More information about Vienna and Austria

Location: Austria is located in Central Europe and shares borders with 8 countries Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is a federal state with a total area of 83,858 sq. km and consists of nine provinces: Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria, Vienna and Vorarlberg.

Population: Austria had a population of 8.21 million in 2009. The population of Vienna is around 1.6 million in the main city area and up to 2.2 million with its suburbs.

Language: German is Austria's official language and is spoken natively by some 90% of the population. The other languages are Turkish, Serbian, Croatian, Hungarian and Bosnian.

Religion: Roman Catholic Christianity is predominant in Austria. In 2009, 66% of the country's population adhered to this denomination. As the second largest religious group, the Lutherans are totaling about 5% of the population. The number of Muslims in Austria has increased in recent years, with 4.5% of the population calling themselves Muslim, Muslims may overtake the number of Lutherans. There are also minor communities of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jews in Austria.

Culture: The arts are generally highly respected in Austria, and Vienna was known during the last centuries as a world center of culture, especially in music. It was the home to some of the greatest classical composers (e.g. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms...).

Sports: Skiing is the most prominent sport in Austria (incl. alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski-jumping). The popular team sport is football but Austria rarely had international success in this discipline. Other sports include also ice hockey, basketball, bobsleigh...

Vienna: Vienna is Austria's primary city and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by population in Europe. Vienna is hosting many major international organizations such as the UN and OPEC. The city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and several studies rank Vienna every year among the top 3 cities worldwide for its quality of life.