Beginning in the 1970s, a number of trends appeared that
represented a dramatic change in attitudes toward the ideals of
marriage and family. There was a sharp drop in the birth rate and
a decrease in family size, accompanied by a greater prevalence of
people who never married, people who divorce, single-parent
families, cohabitating couples, and marriages without children.
In the early 1990s, fewer Austrian women were bearing
children--an estimated 20 to 30 percent will never have a child--
and those who have children are bearing fewer. After the end of
the "baby boom" of the early 1960s, the Austrian fertility rate
dropped steadily from 2.82 to an all-time low of 1.44 in 1989
(then increased marginally to 1.50 by 1991). Family size has
shrunk correspondingly. Marriage without children was twice as
common in 1990 (32.9 percent) as in the previous generation, and
the number of families having three or more children dropped by
more than half (to 10.7 percent). Families having one or two
children accounted for roughly one-third and one-fourth of
families, respectively, in the early 1990s. Large families are
most common among farmers, who have a historical and economic
tradition of having many children, and among working-class women
having little education.
Between 1970 and 1990, the number of single-parent families
increased almost five times faster than the traditional twoparent families. In 1990 there were 235,000 single-parent
families in Austria, about 15 percent of all families. Nearly 90
percent of single parents were women. Some of these single-parent
households resulted from women's conscious choice to bear
children without marrying. More often, however, divorce was the
cause; more than one-half of single parents were divorced. About
one-third of the single parents were unmarried, and about onetenth were widows or widowers.
One of the consequences of these trends was that the average
size of an Austrian household dropped from 2.9 in 1971 to 2.6
persons in 1990 and is expected to drop further. Almost 60
percent of the population lived equally divided between one- and
two-person households in 1990. A large number of single-person
households result from women's long life expectancy, which causes
them to outlive their spouses.
The frequency of marriage has also declined since the 1960s.
Of the women born in the late 1930s, only 8 percent remained
single, compared with an estimated 25 percent of women born in
the 1960s. One reason for the rise in the unmarried population is
the increasing number of educated women who have professional and
economic alternatives to traditional wife-mother roles. Another
reason for the smaller number of marriages is that cohabitation
without marriage has become more frequent and socially
acceptable.
Austrians are also marrying later. In 1991 the mean age of
marriage was 25.6 years for women and 28.0 years for men, an
increase over earlier decades. In 1981 about 59 percent of women
and 82 percent of men were single between the ages of twenty and
twenty-five, compared with 70 percent and almost 90 percent,
respectively, at the end of the decade. For those between twentyfive and thirty years of age, the figures showed a similar rise
in the numbers of the unmarried--33 percent of women and over 50
percent of men were still single at the end of the decade,
compared with 25 percent and 40 percent, respectively, in 1981.
The declining number of marriages is accompanied by an
increased frequency of divorce. The divorce rate in Austria
increased from 15 percent in the early 1960s to more than 33
percent in the early 1990s. Divorce granted on the basis of "no
fault" or mutual consent became legal in Austria in the early
1980s. The divorce rate was highest in Vienna and lowest in
Tirol, an indication that traditional and religious values are
least binding in urban areas and more persistent in a traditional
Alpine setting. Women who are employed outside of the home and
have their own sources of income demonstrate a greater readiness
to divorce than "traditional wives."
More than one-third of all divorces in Austria occur within
the first five years of marriage; thereafter, the frequency of
divorce decreases with the length of marriage. In a survey in the
early 1990s, more than one-half of people polled identified
extramarital sex, selfishness, and inflexibility as the primary
causes of divorce.
Illegitimacy has also become more frequent. Beginning in the
1960s, the percentage of illegitimate births increased steadily,
from 11.5 percent in 1965 to 25 percent in 1991. For first-born
children, the rate was over 33 percent. These figures reflect
tolerant attitudes toward illegitimacy in many regions in the
Alps where illegitimate children were a traditional aspect of the
Alpine agrarian way of life. Wage-laborers and servants within
the households of landowning farmers frequently were unable to
marry, but their offspring enjoyed a high degree of social
acceptance because illegitimacy was common and provided the
landowners with the next generation of laborers. Although the
traditional agrarian structure of these regions has changed
considerably, the tolerance of illegitimacy remains. In other
parts of Austria not having comparable traditions, illegitimate
birth is not stigmatized to the same extent as it was earlier.
More than half of the illegitimate births in Austria are
legalized by marriage, and the great majority of second- and
third-born children are legitimate. The fact that the social
welfare system provides more extensive benefits for single
mothers than for married ones also can be interpreted as a
financial incentive for initial illegitimacy in some cases.
These changes in Austrian life-style patterns are viewed by
some Austrians with great apprehension, and they interpret the
increasing rate of illegitimacy, cohabitating, single-parenting,
divorcing, and decreasing birth rate as a reflection of a crisis
for the traditional religious and social values on which the
family is based. However, the diversification of life-styles also
can be interpreted as an inevitable consequence of the
modernization of a traditional society, as well as part of the
development of a more pluralistic society within which no
particular life-style enjoys a position of predominance.
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. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. In January 2009, Austria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.
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Location | | Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
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Area(sq km) | | total: 83,871 sq km land: 82,445 sq km water: 1,426 sq km
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Geographic coordinates | | 47 20 N, 13 20 E
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Land boundaries(km) | | 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
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Coastline(km) | | 0 km (landlocked)
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Climate | | temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers
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Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m
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Natural resources | | oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower
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Land use(%) | | arable land: 16.59% permanent crops: 0.85% other: 82.56% (2005)
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Irrigated land(sq km) | | 40 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 84 cu km (2005)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 3.67 cu km/yr (35%/64%/1%) per capita: 448 cu m/yr (1999)
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Natural hazards | | landslides; avalanches; earthquakes
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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
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Environment - international agreements | | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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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
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Population | | 8,210,281 (July 2009 est.)
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Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 14.5% (male 609,748/female 581,144) 15-64 years: 67.5% (male 2,785,091/female 2,756,402) 65 years and over: 18% (male 612,613/female 865,283) (2009 est.)
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Median age(years) | | total: 42.2 years male: 41.1 years female: 43.2 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate(%) | | 0.052% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 8.65 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 9.98 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | 1.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 67% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 4.42 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 79.5 years male: 76.6 years female: 82.56 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 1.39 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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Nationality | | noun: Austrian(s) adjective: Austrian
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Ethnic groups(%) | | Austrians 91.1%, former Yugoslavs 4% (includes Croatians, Slovenes, Serbs, and Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, German 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census)
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Religions(%) | | Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census)
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Languages(%) | | German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 census)
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Country name | | conventional long form: Republic of Austria conventional short form: Austria local long form: Republik Oesterreich local short form: Oesterreich
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Government type | | federal republic
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Capital | | name: Vienna geographic coordinates: 48 12 N, 16 22 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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Administrative divisions | | 9 states (Bundeslaender, singular - Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten (Carinthia), Niederoesterreich (Lower Austria), Oberoesterreich (Upper Austria), Salzburg, Steiermark (Styria), Tirol (Tyrol), Vorarlberg, Wien (Vienna)
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Constitution | | 1920; revised 1929; reinstated 1 May 1945; note - during the period 1 May 1934-1 May 1945 there was a fascist (corporative) constitution in place
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Legal system | | civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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Suffrage | | 16 years of age; universal; note - reduced from 18 years of age in 2007
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Executive branch | | chief of state: President Heinz FISCHER (SPOe) (since 8 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Werner FAYMANN (SPOe) (since 2 December 2008); Vice Chancellor Josef PROELL (OeVP) (since 2 December 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); presidential election last held 25 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2010); chancellor formally chosen by the president but determined by the coalition parties forming a parliamentary majority; vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor election results: Heinz FISCHER elected president; percent of vote - Heinz FISCHER 52.4%, Benita FERRERO-WALDNER 47.6% note: government coalition - SPOe and OeVP
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Legislative branch | | bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung consists of Federal Council or Bundesrat (62 seats; members chosen by state parliaments with each state receiving 3 to 12 members in proportion to its population; members serve five- or six-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: National Council - last held 28 September 2008 (next to be held by September 2013) election results: National Council - percent of vote by party - SPOe 29.3%, OeVP 26%, FPOe 17.5%, BZOe 10.7%, Greens 10.4%, other 6.1%; seats by party - SPOe 57, OeVP 51, FPOe 34, BZOe 21, Greens 20
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Judicial branch | | Supreme Judicial Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof; Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgerichtshof
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | Austrian Trade Union Federation or OeGB (nominally independent but primarily Social Democratic); Federal Economic Chamber; OeVP-oriented Association of Austrian Industrialists or IV; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action other: three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party or OeVP representing business, labor, farmers, and other nongovernment organizations in the areas of environment and human rights
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International organization participation | | ACCT (observer), ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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Flag description | | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red; the flag design is certainly one of the oldest - if not the oldest - national banners in the world; according to tradition, following a fierce battle in the Third Crusade, Duke Leopold V of Austria's white tunic became completely blood-spattered; upon removal of his wide belt or sash, a white band was revealed; the red-white-red color combination was subsequently adopted as his banner
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Economy - overview | | Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the global economic downturn in 2008 led to a recession that is likely to persist through 2009. The government's stabilization measures could increase the budget deficit to about 2.8% of GDP in 2009 and above 3% in 2010, from about 0.6% in 2008. The Austrian economy has benefited greatly in the past from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe, but these sectors have been vulnerable to recent international financial instabilities, and some of Austria's largest banks have required government support. Even after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor participation to offset its aging population and exceedingly low fertility rate.
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GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $331.2 billion (2008 est.) $324.7 billion (2007 est.) $313.7 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP (official exchange rate) | | $414.8 billion (2008 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 2% (2008 est.) 3.5% (2007 est.) 3.5% (2006 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $40,400 (2008 est.) $39,600 (2007 est.) $38,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 1.9% industry: 30.7% services: 67.4% (2008 est.)
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Labor force | | 3.633 million (2008 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 5.5% industry: 27.5% services: 67% (2005 est.)
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Unemployment rate(%) | | 3.9% (2008 est.) 4.4% (2007 est.)
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Population below poverty line(%) | | 5.9% (2004)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 22.5% (2004)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 26 (2007) 31 (1995)
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Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 22.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget | | revenues: $196.4 billion expenditures: $200.7 billion (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 3.2% (2008 est.) 2.2% (2007 est.)
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Stock of domestic credit | | $606.2 billion (31 December 2008) $504.8 billion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares | | $NA (31 December 2008) $228.7 billion (31 December 2007) $191.3 billion (31 December 2006)
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Public debt(% of GDP) | | 62.6% of GDP (2008 est.) 64.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
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Agriculture - products | | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber
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Industries | | construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism
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Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 2.4% (2008 est.)
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Current account balance | | $14.27 billion (2008 est.) $12.03 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports | | $179.1 billion (2008 est.) $162.1 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs
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Exports - partners(%) | | Germany 29.5%, Italy 8.6%, US 4.3%, Switzerland 4.2% (2008)
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Imports | | $179.2 billion (2008 est.) $160.3 billion (2007 est.)
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Imports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs
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Imports - partners(%) | | Germany 44.5%, Italy 7.1%, Switzerland 5.2%, Netherlands 4.1% (2008)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $16.7 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $18.22 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Debt - external | | $832.8 billion (31 December 2008) $801.4 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $261.9 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $247.9 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $270 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $240.9 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Exchange rates | | euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
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Currency (code) | | euro (EUR)
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Telephones - main lines in use | | 3.285 million (2008)
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Telephones - mobile cellular | | 10.816 million (2008)
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Telephone system | | general assessment: highly developed and efficient domestic: fixed-line subscribership has been in decline since the mid-1990s with mobile-cellular subscribership eclipsing it by the late 1990s; the fiber-optic net is very extensive; all telephone applications and Internet services are available international: country code - 43; satellite earth stations - 15; in addition, there are about 600 VSATs (very small aperture terminals) (2007)
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Internet country code | | .at
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Internet users | | 5.937 million (2008)
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Airports | | 55 (2009)
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Pipelines(km) | | gas 2,721 km; oil 663 km; refined products 157 km (2008)
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Roadways(km) | | total: 107,262 km paved: 107,262 km (includes 1,677 km of expressways) (2006)
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Ports and terminals | | Enns, Krems, Linz, Vienna
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Military branches | | Land Forces (KdoLdSK), Air Forces (KdoLuSK)
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Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 18-35 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for male or female voluntary service; service obligation 6 months of training, followed by an 8-year reserve obligation; conscripts cannot be deployed in military operations outside Austria (2009)
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Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,986,411 females age 16-49: 1,944,834 (2008 est.)
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Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,607,456 females age 16-49: 1,576,335 (2009 est.)
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 50,540 female: 48,042 (2009 est.)
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Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 0.9% of GDP (2005 est.)
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Disputes - international | | while threats of international legal action never materialized in 2007, 915,220 Austrians, with the support of the newly elected Freedom Party, signed a petition in January 2008, demanding that Austria block the Czech Republic's accession to the EU unless Prague closed its nuclear power plant in Temelin, bordering Austria
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 58.64 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 29.3% hydro: 67.2% nuclear: 0% other: 3.5% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 61.89 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 14.93 billion kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 19.8 billion kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 24,850 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 285,400 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 45,580 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 305,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Economic aid - donor | | ODA, $1.498 billion (2006)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 50 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 1.532 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 8.65 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 2.788 billion cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 16.14 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | 0.2% (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 9,800 (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 100 (2003 est.)
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: NA female: NA
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 15 years male: 15 years female: 16 years (2006)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 5.4% of GDP (2005)
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