什麼是奧地利

正式名稱奧地利共和國（Republic of Austria）

歐洲中南部的內陸國。面積83,856平方公里。人口約8,069,000（2001）。首都︰維也納。語言︰德語（官方語）。宗教：天主教（75%）。貨幣︰歐元。奧地利被分成三個地區︰西部的阿爾卑斯山區，佔全國2/3的領土，包括全國最高點大格洛克納山。波希米亞森林為一高地地區，往北延伸進捷克境內。低地區，包括東部的維也納盆地，主要是農業地帶。多瑙河及其支流幾乎流貫整個奧地利。該國已發展出一種混合自由市場和國營的經濟模式，以製造業和商業為主，旅遊業也很重要。政府形式是共和國，兩院制。總統是國家元首，總理是政府首腦。最大的文化資產一直是在音樂方面（參閲Haydn, Joseph、Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus、Schubert, Franz (Peter)、Berg, Alban、Webern, Anton (Friedrich Ernst) von）。在其他領域上的大人物包括考考斯卡、弗洛伊德、維根斯坦。

大約三千年前奧地利就有人定居，伊利里亞人可能是當時的主要居民。西元前400年前後塞爾特人入侵，建立了諾里庫姆。西元前200年以後羅馬人到此，並建立雷蒂亞、諾里庫姆和潘諾尼亞諸省；隨後，該地區就繁榮起來，人口以羅馬人為主。西元5世紀，隨着羅馬的衰落，許多部落入侵，其中包括斯拉夫人；最終他們都屈服於查理曼，日耳曼人成為該地區主要民族。976年巴奔堡王室的利奧波德一世任總督時，將奧地利變成政治實體。1278年哈布斯堡王朝（Habsburg Dynasty）的魯道夫四世（後來神聖羅馬帝國的魯道夫一世）征服了這一地區；哈布斯堡的統治一直延續到1918年。哈布斯堡王室掌權時，創立了以奧地利、波希米亞和匈牙利為中心的王國。拿破崙戰爭結束了神聖羅馬帝國（1806），創立了奧地利帝國。梅特涅伯爵試圖保證奧地利在德意志各國中享有霸權，但與普魯士的戰爭使奧地利帝國分成奧匈帝國。民族主義的情緒折磨着這個王國，1914年一個塞爾維亞民族主義者刺殺了斐迪南，從而觸發了第一次世界大戰，戰爭破壞了奧地利帝國。戰後奧匈帝國解體，奧地利成為獨立的共和國。1938年被納粹兼併（參閲Anschluss），第二次世界大戰中加入了軸心國。同盟軍佔領十年後，1955年恢復奧地利共和國。1995年奧地利成為歐洲聯盟的正式成員。

Austria

officiallyRepublic of AustriaNation, southern central Europe. Area: 32,375 sq mi (83,851 sq km). Population (2001 est.): 8,117,770. Capital: Vienna. Language: German (official). Religion: Roman Catholicism (75%). Monetary unit: euro. Austria can be divided into three regions. The alpine region in the west covers about two-thirds of the country, and includes its highest point, the Grossglockner. The Bohemian Forest is a highland region that extends north into the Czech Republic. The lowland region, including the Vienna Basin, lies in the east; it supports mainly agricultural activities. The Danube River and its tributaries drain nearly the entire country. Austria has a developed mixed free-market and government-operated economy based on manufacture and commerce; tourism is also important. It is a republic with two legislative houses. Austria's chief of state is the president and its head of government is the chancellor. Its greatest cultural contribution has been in music (see Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Alban Berg, Anton Webern). Major cultural figures in other fields include Oskar Kokoschka, Sigmund Freud, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Settlement in Austria goes back some 3,000 years, when Illyrians were probably the main inhabitants. The Celts invaded c. 400 BC and established Noricum. The Romans arrived after 200 BC and established the provinces of Raetia, Noricum, and Pannonia; prosperity followed and the population became Romanized. With the fall of Rome in the 5th century AD, many tribes invaded, including the Slavs; they were eventually subdued by Charlemagne, and the area became ethnically Germanic. The distinct political entity that would become Austria emerged in 976 with Leopold I of Babenberg as margrave. In 1278, Rudolf IV of Habsburg (later Rudolf I of the Holy Roman Empire) conquered the area; Habsburg rule lasted until 1918. While in power, the Habsburgs created a kingdom centered on Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. The Napoleonic Wars brought about the end of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) and the creation of the Austrian empire. Count von Metternich tried to assure Austrian supremacy among Germanic states, but war with Prussia led Austria to divide the empire into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Nationalist sentiment plagued the kingdom, and the assassination of Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist in 1914 triggered World War I, which destroyed the Austrian empire. In the postwar carving up of Austria-Hungary, Austria became an independent republic. It was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 (see Anschluss) and joined the Axis powers in World War II. The republic was restored in 1955 after 10 years of Allied occupation. Austria became a full member of the European Union in 1995.