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vienna administrative divisions: 9 states (bundeslaender. singular - bundesland); burgenland. kaernten. niederoesterreich. oberoesterreich. salzburg. steiermark. tirol. vorarlberg. wien (vienna) independence: 1156 (duchy of austria founded); 12 november 1918 (republic proclaimed) national holiday: national day. 26 october (1955); note - commemorates the state treaty restoring national sovereignty and the end of occupation and the passage of the law on permanent neutrality constitution: 1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1 may 1945) 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 suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; compulsory for presidential elections executive branch: chief of state: president heinz fischer (since 8 july 2004) head of government: chancellor wolfgang schuessel (oevp)(since 4 february 2000); vice chancellor hubert gorbach (since 21 october 2003) 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; presidential election last held 25 april 2004 (next to be held april 2010); chancellor traditionally chosen by the president from the plurality party in the national council; vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor election results: heinz fischer elected president; percent of vote - heinz fischer (spoe) 52.4%. benita ferrero-waldner (oevp) 47.6% note: government coalition - oevp and fpoe legislative branch: bicameral federal assembly or bundesversammlung consists of federal council or bundesrat (62 members; members represent each of the states on the basis of population. but with each state having at least three representatives; members serve a five- or six-year term) and the national council or nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: national council - last held 24 november 2002 (next to be held in the fall of 2006) election results: national council - percent of vote by party - oevp 42.3%. spoe 36.5%. fpoe 10.0%. greens 9.5%; seats by party - oevp 79. spoe 69. fpoe 18. greens 17; seating as of may 2005 after split within the freedom party: oevp 79. spoe 69. greens 17. bzoe 11. fpoe 7 judicial branch: supreme judicial court or oberster gerichtshof; administrative court or verwaltungsgerichtshof; constitutional court or verfassungsgerichtshof political parties and leaders: alliance for the future of austria or bzoe [joerg haider]; austrian people's party or oevp [wolfgang schuessel]; freedom party of austria or fpoe [heinz christian strache]; social democratic party of austria or spoe [alfred gusenbauer]; the greens [alexander van der bellen] political pressure groups and leaders: austrian trade union federation (nominally independent but primarily socialist) or oegb; federal economic chamber; oevp-oriented league of austrian industrialists or voei; roman catholic church. including its chief lay organization. catholic action; three composite leagues of the austrian people's party or oevp representing business. labor. and farmers and other non-government organizations in the areas of environment and human rights international organization participation: acct (observer). afdb. asdb. australia group. bis. bsec (observer). ce. cei. cern. eapc. ebrd. eib. emu. esa. eu. fao. g- 9. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. iea. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. miga. minurso. nam (guest). nea. nsg. oas (observer). oecd. opcw. osce. paris club. pca. pfp. un. unctad. undof. unesco. unficyp. unhcr. unido. unmee. unmis. unomig. untso. upu. wcl. wco. weu (observer). wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto. zc diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador eva nowotny chancery: 3524 international court nw. washington. dc 20008-3035 telephone: [1] (202) 895-6700 fax: [1] (202) 895-6750 consulate(s) general: chicago. los angeles. and new york diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador susan r. mccaw embassy: boltzmanngasse 16. a-1090. vienna mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [43] (1) 31339 fax: [43] (1) 3100682 flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top). white. and red economy - overview: austria. with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living. is closely tied to other eu economies. especially germany's. the economy features up-to-date industrial and agricultural sectors. timber is a key industry. 47% of the land area being forested. membership in the eu has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by austria's access to the single european market and proximity to the new eu economies. slow growth in europe has held the economy to 0.7% growth in 2001. 1.4% in 2002. 0.8% in 2003. and 1.9% in 2004 and 2005. to meet increased competition from both eu and central european countries. particularly the new eu members. austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy. continue to deregulate the service sector. and encourage much greater participation in the labor market by its aging population. the aging phenomenon. together with already high health and pension costs. poses fundamental problems in tax and welfare policies. gdp (purchasing power parity): $269.4 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $302.7 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 1.9% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $32.900 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.3% industry: 30.8% services: 66.9% (2004 est.) labor force: 3.49 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture and forestry 4%. industry and crafts 29%. services 67% (2001 est.) unemployment rate: 5.1% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 3.9% (1999) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.5% highest 10%: 22.5% (1995) distribution of family income - gini index: 30 (1997) inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 21.1% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $148.6 billion expenditures: $154.5 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 64.5% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: grains. potatoes. sugar beets. wine. fruit; dairy products. cattle. pigs. poultry; lumber industries: construction. machinery. vehicles and parts. food. metals. chemicals. lumber and wood processing. paper and paperboard. communications equipment. tourism industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 55.75 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 29.3% hydro: 67.2% nuclear: 0% other: 3.5% (2001) electricity - consumption: 57.45 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 13.4 billion kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 19 billion kwh (2003) oil - production: 25.650 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 286.200 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: 35.470 bbl/day (2001) oil - imports: 262.000 bbl/day (2001) oil - proved reserves: 85.69 million bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - production: 1.731 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 7.81 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 403 million cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 6.033 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 24.9 billion cu m (1 january 2002) current account balance: $1.755 billion (2005 est.) exports: $122.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: germany 32%. italy 8.9%. us 6%. switzerland 4.8%. france 4.2%. uk 4.2% (2004) imports: $118.8 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: germany 46.3%. italy 6.8%. switzerland 4.3% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $12.19 billion (2004 est.) debt - external: $510.6 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - donor: oda. $520 million (2002) currency (code): euro (eur) note: on 1 january 1999. the european monetary union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; as of 1 january 2002. the euro became the only legal tender in emu member countries. including austria currency code: eur exchange rates: euros per us dollar - 0.79697 (2005). 0.8054 (2004). 0.886 (2003). 1.0626 (2002). 1.1175 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 3.881 million (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 7.094.500 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: highly developed and efficient domestic: there are 48 main lines for every 100 persons; 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 vsat (very small aperture terminals) (2005) radio broadcast stations: am 2. fm 65 (plus several hundred repeaters). shortwave 1 (2001) radios: 6.08 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 10 (plus more than 1.000 repeaters) (2001) televisions: 4.25 million (1997) internet country code: .at internet hosts: 387.006 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 37 (2000) internet users: 3.73 million (2003) airports: 55 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 24 over 3.047 m: 1 2.438 to 3.047 m: 5 1.524 to 2.437 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 3 under 914 m: 14 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 31 1.524 to 2.437 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 3 under 914 m: 27 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 2.722 km; oil 663 km; refined products 149 km (2004) railways: total: 6.021 km (3.552 km electrified) standard gauge: 5.565 km 1.435-m gauge (3.430 km electrified) narrow gauge: 34 km 1.000-m gauge (28 km electrified); 422 km 0.760-m gauge (94 km electrified) (2004) roadways: total: 133.718 km paved: 133.718 km (including 1.677 km of expressways) (2003) waterways: 358 km (2003) merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1.000 grt or over) 29.624 grt/37.425 dwt by type: cargo 6. container 2 foreign-owned: 2 (netherlands 2) registered in other countries: 19 (2005) ports and terminals: enns. krems. linz. vienna military branches: land forces (kdoldsk). air forces (kdolusk) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for voluntary service; from 2007. at the earliest. compulsory military service obligation will be reduced from 8 months to 6 (2005) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 1.914.800 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1.550.441 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 48.967 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.497 billion (fy01/02) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 0.9% (2004) disputes - international: none illicit drugs: transshipment point for southwest asian heroin and south american cocaine destined for western europe
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