9%
other: 20% (1996 est.)

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

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-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol

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

@Austria:People

Population: 8,133,611 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 17% (male 709,890; female 673,696)
15-64 years: 68% (male 2,783,569; female 2,707,113)
65 years and over: 15% (male 471,924; female 787,419) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.05% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 9.89 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 10.05 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.16 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.31 years
male: 74.13 years
female: 80.67 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.37 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Austrian(s)
adjective: Austrian

Ethnic groups: German 99.4%, Croatian 0.3%, Slovene 0.2%, other 0.1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant 5%, other 17%

Languages: German

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1974 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

@Austria:Government

Country name:
conventional long f