Austria Country & Tourist Information

Location
Central Europe.

Area
83,858 sq km (32,378 sq miles).

Population
8.2 million (UN estimate 2006).

Population Density
99 per sq km.

Capital
Vienna (Wien).
Population:  1.6 million (UN estimate 2006).

Government
Federal Republic.

Language
German is the official language. Regional dialects are pronounced and within the different regions of the country one will encounter marked variations from Hochdeutsch, ie ‘standard' German. There are Croatian and Slovene-speaking minorities in the Burgenland and southern Carinthia respectively.

Religion
78% Roman Catholic, 5% Protestant, 5% Muslim, 12% other religious sects.

Time
GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from fourth Sunday in March to fourth Sunday in October).

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz. Round two-pin European plugs are standard.

Head of Government
Chancellor Werner Faymann since 2008.

Head of State
President Heinz Fischer since 2004.

Recent History
General elections were held in 2008 after the conservative People's Party coalition collapsed in the summer. A new grand coalition government was sworn in, made up of the center-left Social Democrats (SPO) and the conservative People's Party.

Austria's political landscape has undergone turmoil in recent years, much of it centered on extreme right-wing populist Jorg Haider, whose Freedom Party (FPO) entered government in 2000. That prompted a furious reaction abroad, including diplomatic sanctions, yet the government survived until 2002, before an internal feud brought the administration down. The following election saw the collapse of the Freiheitlichen vote to just 10% but Haider's Chancellor Schüssel was unable to negotiate an alliance with either of the other two main parties.

In early 2003, the People's Party agreed to form a government with the Freedom Party, which then disbanded when Haider set up the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZO). The People's Party was narrowly defeated in the October 2006 general elections by the center-left Social Democrats. After much wrangling, the two parties formed a coalition, and the government was inaugurated in January 2007.

Telephone
Country code: 43. Call boxes are grey and found in all areas. International calls can be made from payphones with four coin slots.

Mobile Telephone
Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is good.

Internet
Available throughout Austria. There are many Internet cafes.

Media
Austria’s public broadcaster, Österreichischer Rundfunk, has long-dominated the airwaves, but now faces growing competition from private broadcasters, particularly in Vienna. This is a relatively new phenomenon to Austria. Some German cable or satellite channels deliberately tailor their content for Austrian audiences. The print market is mainly privately owned, fiercely competitive and popular.

Post
Letters within Europe take two to four days, and to the USA four to six days. Post boxes are yellow or orange; red stripes mean that the box is also emptied weekends and bank holidays.

Post office hours: generally Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and 1400-1800, and Sat various hours, but main post offices and those at major railway stations are open for 24 hours, seven days a week, including public holidays. Monetary transactions in all post offices permitted Mon to Fri until 1700, Sat 0800-1000.

Press
• Newspapers are in German.
• The Wiener Zeitung, established in 1703, is the oldest newspaper in the world.
• The national daily with the largest circulation is the Neue Kronenzeitung, followed by Der Kurier, Der Standard and Die Presse.
• English-language newspapers and magazines are also widely available, particularly in the big cities and tourist resorts.

Radio
• There are a number of both public and commercial radio stations.

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2009-December 2010 period.

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany. 
10-13 Apr Easter. 
1 May National Holiday.
21 May Ascension Day.
1 June Whit Monday.
11 Jun Corpus Christi.
15 Aug Assumption.
26 Oct National Day.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
8 Dec Immaculate Conception.
25-26 Dec Christmas.

2010
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany. 
2-5 Apr Easter. 
1 May National Holiday.
13 May Ascension Day.
24 May Whit Monday.
3 Jun Corpus Christi.
15 Aug Assumption.
26 Oct National Day.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
8 Dec Immaculate Conception.
25-26 Dec Christmas.

Contact Information:

Austrian Embassy in the UK
18 Belgrave Mews West, London SW1X 8HU, UK
Tel: (020) 7245 6689 for visa enquiries or 7344 3250.
Website: www.austria.org.uk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1200 (personal callers); 0900-1645 (telephone enquiries); 0900-1200 (visa section); 1400-1600 (telephone visa enquiries).

Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) in the UK
9-11 Richmond Buildings, off Dean Street, London W1D 3HF, UK
Tel: (020) 7440 3830 or 0845 101 1818 (holiday information and brochure request line).
Website: www.austria.info/uk or www.austriatourism.com/uk
No personal callers.

Embassy of the Republic of Austria in the USA
3524 International Court, NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Tel: (202) 895 6700 or 6711 (consular section).
Website: www.austria.org

Austrian Tourist Office (ATO) in the USA
120 West 45th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10036, USA
Tel: (212) 575 7723 or 944 6880.
Website: www.austria.info/us or www.austriatourism.com/us


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