Austria (
German
:
Österreich
) (
Österreich
(
help
·
info
)
), officially the Republic of Austria (
German
:
Republik Österreich
) (
Republik Österreich
(
help
·
info
)
) , is a
landlocked
country in
Central Europe
. It borders both
Germany
and the
Czech Republic
to the north,
Slovakia
and
Hungary
to the east,
Slovenia
and
Italy
to the south, and
Switzerland
and
Liechtenstein
to the west. The
capital
is the city of
Vienna
on the
Danube River
.
The origins of modern Austria date back to the ninth century, when the territory of Upper and Lower Austria became increasingly populated. The name "Ostarrichi" is first documented in an official document from . Since then this word has developed into the Modern German word Österreich
meaning "Eastern Realm" or "Eastern Empire."
Austria is a
parliamentary
representative democracy
comprising nine federal states
and is one of six European countries that have declared
permanent neutrality
and one of the few countries that includes the concept of everlasting neutrality in its
constitution
. Austria has been a member of the
United Nations
since
and joined the
European Union
in .
|