Austria is a country situated in Central Europe. It is located next to Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The country has most of its western part covered by the Alps and some plains and low lands in the east. Only less than a quarter of the country’s territories are below 500 meters.
The climate of the country is cool to temperate due to the mountainous landscape with distinct western humid winds. In the higher areas the climate is mostly Alpine. In the plains and in on the Danube banks the climate is more continental. There are four distinct seasons with temperatures of -10 to 0 °C in the winter to 30-40 °C in the summer.
Currently, the population of Austria is approximately 8.3 million people. The population in Vienna, the country’s capital, is more than 1.6 million. Around 88% of the people in the country are German-speaking and the remaining 12% represent traditional and newly acquired minorities. Among the recent immigrants the biggest groups come from Turkey and ex Yugoslavia’s republics. The majority of the population is Catholic, with Islam as the second denomination. The official language is German here other Slavic languages and Turkish are spoken among the country’s minorities.
The Republic of Austria is a federation of nine states: Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Voralberg and Vienna. The country is a parliamentary democracy governed by the Federal Chancellor. The head of state is the Federal President who is elected by direct popular vote.
The country is part of the European Union since 1995. Austria has a history of military non-alignment and is not part of NATO. Moreover, the country is part of the Schengen Agreement.
The Car Rental Austrian companies that operate in the country are Economy, Easy Car, Auto Europe, Europcar, Budget and others.