Austria , [ e ] formally the Republic of Austria , [ f ] is a landlocked country in Central Europe , lying in the Eastern Alps. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
The country occupies an area of 83, km 2 32, sq mi and has a population of around 9 million. The area of today's Austria has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic period.
Christianization in the region began in the 4th and 5th centuries, during the late Roman period , followed by the arrival of numerous Germanic tribes during the Migration Period. Being the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy since the late 13th century, Austria was a major imperial power in Central Europe for centuries and from the 16th century, Vienna was also serving as the Holy Roman Empire's administrative capital.
The empire's defeat in wars and the loss of territories in the s paved the way for the establishment of Austria-Hungary in The empire's defeat and subsequent collapse led to the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria in and the First Austrian Republic in During the interwar period , anti-parliamentarian sentiments culminated in the formation of an Austrofascist dictatorship under Engelbert Dollfuss in After its liberation in and a decade of Allied occupation , the country regained its sovereignty and declared its perpetual neutrality in Austria is a semi-presidential [ d ] representative democracy with a popularly elected president as head of state and a chancellor as head of government and chief executive.
Austria has the 13th highest nominal GDP per capita with high standards of living. The country has been a member of the United Nations since [ 19 ] and of the European Union since Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in The word "Austria" is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. The area that is now Austria was settled in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, having been the core of the Hallstatt culture by the 6th century BC.
