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).
Tourism in Austria forms an important part of the country's economy, accounting for almost 9% of the Austrian gross domestic product. Austria has one guest bed for every six inhabitants, and boasts the highest per capita income from tourism in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. As of 2007, the total number of tourist overnight stays is roughly the same for summer and winter season, with peaks in February and July/August.
Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states. The European Commission calls them provinces. 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.
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 Official Municipality Key, formerly also known as the Official Municipality Characteristic Number or Municipality Code Number, is a number sequence for the identification of politically independent municipalities or unincorporated areas. Other classifications for the identification of areas include postal codes, NUTS codes or FIPS codes.
Austrian car number plates are mandatory vehicle registration plates displaying the registration mark of motor vehicles in Austria. They are used to verify street legality, proof of a valid liability insurance and to identify and recognise the vehicle.
A district is a second-level division of the executive arm of the Austrian government. District offices are the primary point of contact between residents and the state for most acts of government that exceed municipal purview: marriage licenses, driver licenses, passports, assembly permits, hunting permits, or dealings with public health officers for example all involve interaction with the district administrative authority.
The Austrian Regionalliga is the third-highest division in Austrian football, after the Austrian Bundesliga and the Second League. It is divided into 3 groups: East, covering the states of Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland; Central, covering the states of Styria, Carinthia, Upper Austria and the exclave of East Tyrol; West, covering the state of Salzburg; Regionalliga Tirol, covering the state of Tyrol and the Eliteliga Vorarlberg, covering the state of Vorarlberg.
The Austrian Landesliga is the fourth tier of professional football in Austria. It is divided into nine conferences — one for each Austrian state:
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of Austria for statistical purposes. The standard is developed and regulated by the European Union. The NUTS standard is instrumental in delivering the European Union's Structural Funds. The NUTS code for Austria is AT and a hierarchy of three levels is established by Eurostat. Below these is a further levels of geographic organisation - the local administrative unit (LAU). In Austria, the LAU 2 is municipalities.
Foreign relations exist between Austria and Finland. Austria recognised Finland on 13 January 1918. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 19 July 1918. Austria has an embassy in Helsinki and 6 honorary consulates. Finland has an embassy in Vienna and 8 honorary consulates . Both countries are full members of the European Union and of the Council of Europe. The two countries became members of the European Union in 1995.
Postal codes in Austria were introduced in 1966 and consist of four digits.
Kika is an international chain of furniture stores, headquartered in Austria. It has 70 stores, most of them in Europe.
Lists of Austrian state governors cover the governors, or Landeshauptleute of the states of Austria. The governor is the head of the state government, with a function that is equivalent to that of a premier.
The 2011–12 season of the Regionalliga was the 53rd season of the third-tier football league in Austria, since its establishment in 1959.
