General

Geography

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy border on the internal state of Austria. Almost half of this mountainous country is covered by forest, the highest peak is 3,798 m the Grossglockner. There are five major regions: the eastern Alps, the Alps and Carpathian Mountains, the foothills to the east, the Vienna Basin and the granite and gneiss highlands. The Dachstein mountains in Upper Austria, Tyrol mountain peaks, the lakes of Carinthia, the Salzkammergut, the Danube region and the deep forests of Styria are just some of the many attractions of this popular travel destination.

Form of government

Federal parliamentary democratic republic since 1918. Constitution of 1920, last modified 1998th Bicameral parliament: the Federal National Council with 64 and with 183 members. Head of state: Heinz Fischer, since July 2004. Head of government: Chancellor since 2000. Office of the President for six years. The Federal Government must enjoy the confidence of the National Council, whose members are elected every four years. The members of the Bundesrat are sent directly by the state legislatures. Austria is an EU member.

Language

The official language is German. In southern Carinthia is also spoken Slovenian, Burgenland speaks officially Croatian and Hungarian. In Vienna, there are Turkish, Czech and Slovak peoples. Many Austrians also speak English. The regional dialects differ in part from the very high German.

Religion

73.6% Roman Catholic, Protestant 4.7%. Muslim and Jewish minorities.

Time

CET. Last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October: GMT +1 (summer time).
Of Central Europe is in winter and summer hours each 0

Mains voltage

220 V, 50 Hz

Post and Telecommunications

Phone

International direct dialing.

Country code

43rd There are telephones and pay phones. Long distance calls within Austria are Mon-Fri 18.00-08.00 clock and on weekends about a third cheaper.

Mobile phone

GSM 900 and GSM 1800. Network operators include Connect Austria (website: www.one.at) and Tele.ring (website: www.telering.at), both GSM 1800, and T-Mobile (website: www.t-mobile.at/_startpage/) and MobilKom (website: www.mobilkom.at), both dual band 900/1800.

Fax ports

Are everywhere.

Internet / e-mail

There are numerous Internet cafes in all major cities. Main provider Nextra (website: www.nextra.at), as well Chello (website: info.de.chello.at) Utanet (website: home.utanet.at), etc..

Telegrams

Facilities are available at any post office.

Post

Letters and postcards up to 20g within Europe are transported by air mail. Stamps are available at post offices. Almost all post offices accept general delivery. Post office opening times: Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and Clock 14.00-17.00/18.00. Main post offices and post offices in major train stations are open daily (including Sundays and holidays) open all day.

Climatological Information of Vienna