States of Austria

Since Austria is a federal republic according to the constitutional framework of Austrian politics, Austria's nine provinces are customarily referred to as States of Austria or Bundesländer, singular Bundesland.

Geography

The nine states of Austria, listed alphabetically by official German name, are:

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The states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna, and Burgenland are situated in the Danube valley and thus consist almost completely of accessible and easily arable terrain. The other five states, in contrast, are part of the eastern foothills of the Alps and thus comparatively unsuitable for agriculture. Their terrain is also relatively unfavourable to heavy industry and long-distance trade. Accordingly, the population of what now is the Republic of Austria has been concentrated in the former four states since prehistoric times. Austria's most densely populated state is the city state of Vienna, the heart of what is Austria's only metropolitan area. Lower Austria only ranks fourth with regard to population density even though containing Vienna's suburbs; this is due to large areas of land predominantly agricultural. The alpine state of Tyrol, the less alpine but geographically secluded state of Carinthia, and the definitely not alpine but near-exclusively agricultural state of Burgenland are Austria's least densely populated states. The alpine state of Vorarlberg is an anomaly.

Related Topics:
Danube - Alps - Metropolitan area

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