Austria

Austria
Flag
Capital	Vienna
President	Heinz Fischer
Chancellor	Alfred Gusenbauer
Area	83,870 km2
Population 2007	8,199,783
GDP 2006 (estimate)	$310.4 Billion

Austria (Officially the Republic of Austria) is a landlocked country in central Europe. The capital of Austria is Vienna. The primary language of Austria is German.

From 1867 to 1918, Austria was half of the monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which split up following World War I. Austria was occupied by Germany during World War 2, starting in 1938. In 1945 Soviet troops captured Vienna, and Austria declared its independance again. It was not until 1955 though that Allied troops left the country. This was in part due to a declaration of neturality, as written into the Constitution of Austria. The national holiday on October 26th celebrates this Neutrality.

The current President is Heinz Fischer. Austria joined the European Union in 1995.