Austria

From Citizendium
Revision as of 01:03, 24 November 2007 by imported>Igor Grešovnik (government, neutrality, UN, EU)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Austria (German: Österreich), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a country in Central Europe. It 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. The capital city of Austria is the city of Vienna on the Danube River.

Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. It has declared permanent neutrality and includes the concept of everlasting neutrality in its constitution. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and joined the European Union in 1995.