Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 143 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 112 under 914 m: 14 (2004 est.)
Military Australia
Military branches:
Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force,
new Special Operations Command (announced in December 2002)
Military manpower - military age and obligation:
16 years of age for voluntary service (2001)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15–49: 5,061,810 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15–49: 4,356,671 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 140,182 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$14,120.1 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.8% (2003)
Transnational Issues Australia
Disputes - international:
the 1999 maritime delimitation established partial maritime
boundaries with East Timor over part of the Timor Gap but temporary
resource-sharing agreements over an unreconciled area grant
Australia 90% share of exploited gas reserves and hamper creation of
a southern maritime boundary with Indonesia (see Ashmore and Cartier
Islands disputes); Australia asserts a territorial claim to
Antarctica and to its continental shelf (see Antarctica)
Illicit drugs:
Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate
products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium
poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@Austria
Introduction Austria
Background:
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire,
Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World
War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent
occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status
remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended
the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade
unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year
declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for
Soviet military withdrawal. Following the Soviet Union's collapse in
1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995, some
Austrian's have called into question this neutrality. A prosperous,
democratic country, Austria entered the European Monetary Union in
1999.
Geography Austria
Location:
Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates:
47 20 N, 13 20 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 83,870 sq km
water: 1,426 sq km
land: 82,444 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:
total: 2,562 km
border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366
km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330
km, Switzerland 164 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and
some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with
occasional showers
Terrain:
in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern
and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m
highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m
Natural resources:
oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony,
magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 16.91% permanent crops: 0.86% other: 82.23% (2001)
Irrigated land:
457 sq km (2000 est.)
Natural hazards:
landslides; avalanches; earthquakes
Environment - current issues: some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Geography - note:
landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe
with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river
is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands
because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
People Austria
Population:
8,174,762 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 15.9% (male 665,680; female 633,560)
15–64 years: 68.1% (male 2,799,411; female 2,764,426)
65 years and over: 16% (male 518,748; female 792,937) (2004 est.)
Median age:
total: 40 years