Government: Parliamentary Federal RepubliC

Capital city: Vienna (1.550.000 inha.,1.825.000 with the suburbs).

Other cities: Graz 226.200 inha., Linz 183.500 inha., Salzburg 142.700 inha., Innsbruck 113.400 inha., Klagenfurt 90.100 inha.

Ethnic groups: Austrians 91%, Serbs and Montenegrins 1,5%, Turks 1,5%, Bosnians1,5%, Germans 1%, Croatians 1%, others 2,5%.

Bordering countries: Switzerland and Liechtenstein on the WEST, Germany and Czech Republic on the NORTH, Slovakia on the NORTH-EAST, Hungary on the EAST, Slovenia and  Italy on the SOUTH.

Main mountains: Grossglockner 3798 m, Wildspitze 3768 m.

Main rivers: The Danube 350 Km (in Austria, in total 2858 Km), Mur 348 Km (in Austria, in total 444 Km), Inn 280 Km (in Austria, in total 510 Km), Drava 261 Km (in Austria, in total 707 Km), Enns 254 Km, Salzach 225 Km

Main lakes: Neusiedl 135 Km² (in Austria, in total 157 Km²), Costanza 60 Km² (in Austria, in total 538 Km²), Attersee 46 Km², Traunsee 24,5 Km²

Climate: Continental - Alpine

Language: German

Starters

·         Frittatensuppe: a soup with pieces of omelette

·         Griessnockerlsuppe: a soup with gnocchetti of semolino

·         Kurbissuppe: a pumpkin cream

·         Nudelsuppe-Rindsuppe: it's pasta in broth

·         Tomatensuppe: a tomato cream

·         Zwiebelsuppe: a onion soup

Main dishes

·         Gulasch: a spicy beef stew, usually served with peppers.

·         Rostbraten: roast steak served with onions.

·         Tafelspitz: boiled beef served with radish, apples and spring onions.

·          Wiener Schnitzel: the Milanese cutlet.

Desserts

• Sacher torte: a cake made with almonds, chestnuts, rum and apricot jam.                    
• Mozart torte: a cake made with coffee, pistachio cream, apricots and chocolate mousse.                          
• Apfelstrudel: a pastry stuffed with apples, sultanas and cinnamon.

Beers, liqueurs and coffee

The Austrian beers are very good, both the lager (helbier) and the stout (dunkelbier). The favourite liqueurs are the slivovice made of prunes and the barak made of apricots. The Austrian coffee is very delicious too and it is served in many different ways. The most favourite are the melange (hot milk coffee) the kapuziner (little coffee, a lot of whipped cream), the Eiskafee (cold coffee and vanilla ice cream).

Sports:
Skiing, football.