Austria
In the heart of Europe
A land of imposing and fascinating mountains, Austria is at the center of the great routes between Mediterranean Europe and Northern and Eastern Europe. After having been the center of a great empire for centuries, it has achieved a balanced and solid development that places it among the most advanced countries in Europe and in the world.
The other side of the Alps
According to topmbadirectory, Austria has a largely mountainous territory, consisting of the eastern section of the Alpine chain, which reaches its maximum altitude with the Grossglockner (3,798 m). The mountainous areas, however, are interrupted by a series of valleys – crossed by the main rivers of the country: Inn, Salzach, Drava – densely populated and home to many economic activities. To the east, Austria also includes a small section of the Danube valley and the Hungarian plain.
The climate is continental, with rather cold winters and short summers, rich in rainfall. The environment, very varied and always beautiful, lends itself to tourist exploitation, especially in the Alpine areas, thanks also to modern and efficient infrastructures (roads, hotels, cable cars, ski lifts).
The Austrian population is less numerous than that of Lombardy and is distributed fairly evenly even in the mountain areas, in many small towns and scattered houses. Almost one in five Austrians, however, lives in the capital Vienna, which is therefore the largest city in the country, and also an important commercial, financial and industrial center. The capital is crossed by the Danube, which is navigable up to its mouth in the Black Sea, and which through some canals is also connected to the Rhine and therefore to the North Sea: from Vienna you can thus navigate in both directions. The other cities – Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck – are all much smaller (Graz reaches 226,000 residents), but industrial and commercial centers are active.
A prosperous country
The Austrian economy is quite balanced and, as in all more developed countries, it relies less and less on agriculture and more and more on services.
Agriculture, despite having only the lower and flat areas available, therefore rather limited spaces, manages to satisfy almost all the national needs. Cereals, fruit, vines (the wines of the Viennese hills are famous) are among the main crops. Activities related to the forest are also flourishing, which occupies almost half of the Austrian surface and feeds an industrial production of paper, wood pulp and furniture, mostly exported. Livestock, cattle and pigs, also support a thriving processing industry.
The country is not without mineral resources, which have contributed to the birth of a solid industrial structure, and the scarcity of minerals useful for the production of energy is compensated by an abundant production of hydroelectric energy, thanks to the dams along the Alpine rivers. Austria is the fourth world producer of tungsten, a rare and important metal for some industrial sectors, but the production of iron is more important: in Austria metallurgical and mechanical industries have developed (with the production of all kinds of machinery, widely exported), but also chemicals, electronics and textiles.
Austria has one of the highest per capita income in the European Union, low unemployment and high social security and, overall, a very high level of well-being and development.
