II.

Land and Resources

Austria is predominantly a mountainous country, with an average elevation of about 910 m (3,000 ft). Most of the land falls within the eastern division of the Alps. In general the major mountain ranges of Austria run in an east-west direction and are separated from one another by rather broad valleys. The northernmost line of ranges includes the North Tirol Alps and the Salzburg Alps. Among the central ranges is the Hohe Tauern, which culminates in the Grossglockner, the highest elevation (3,797 m/12,457 ft) in the country; the Pasterze Glacier, one of Europe’s largest, descends from the Grossglockner peak. The southernmost ranges include the Ötztal Alps, the Zillertal Alps, the Carnic Alps, and the Karawanken Mountains. Besides these latitudinal ranges, several series of mountain spurs extend in a north-south direction. The mountain barriers of Austria are broken in many places by passes, including the Brenner Pass and the Semmering Pass.

The principal areas of Austria that are not within the Alps are the northern and eastern border sections. The northern section consists of rolling upland, and the eastern border section comprises part of the Danube Basin, including Vienna.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The principal river is the Danube, which enters Austria at Passau on the German border; it continues its south-eastward course, past Linz and Vienna, to Bratislava on the Slovakian border. Austrian tributaries of the Danube include the Inn (forming part of Austria’s German border), Traun, Enns, and Ybbs rivers. In the south, important rivers are the Mur and the Mürz. In addition to the rivers, the hydrographic system of the country includes numerous lakes, notably Lake Constance (Bodensee), forming the western border with Germany and Switzerland, and Neusiedler Lake in Burgenland, near Hungary. Burgenland is the country’s lowest elevation point (115 m/377 ft).

B.

Climate

The Austrian climate varies with altitude; with location in relation to Atlantic, continental, and Mediterranean influences; and with certain local wind characteristics. Mountainous regions are partially subject to moderate Atlantic conditions and experience more precipitation than the eastern lowlands, which are under continental influences. Spring and autumn are usually mild throughout the country. Summers are short, with moderate temperatures. Cold and often severe winters last about three months in the valleys, where they are usually ended by the foehn, a warm, dry wind from the south that is often accompanied by damp fog and sudden thaws that precipitate avalanches. Mean annual temperatures range between about 6.7° and 8.9° C (44° and 48° F) throughout the country. Average annual rainfall is between about 1,016 and 1,270 mm (40 and 50 in). In some interior valleys, the average annual rainfall is between 1,542 and 2,032 mm (60 and 80 in).

C.

Natural Resources

Austria has sizeable deposits of iron ore, lignite, magnesite, petroleum, and natural gas and is a prime world supplier of high-grade graphite. Some small deposits of bituminous coal have been mined, as well as lead, zinc, copper, kaolin, gypsum, mica, quartz, salt, bauxite, antimony, and talc.

Rich terra rossa (red) soils predominate in Austrian valleys. At slightly higher elevations, the soil is of a brown forest type. Alpine meadow soils are usually found in high-altitude regions.

D.

Plants and Animals

Deciduous trees, mainly beech, oak, and birch, are predominant in the lower altitudes; spruce, fir, larch, and stone pine extend to the tree line. The higher altitudes have a very brief season during which alpine plants, including edelweiss, gentians, primroses, buttercups, and monkshoods, come into brilliant flower.

Wildlife is generally scarce in Austria. Chamois, deer, and marmots are still represented; bears, which were once abundant, are now almost completely absent. Hunting is strictly regulated to protect the remaining species.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Industrial emissions, a high volume of tourist traffic, and significant air pollution from other countries—principally Germany, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—combine to make acid rain the major environmental problem in Austria. One-quarter of the forests suffer some acid damage, and tree cover may be significantly reduced in some areas. To combat this problem, the country has imposed the most stringent motor vehicle exhaust standards in Europe. Other environmental threats include agricultural expansion, damming of rivers for hydroelectric power generation, and erosion caused by loss of forest cover. Austria is blessed with many mountain watercourses, from which the country cleanly generates much of its power, and even exports some. However, this capacity is seasonal and the country must import energy from its neighbours during the winter months. A single nuclear power plant was constructed in the 1970s but, because of public opposition, was decommissioned before it began operating. Ironically, in 1986, only eight years later, Austria was heavily contaminated by fallout from the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine. In 1991, fearing similar contamination from unsafe nuclear plants in the Czech Republic, the Austrian government distributed potassium iodine tablets to all citizens to combat the effects of thyroid radiation poisoning. The president also proposed a nuclear-free zone encompassing Austria, Italy, Hungary, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Yugoslavia). Currently, the country is involved in arguments with the Czech Republic over that nation’s nuclear reactor at Temelin, which the Austrian government believes is a safety threat.

Austria is 47 per cent forested (1995), with most forests located in the alpine zone and consisting of fir, pine, and oak, or oak and chestnut at lower elevations. About 85 per cent of the forests are reserved for timber harvest. Wetlands have been reduced to 10 per cent of their historic extent. Austria's land protection system exists mostly as separate designations of the nine provinces. Overall, about 24 per cent of the country is under some form of protection, including three national parks and hundreds of nature reserves, nature parks, and landscape reserves. Hunting and fishing, with local restrictions, are generally allowed throughout the system. Austria contains 18 Council of Europe (CE) biogenetic reserves and six biosphere reserves under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Austria has joined with its neighbours in formulating plans to protect the Alps and is working towards transborder protected area designations with Germany and Hungary as well as signing and ratifying the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.