Austria

Withaper capita income of $32,900, Austria is the 15th richest country in the world. The quality of life among the 8,184,691 people is high, in great part because of the welfare state that provides social security and health care to the Austrian people. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Austria 17th among the world's nations in overall quality of life. The landlocked country has a temperate, continental climate, with cold, wet winters and moderate summers with frequent rainfall. The Alps in the western and southern section of the country are a major feature of the country's geography, and landslides, avalanches, and earthquakes are common. Austria's natural resources include oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, and hydropower.

During the post–World War II period, Austria underwent major political, economic, and sociological transformations. By the mid-20th century, some 60 percent of Austrians were engaged in agriculture and forestry, and most practitioners had little knowledge about protecting and conserving the environment. Because of past agricultural practices, Austria requires that all sewage sludge for application [Page 89]in agriculture be analyzed to monitor levels of dioxin. As urbanization accelerated, a population shift occurred, with two-thirds of the population residing in the valleys and lowlands of Austria. Currently, only 4 percent of the workforce is engaged in agriculture and forestry.

Increased urbanization also led to greater numbers of vehicles using fossil fuels in congested areas, motivating the government to pursue alternative energy resources. At present, Austria generates 0.3 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Forty-seven percent of Austria's 2,562 kilometers is forested, and timber is a key industry. One-third of Austria's land is under national protection, and the government has been relatively successful at protecting the 83 mammals that are endemic to the country, with 7 percent of those species threatened. Bird life is even better protected, and only three species of the 230 birds endemic to Austria are threatened.