Austria (Republic of Austria or Republik Österreich in German) is a country situated in Central Europe. It covers the total area of 83,872 square km and has population of about 8,316,000 inhabitants. Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Official language is German but locally Croatian, Hungarian and Slovenian are also spoken.

The capital and the largest city is Vienna (Wien) situated on the river Danube. Vienna has a population of about 1,700,000 inhabitants (or 2,300,000 including metropolitan area). It is cultural, economic and political center of the country and is considered to be one of the prettiest cities in Europe. It hosts a lot of major cultural events every year.

Austria is a federal republic and is divided into nine states (Bundesländer) – Burgenland, Carinthia (Kärnten), Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), Salzburg, Styria (Steiermark), Tyrol (Tirol), Vorarlberg and Vienna (Wien).

The country is a largely mountainous, only a quarter of its territory is low lying. The Austrian Alps covers about 60% of the total area. Naturally, Austria is one of the most popular skiing destinations in the world. Some Austrian glaciers are situated on rather high altitudes so skiing season in such ski areas as Kauner, Ziller or Stubaital lasts almost all year round.

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