expenditures - dollar figure:
$11.39 billion (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.9% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Australia
Disputes - international:
maritime delimitation and resource sharing agreements signed with
East Timor resolve dispute over "Timor Gap" hydrocarbon reserves; no
agreement reached on dividing Timor Sea with Indonesia (see Ashmore
and Cartier Islands disputes); Australia asserts a territorial claim
to Antarctica and to its continental shelf (see Antarctica)
Illicit drugs:
Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate
products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium
poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Austria
Introduction Austria
Background:
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.
Geography Austria
Location:
Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates:
47 20 N, 13 20 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 83,858 sq km
water: 1,120 sq km
land: 82,738 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:
total: 2,562 km
border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366
km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330
km, Switzerland 164 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m
highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m
Natural resources:
iron ore, oil, timber, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper,
hydropower
Land use: arable land: 16.89% permanent crops: 0.99% other: 82.12% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
457 sq km (2000 est.)
Natural hazards:
landslides; avalanches; earthquakes
Environment - current issues: some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol
Geography - note:
landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe
with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river
is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands
because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
People Austria
Population:
8,188,207 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 16.2% (male 678,944; female 646,390)
15–64 years: 68.3% (male 2,827,736; female 2,768,480)
65 years and over: 15.5% (male 490,979; female 775,678) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 39.4 years
male: 38.2 years
female: 40.7 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
0.22% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
9.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
9.69 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 4.33 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)