Republic of Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It has 6 federal states. Its’ neighbors are Czech Republic and Germany in the north, Italy and Slovenia in the south, Hungary and Slovakia in the east and Switzerland and Liechtenstein in the west.

Austria has declared permanent neutrality and is a member country of United Nations and European Union since 1955.

Austria is a federal parliamentarian democratic republic. President is head of the state; the Federal Chancellor is the chairman of the Federal Government. The government can be removed from office either by vote of no confidence in lower chamber of parliament or by presidential decree. The government is elected for a four-year term by vote from general public.

Geographically, Austria is a mountainous country. Lying between Alps mountain range, only about quarter surface area of Austria is considered as low lying. Approximately 68% of Austria is above 500 meter.

A large part of Austria belongs to cool / temperate climate zone, humid western winds blows throughout the year. The climate is basically dominated by Alps and Alpine mountain ranges. Meanwhile, in the east climate is continental with less rain, climate is affected of Pannonian Plain and Danube valley. The six highest mountains in Austria are: Großglockner, Wildspitze, Weißkugel, Großvenediger, Similaun, and Großes Wiesbachhorn.

Austrian economy is stronger one, it’s people avail high standard of living. Austria’s largest industries were nationalized until 1980’s, however, in recent past, state stakes has reduced due to privatization. As Germany is Austria’s trade partner, slow growth in German economy and other part of European countries also affected Austria’s economic growth. Since Austria became a country of European Union, its’ economy has gained momentum.

Though Austria is a small country, it’s known for never lasting treasures- Economists, Engineers/Inventors, Philosophers, Physicists, Mathematicians, Chemists, Physicians, and Psychologists. It was the home of novelists Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Thomas Bernhard or Robert Musil, of poets Georg Trakl, Franz Werfel, Franz Grillparzer, Rainer Maria Rilke or Adalbert Stifter and writer Karl Kraus.

Another name that suddenly comes in mind is Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, who got Nobel Prize in Physics for discovery of Exclusion Principle also referred as Pauli Principle. Albert Einstein nominated Pauli for Nobel Award. A well-known joke about Pauli in the physics community goes as follows: After his death, Pauli was granted an audience with God. Pauli asked God why the fine structure constant has the value 1/(137.036...). God nodded, went to a blackboard, and began scribbling equations at a furious pace. Pauli watched Him at first with great satisfaction, but soon began shaking his head violently: "Das ist ganz falsch!"

The alpine skiing is the most popular sport in Austria, snowboarding or ski-jumping are also popular. The team sport in Austria is Football. the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship is being jointly organized by Austria and Switzerland.