Federal states of Austria

Federal states of Austria
*Österreichs Länder / Bundesländer* (German)
Federal states of Austria; Österreichs Länder / Bundesländer (German)
	Burgenland Carinthia Lower Austria Upper Austria Salzburg Styria Tyrol Tyrol Vorarlberg Vienna
Category	Federal state
Location	Republic of Austria
Government	Provincial parliament ;
Subdivisions	Districts and statutory cities ;

Last updated November 07, 2024

Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states. The European Commission calls them provinces.^[1] Austrian federal states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each federal state has representatives in the main Austrian parliament.

Geography

The majority of the land area in the federal states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Burgenland is situated in the Danube valley and thus consists almost completely of accessible and easily arable terrain. Austria's most densely populated federal state is Vienna, the heart of what is Austria's only metropolitan area. Lower Austria ranks only fourth in population density even though it contains Vienna's suburbs; this is due to large areas of land being predominantly agricultural. The alpine federal state Tyrol, the less alpine but geographically more remote federal state Carinthia, and the non-alpine but near-exclusively agricultural federal state Burgenland are Austria's least densely populated federal states. The wealthy alpine federal state Vorarlberg is something of an anomaly due to its small size, isolated location and distinct Alemannic culture.^{[ citation needed ]}

Federalism and federal state powers

Each Austrian federal state has an elected legislature, the federal state parliament , and a federal state government (Landesregierung) headed by a governor (Landeshauptmann or Landeshauptfrau). Elections are held every five years (six years in Upper Austria). The federal state constitution, among other things, determines how the seats in the federal state government are assigned to political parties, with most federal states having a system of proportional representation based on the number of delegates in the federal state parliament in place. The governor is elected by the federal state parliament, though in practice the governor is the leader of the majority party or coalition in the federal state parliament.

Vienna, the capital of Austria, plays a double role as a city and a federal state. The mayor has the rank of a federal state governor, while the city council also functions as a federal state parliament. Under the municipal constitution, however, city and federal state business must be kept separate. Hence, while the city council and the federal state parliament have identical memberships, they hold separate meetings, and each body has separate presiding officers. When meeting as a city council, the deputies can only deal with city affairs; when meeting as a federal state parliament, they can only deal with affairs of the state.

Austrian federalism is largely theoretical, as the federal states are granted few legislative powers. Austria's constitution initially granted all legislative powers to the federal states, but many powers have been subsequently taken away, and only a few remain, such as planning and zoning codes, nature protection, hunting, fishing, farming, youth protection, certain issues of public health and welfare and the right to levy certain taxes.

All other matters, including but not limited to criminal law, civil law, corporate law, most aspects of economic law, defense, most educational matters and academia, telecommunications, and much of the healthcare system are regulated by national law. There is also no judiciary of the federal states, since Austria's constitution defines the judiciary as an exclusively national matter. This centralisation follows a historic model where central power during the time of the empire was largely concentrated in Vienna.

However, the federal state governor ( Landeshauptmann ) is in charge of the administration of much of federal administrative law within the respective province, which makes this post an important political position. Furthermore, federal state competences include zoning laws, planning issues and public procurement on the regional level, which adds considerable weight to federal state politics. As a practical matter, there have been cases where federal states have been able to delay projects endorsed by the national government, as in the case of the Semmering Base Tunnel, a railway tunnel being built under the Semmering.

Austrian federal states are formally and practically endowed with a much smaller degree of autonomy than American states or German lands. Even so, Austrians tend to identify passionately with their respective federal state and often defend what little independent governance their federal state has. It is not unheard of for Austrians to consider themselves, for instance, Tyrolean first, Austrian second.

Historical development

In terms of boundaries, the present-day federal states arose from the crown lands of Austria-Hungary, an extensive multiethnic realm whose German-speaking nucleus emerged as the Republic of Austria after the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy in the end of World War I.

The federal states of Upper Austria and Lower Austria are essentially equivalent to what were the two halves of the Archduchy of Austria, a principality which formed the empire's historic heartland. Salzburg is coterminous with the former Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Salzburg (the former Archbishopric). Similarly, the federal state of Carinthia descends from the Duchy of Carinthia, the federal state of Styria descends from the Duchy of Styria, and the federal state of Tyrol descends from the Princely County of Tyrol; these three federal states had to cede territories to Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Yugoslavia when Austria emerged in its present form. The federal state of Vorarlberg is made up of territories acquired by the House of Habsburg in the 14th and 15th centuries,^[2]^: 73 and was a semi-autonomous part of the County of Tyrol from 1861.

The 1815 Congress of Vienna saw most of these areas lose their autonomy. Federal state charters were put in place in 1861, although power remained with the central government. Following the First World War, the federal state governments declared themselves part of the Republic of German-Austria. Negotiations at this time between the federal state governments and the national governments resulted in the agreement to form a federation, with a nationally elected lower house and an upper house representing the provinces.^[2]^: 73–74

The city-federal state of Vienna was a part of Lower Austria up until 1921.^[3] The federal state of Burgenland is made up of the predominantly German-speaking area that the Kingdom of Hungary ceded to the First Austrian Republic after World War I as a result of the Treaties of Trianon and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.^[4]

List of federal states

The nine federal states (Bundesländer) of Austria are:^[5]

Federal state (Bundesland)	Capital	Population (January 2022)	Area (km²)	Pop. density (people/km²)	Cities	Towns	Governor ( Landeshauptmann )	Incumbent	Party	Coalition
Burgenland	Eisenstadt	0,297,583	03,965	0,075	13	158	Governor	Hans Peter Doskozil	SPÖ	SPÖ
Carinthia (Kärnten)	Klagenfurt	0,564,513	09,537	0,059	17	115	Governor	Peter Kaiser	SPÖ	SPÖ, ÖVP
Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)	Sankt Pölten	1,698,796	19,180	0,089	76	497	Governor	Johanna Mikl-Leitner	ÖVP	ÖVP, FPÖ
Salzburg	Salzburg	0,560,710	07,155	0,078	11	108	Governor	Wilfried Haslauer Jr.	ÖVP	ÖVP, FPÖ
Styria (Steiermark)	Graz	1,252,922	16,399	0,076	35	251	Governor	Christopher Drexler	ÖVP	ÖVP, SPÖ
Tyrol (Tirol)	Innsbruck	0,764,102	12,648	0,060	11	266	Governor	Anton Mattle	ÖVP	ÖVP, SPÖ
Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)	Linz	1,505,140	11,983	0,126	32	406	Governor	Thomas Stelzer	ÖVP	ÖVP, FPÖ
Vienna (Wien)	Itself	1,931,593	00,415	4,654	01	0–	Mayor	Michael Ludwig	SPÖ	SPÖ, NEOS
Vorarlberg	Bregenz	0,401,647	02,602	0,154	05	091	Governor	Markus Wallner	ÖVP	ÖVP, Grüne

For the purpose of the above list, a city is a community defined to be a city by Austrian law, and a town is a community not defined to be a city. Many of Austria's cities have population figures on the order of 10,000 inhabitants; some are even smaller.

Maps

States in which the ÖVP is involved in the state government as a head coalition partner (black), as a small coalition partner (dark grey) and in which the ÖVP is represented in the state parliament as an opposition party (light grey)
States in which the SPÖ is involved in the state government as a head coalition partner (dark red), as a small coalition partner (medium red) and in which the SPÖ is represented in the state parliament as an opposition party (light red)
States in which the FPÖ is involved in the state government as a small coalition partner (dark blue) and in which the FPÖ is represented in the state parliament as an opposition party (light blue)
States in which the Greens are involved in the state government as a small coalition partner (dark green) and in which the Green are represented in the state parliament as an opposition party (light green)
States in which the KPÖ is represented in the state parliament as an opposition party (light red)

Related Research Articles

Salzburg is an Austrian federal state. In German it is called a Bundesland, a German-to-English dictionary translates that to federal state and the European Commission calls it a province. In German, its official name is Land Salzburg, to distinguish it from its eponymous capital Salzburg. For centuries, it was an independent Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It borders Germany and Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Austria</span>

Austria is a predominantly mountainous country in Central Europe, approximately between Germany, Italy and Hungary. It has a total area of 83,871 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi).

Politics in Austria reflects the dynamics of competition among multiple political parties, which led to the formation of a Conservative-Green coalition government for the first time in January 2020, following the snap elections of 29 September 2019, and the election of a former Green Party leader to the presidency in 2016.

Proporz is a long-standing practice in the Second Austrian Republic in which positions in government are distributed between political parties in a manner proportional to their electoral or public support. More broadly, it describes a culture of power sharing and consensus between Austria's two major parties, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), which developed throughout the period of grand coalition government from 1945 to 1966. During this time, partisan divisions were established in most government institutions and the public service, designed to balance the influence of both parties.

The Greens – The Green Alternative is a green political party in Austria. The Greens are in a coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in the Nehammer government. Before they were part of the Schallenberg government and the Second Kurz government. The current President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, is from the Green Party.

A Landtag is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non-federal matters.

Ostmark was a name that referred historically to the Margraviate of Austria, a medieval frontier march. It was also used in Nazi propaganda from 1938 to 1942 to refer to the formerly independent Federal State of Austria after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. From the Anschluss until 1939, the official name used was Land Österreich.

The Austrian provincial parliaments are the unicameral legislatures of the nine Austrian provinces, according to the Constitution of Austria deciding in all matters unless explicitly subject of federal legislation. On federal level the provincial parliaments are represented in the Federal Council.

The Landeshauptmann or Landeshauptfrau is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino. His or her function is equivalent to that of a minister-president or premier. Until 1933 the term was also used in Prussia for the head of government of a province, in the modern-day states of Germany the counterpart to Landeshauptmann is the Ministerpräsident (minister-president).

The First Austrian Republic, officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of Republic of German-Austria—and ended with the establishment of the Austrofascist Federal State of Austria based upon a dictatorship of Engelbert Dollfuss and the Fatherland's Front in 1934. The Republic's constitution was enacted on 1 October 1920 and amended on 7 December 1929. The republican period was increasingly marked by violent strife between those with left-wing and right-wing views, leading to the July Revolt of 1927 and the Austrian Civil War of 1934.

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Austria:

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 28 September 2008 to elect the 24th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called after Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) withdrew from the ruling grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) in July. Due to dissatisfaction with the governing parties, the opposition and minor parties were expected to make significant gains. Opinion polling indicated that up to seven parties could potentially win seats.

The Social Democratic Party of Austria is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria from 1945 until 1991, the party is the oldest extant political party in Austria. Along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it is one of the country's two traditional major parties. It is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum.

A legislative snap election for the National Council in Austria was held on 28 September 2008. The previous election was held on 1 October 2006. The election was caused by the withdrawal of Austrian People's Party leader Wilhelm Molterer from the governing grand coalition on 7 July 2008. Due to dissatisfaction with the grand coalition and the two main parties, it was widely expected to be a realigning election, with gains for the opposition and up to seven parties expected to be in the National Council after the election. The losses for the government parties resulted in strong gains for the far right, while neither the Liberal Forum nor the Citizens' Forum Austria gained as much as 2% of the vote, defying earlier expectations. The result of the election was seen as strong for the far-right and in support of Eurosceptics.

NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum is a liberal political party in Austria. It was founded as NEOS – The New Austria in 2012. In 2014, NEOS merged with Liberal Forum and adopted its current name.

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 15 October 2017 to elect the 26th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called when the coalition government between the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) was dissolved in May by the latter party's new leader Sebastian Kurz.

The 2020 Burgenland state election was held on 26 January 2020 to elect the members of the 22nd Landtag of Burgenland. The snap election was called in the wake of the Ibiza affair in May 2019, which caused the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) to terminate its coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).

Legislative elections were held in Austria on 29 September 2024 to elect the 28th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.

Thomas Steiner is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He has served as Mayor of Eisenstadt, the capital of the state of Burgenland, since 2011. He was chairman of the state ÖVP branch from 2015 to 2020, and was the party's lead candidate in the 2020 state election.

References

↑ Directorate-General for Translation (July 2023). "Country Compendium" (PDF). European Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
1 2 Bußjäger, Peter (2013). "Very Small Worlds: The Austrian Länder as Constituent Units of the Austrian Federation". L'Europe en Formation. 369 (3): 71–85. doi:10.3917/eufor.369.0071.
↑ City of Vienna, History, retrieved 2010-05-17
↑ Encyclopedia of Austria - Burgenland, retrieved 18 May 2010
↑ "Parties and Elections in Europe – Austria (States)". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2015-09-30.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[countrycompendium-1] Directorate-General for Translation (July 2023). "Country Compendium" (PDF). European Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

[Bußjäger2013-2] 1 2 Bußjäger, Peter (2013). "Very Small Worlds: The Austrian Länder as Constituent Units of the Austrian Federation". L'Europe en Formation. 369 (3): 71–85. doi:10.3917/eufor.369.0071.

[3] City of Vienna, History, retrieved 2010-05-17

[4] Encyclopedia of Austria - Burgenland, retrieved 18 May 2010

[5] "Parties and Elections in Europe – Austria (States)". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2015-09-30.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e First-level administrative divisions in European countries
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia ² Austria Azerbaijan ¹ Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus ² Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia ¹ Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan ¹ Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia ¹ San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey ¹ Ukraine United Kingdom
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia ² Kosovo Northern Cyprus ² South Ossetia ² Transnistria
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Europe and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.