Picture: Österreich Werbung, Wolfgang Weinhäupl
Austria has a land area of 83 879 km² and is thus somewhat smaller than Portugal and Hungary and somewhat larger than the Czech Republic. Located in the southern part of Central Europe, the republic shares borders with Germany and the Czech Republic in the north, the Slovak Republic and Hungary in the east, Slovenia and Italy in the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein in the west. There are 573 km between the western and easternmost points of Austria. The longest north-south stretch totals 294 km.
The landscape of Austria is characterized by diversity. Major landscape features include the gneiss and granite highlands of the Bohemian Massif, the foothills of the Alps and the Carpathians, the Alps, the Vienna Basin, and the border regions of the Hungarian lowlands. 350 km of the “beautiful blue Danube” of musical fame, and thus almost an eighth of its entire course, flow through Austrian territory. The republic shares its largest lake with Germany and Switzerland. Lake Constance has a surface area of 538.5 km² and it is 252 m deep. The 3 798 m high Grossglockner is Austria’s highest mountain. It is located at the border of Carinthia and East Tyrol. With 114 m above sea level, Austria’s lowest point is located in Burgenland, in the Seewinkel region near Apetlon.
Due to the geographic location, Austria’s weather is characterized as a transitional climate. Consequently, an oceanic climate with moist westerly winds predominates in western Austria, and as one moves eastward, the climate becomes increasingly continental with decreasing precipitation, hot summers, and cold winters. In addition, the local climate is strongly influenced by the altitude, local topography, and exposure to the prevailing westerly weather conditions.
Source: Statistics Austria
Picture: Statistics Austria
Picture: Statistics Austria