Austria 🇦🇹
Austria is a country in Europe with a population of 8,939,617. Its capital is Vienna. The official currency is EUR, and the main languages are German.
Quick facts
- Capital: Vienna
- Continent: Europe
- Population: 8,939,617
- Area: 83,879 km²
- Density: 107 people per km²
- Currency: EUR
- Languages: German
- ISO code: AT
Where Austria sits
Austria 🇦🇹 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Vienna. It covers 83,879 square kilometres — 113th in the world — and is home to about 8,939,617 people, 99th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Austria compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Austria sits closest to Togo and Israel. In land area, its nearest counterparts are United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.
At 107 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.
German is an official language in 6 countries here, among them Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, and 1 other. The EUR is shared with 25 other countries, including Andorra, Belgium and Croatia, and 22 others.
To see Austria next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Austria
Vienna sits on the Danube in the east of the country, and it is the biggest of all the cities on that river. For the flag, remember the duke's tunic from the legend: red, a white belt, red.
The flag of Austria: red and white
🇦🇹 The flag is three horizontal stripes of red, white and red. It is one of the oldest national flags in the world. A legend says that after a battle in 1191, Duke Leopold V's white tunic was stained red everywhere except under his belt, which left a white band, and he took red-white-red as his banner.
Region and neighbours
Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying mostly in the Eastern Alps. It shares land borders with 8 countries: Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Austria is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- Germany 🇩🇪 — capital Berlin
- Czechia 🇨🇿 — capital Prague
- Slovakia 🇸🇰 — capital Bratislava
- Hungary ðŸ‡ðŸ‡º — capital Budapest
- Slovenia 🇸🇮 — capital Ljubljana
- Italy 🇮🇹 — capital Rome
- Switzerland 🇨🇠— capital Bern
- Liechtenstein 🇱🇮 — capital Vaduz
Three facts about Austria
- The Eastern Alps cover about 62% of Austria. The highest mountain is the Grossglockner, at 3,798 m.
- The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg and spent much of his career in Vienna.
- Vienna was home to many famous classical composers, including Beethoven, Brahms and Haydn, and its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sources: Wikipedia: Austria, Wikipedia: Flag of Austria, Wikipedia: Vienna, Wikipedia: Grossglockner, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Austria
- European capitals quiz — match Austria to Vienna
- European flags quiz — spot the Austria flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Austria has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Austria
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Austria those are:
- Europe map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Europe flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Europe capitals quiz — match it to Vienna
- Austria capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Austria
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Austria
- Capital of Austria: Vienna — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 46 countries of Europe
Nearby countries
- Albania 🇦🇱 — capital Tirana
- Andorra 🇦🇩 — capital Andorra la Vella
- Belarus 🇧🇾 — capital Minsk
- Belgium 🇧🇪 — capital Brussels
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 — capital Sarajevo
- Bulgaria 🇧🇬 — capital Sofia
- Croatia ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· — capital Zagreb
- Cyprus 🇨🇾 — capital Nicosia
- Czechia 🇨🇿 — capital Prague
- Denmark 🇩🇰 — capital Copenhagen
- Estonia 🇪🇪 — capital Tallinn
- Finland 🇫🇮 — capital Helsinki
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Austria flag?
The flag of Austria is three horizontal stripes of red, white and red. It is one of the oldest national flags in the world. A legend says that after a battle in 1191, Duke Leopold V's white tunic was stained red everywhere except under his belt, which left a white band, and he took red-white-red as his banner.
Which countries border Austria?
Austria shares land borders with Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
How can I remember the capital of Austria?
Vienna sits on the Danube in the east of the country, and it is the biggest of all the cities on that river. For the flag, remember the duke's tunic from the legend: red, a white belt, red.