Austria

C

Mineral Resources

Austria has sizable deposits of iron ore, lignite, magnesite, graphite, petroleum, and natural gas. Some small deposits of bituminous coal have been mined, as well as lead, zinc, copper, kaolin, gypsum, mica, quartz, salt, bauxite, antimony, and talc.

D

Soils

Rich terra rosa (red) soils predominate in Austrian valleys. At slightly higher elevations, the soil is of a brown forest type. Alpine meadow soils are usually found in high-elevation regions.

E

Plants and Animals

Austria is one of the most heavily forested countries in Europe. Deciduous trees, mainly beech, oak, and birch, are predominant at lower elevations; spruce, fir, larch, Austrian black pine, and stone pine extend to the timberline. The higher elevations have a very brief season during which alpine plants, including edelweiss, gentians, primroses, buttercups, and monkshoods (see Aconite), come into brilliant flower.

Wildlife is generally scarce in Austria. Chamois, deer, and marmot are still present; bear, which were once abundant, are now almost completely absent. Hunting is strictly regulated to protect the remaining species.

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F

Environmental Issues

Industrial emissions, a high volume of tourist traffic, and significant air pollution from other countries—principally the former East Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—combine to make acid rain the major environmental problem in Austria. One-quarter of the forests suffer some acid damage, and tree cover may be significantly reduced in some areas. To combat this problem, the country has imposed stringent automobile exhaust standards. Other environmental threats include agricultural expansion, damming of rivers for hydroelectric power generation, and erosion caused by loss of forest cover.

The country is 46.9 percent (1995) forested, with most forests located in the alpine zone and consisting of fir, pine, and oak, or oak and chestnut at lower elevations. About 85 percent of the forests are reserved for timber harvest. Wetlands have been reduced to 10 percent of their historic extent.

Austria’s land protection system exists mostly as separate designations of the nine provinces. Overall, 28.3 percent (1997) of the country was under some form of protection, including three national parks and hundreds of nature reserves, nature parks, and landscape reserves.

Austria has joined with its neighbors in formulating plans to protect the Alps and is working toward transborder protected area designations with Germany and Hungary. Austria has signed and ratified conventions on the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats and on wetlands.

III

People

The Austrian people are German-speaking, but the country has a varied ethnic mixture—a legacy from the time of the multinational Habsburg Austrian empire. About 99 percent of the population is ethnic Austrian. Minority groups include Croats and Hungarians (in Burgenland), Slovenes (in Kärnten [Carinthia]), Czechs (in Vienna), as well as small numbers of Italians, Serbs, and Romanians. An influx of refugees in the years following World War II increased their numbers, and new groups, such as the Turks, were added.

According to the 2001 census, Austria had a population of 8,032,926. The 2009 estimated population was 8,210,281, giving the country an overall population density of 100 persons per sq km (258 per sq mi). Some 66 percent of the population is urban, with more than one-quarter of the people living in the five largest cities: Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck.

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