC. Christianization took hold during the 4th and 5th centuries, toward the end of Roman rule, and then various Germanic tribes arrived during the Migration Period.

Austria as a political entity grew out of the remains of the Eastern and Hungarian Marches near the end of the first millennium. It began as a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, became a Duchy in 1156, and was elevated to an Archduchy in 1453. From the late 13th century onward, it formed the core of the Habsburg monarchy, making Austria a major Central European power for centuries. Starting in the 16th century, Vienna also served as the administrative capital of the Holy Roman Empire. That empire dissolved in 1806, two years after Austria had founded its own empire, which grew into a great power and one of Europe’s largest states. Defeats in wars and territorial losses during the 1860s led to the creation of Austria-Hungary in 1867.

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph declared war on Serbia, a move that quickly escalated into World War I. The empire’s defeat and collapse resulted in the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918 and the First Austrian Republic in 1919. During the interwar period, anti-parliamentary feelings grew, culminating in Engelbert Dollfuss establishing an Austrofascist dictatorship in 1934. One year before World War II broke out, Adolf Hitler annexed Austria into Nazi Germany, making it a sub-national division. Following liberation in 1945 and a decade of Allied occupation, Austria regained its sovereignty and declared itself permanently neutral in 1955.

Austria operates as a semi-presidential representative democracy, with a popularly elected president serving as head of state and a chancellor as head of government and chief executive. It ranks 13th in the world for nominal GDP per capita and enjoys high living standards. The country has been a United Nations member since 1955 and joined the European Union in 1995. It hosts the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and it was a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Interpol. Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995 and adopted the euro in 1999.

The native name for Austria comes from the Old High German word Ostarrîchi, meaning “eastern realm,” “eastern empire,” or “eastern kingdom.” This term first appeared in the “Ostarrîchi document” of 996 and likely translates the Medieval Latin name into a local Bavarian dialect. Austria began as a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976. The Latinized form “Austria” was first recorded in the 12th century. At that time, the Danube basin of Austria (Upper and Lower Austria) marked the easternmost extent of Bavaria.

Before Roman times, various Celtic tribes settled the area, and it became the core of the Hallstatt culture by the 6th century BC. The city of Hallstatt holds the oldest archaeological evidence of Celts in Europe. The Celtic Kingdom of Noricum, covering most of modern Austria and parts of Slovenia, was conquered by Rome in 16 BC and became the province of Noricum, lasting until 476. Parts of today’s Austria not in Noricum fell under the Roman provinces of Pannonia (eastern Austria) and Raetia (Vorarlberg and Tyrol). Present-day Petronell-Carnuntum in eastern Austria was a major army camp that later became the capital of Pannonia Superior, housing 50,000 people for nearly 400 years.

After the Roman Empire fell, the region was first invaded by the Germanic Rugii, who made it part of their “Rugiland.” In 487, most of modern Austria was conquered by Odoacer, a barbarian soldier and statesman, who incorporated it into his Kingdom of Italy. By 493, the Ostrogoths took over and created the Ostrogothic Kingdom. After that kingdom fell, the area was invaded by the Alemanni, Baiuvarii, Slavs, and Avars. Charlemagne, King of the Franks, conquered the area in 788, encouraged colonization, and introduced Christianity. As part of Eastern Francia, the core areas of modern Austria were given to the House of Babenberg. Known as the marchia Orientalis, this territory was granted to Leopold I in 976. The first written record of the name Austria appears in 996 as Ostarrîchi, referring to the Babenberg March. In 1156, the Privilegium Minus raised Austria to the status of a duchy.