Austria Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Geography== {{Main|Geography of Austria}} [[File:Oesterreich topo.png|thumb|upright=1.25|A topographic map of Austria showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants]] [[File:Wildspitze seen from Hinterer Brunnkogel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A [[glacier|glacial]] region in winter, close to the valley [[Ötztal]] in Tyrolia. The highest peak is the [[Wildspitze]] ({{convert|3768|m|ft}}), the second highest mountain in Austria.]] Austria is a largely mountainous country because of its location in the [[Alps]].<ref name="BritannicaAlps">{{Cite web |date=11 June 2009 |title=Alps |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/17356/Alps |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601083317/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/17356/Alps |archive-date=1 June 2009 |access-date=12 June 2009 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online}}</ref> The [[Central Eastern Alps]], [[Northern Limestone Alps]], and [[Southern Limestone Alps]] are all partly in Austria. Of the total area of Austria ({{Convert|83871|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}), only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32% of the country is below {{Convert|500|m|ft|0}}. The Alps of western Austria give way somewhat into low lands and plains in the eastern part of the country. Austria lies between latitudes [[46th parallel north|46°]] and [[49th parallel north|49° N]], and longitudes [[9th meridian east|9°]] and [[18th meridian east|18° E]]. It can be divided into five areas, the biggest being the [[Eastern Alps]], which constitute 62% of the nation's total area. The Austrian foothills at the base of the Alps and the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] account for around 12% and the foothills in the east and areas surrounding the periphery of the Pannoni low country amount to about 12% of the total landmass. The second greater mountain area (much lower than the Alps) is situated in the north. Known as the Austrian [[granite]] [[plateau]], it is located in the central area of the Bohemian Mass and accounts for 10% of Austria. The Austrian portion of the [[Vienna basin]] makes up the remaining 4%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geography – Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations – Vienna |url=https://www.bmeia.gv.at/oev-wien/about-austria/geography |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208122616/https://www.bmeia.gv.at/oev-wien/about-austria/geography/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Phytogeography|Phytogeographically]], Austria belongs to the Central European province of the [[Circumboreal Region]] within the [[Boreal Kingdom]]. According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]], the territory of Austria can be subdivided into four ecoregions: the [[Central European mixed forests]], [[Pannonian mixed forests]], [[Alps conifer and mixed forests]], and [[Western European broadleaf forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |date=2017 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |issn=0006-3568 |pmc=5451287 |pmid=28608869 |doi-access=free |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad}}</ref> Austria had a 2018 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 3.55/10, ranking it 149th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{Cite journal |last1=Grantham |first1=H. S. |last2=Duncan |first2=A. |last3=Evans |first3=T. D. |last4=Jones |first4=K. R. |last5=Beyer |first5=H. L. |last6=Schuster |first6=R. |last7=Walston |first7=J. |last8=Ray |first8=J. C. |last9=Robinson |first9=J. G. |last10=Callow |first10=M. |last11=Clements |first11=T. |last12=Costa |first12=H. M. |last13=DeGemmis |first13=A. |last14=Elsen |first14=P. R. |last15=Ervin |first15=J. |date=2020 |title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=5978 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7723057 |pmid=33293507 |doi-access=free |last16=Franco |first16=P. |last17=Goldman |first17=E. |last18=Goetz |first18=S. |last19=Hansen |first19=A. |last20=Hofsvang |first20=E. |last21=Jantz |first21=P. |last22=Jupiter |first22=S. |last23=Kang |first23=A. |last24=Langhammer |first24=P. |last25=Laurance |first25=W. F. |last26=Lieberman |first26=S. |last27=Linkie |first27=M. |last28=Malhi |first28=Y. |last29=Maxwell |first29=S. |last30=Mendez |first30=M. |last31=Mittermeier |first31=R. |last32=Murray |first32=N. J. |last33=Possingham |first33=H. |last34=Radachowsky |first34=J. |last35=Saatchi |first35=S. |last36=Samper |first36=C. |last37=Silverman |first37=J. |last38=Shapiro |first38=A. |last39=Strassburg |first39=B. |last40=Stevens |first40=T. |last41=Stokes |first41=E. |last42=Taylor |first42=R. |last43=Tear |first43=T. |last44=Tizard |first44=R. |last45=Venter |first45=O. |last46=Visconti |first46=P. |last47=Wang |first47=S. |last48=Watson |first48=J. E. M.}}</ref> ===Climate=== [[File:Koppen-Geiger Map AUT present.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen-Geiger climate classification]] map for Austria<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Hylke E. |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Niklaus E. |last3=McVicar |first3=Tim R. |last4=Vergopolan |first4=Noemi |last5=Berg |first5=Alexis |last6=Wood |first6=Eric F. |author-link6=Eric Franklin Wood |date=30 October 2018 |title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution |journal=Scientific Data |volume=5 |pages=180214 |bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B |doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214 |pmc=6207062 |pmid=30375988}}</ref>]] The greater part of Austria lies in the cool/temperate [[climate zone]], where humid westerly winds predominate. With nearly three-quarters of the country dominated by the Alps, the [[alpine climate]] is predominant. In the east—in the [[Pannonian Plain]] and along the [[Danube|Danube valley]]—the climate shows continental features with less rain than the alpine areas. Although Austria is cold in the winter (−10 to 0 °C), summer temperatures can be relatively high,<ref name="Climate">{{Cite web |date=2006 |title=Average Conditions, Vienna, Austria |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT003350 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202042009/http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT003350 |archive-date=2 December 2010 |access-date=24 May 2009 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> with average temperatures in the mid-20s and a highest temperature of {{Convert|40.5|C|0}} in August 2013.<ref name="ZAMG">{{Cite web |title=Austrian Meteorological Institute |url=http://www.zamg.ac.at/cms/de/klima/klimauebersichten/klimamittel-1971-2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812220313/http://www.zamg.ac.at/cms/de/klima/klimauebersichten/klimamittel-1971-2000 |archive-date=12 August 2012 |access-date=12 August 2012 }}</ref> According to the [[Köppen Classification|Köppen Climate Classification]] Austria has the following climate types: [[Oceanic climate|Oceanic (Cfb)]], [[Humid continental climate|Cool/Warm-summer humid continental (Dfb)]], [[Subarctic climate|Subarctic/Subalpine (Dfc)]], [[Tundra climate|Tundra/Alpine (ET)]], and [[Ice cap climate|Ice-Cap (EF)]]. It is important to note though that Austria may experience very cold, severe winters, but most of the time they are only around as cold as those in somewhat comparable climate zones, for example Southern Scandinavia or Eastern Europe. As well, at higher altitudes, summers are usually considerably cooler than in the valleys/lower altitudes. The subarctic and tundra climates seen around the Alps are much warmer in winter than what is normal elsewhere due in part to the Oceanic influence on this part of Europe.<ref name="ZAMG"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate-Data.org |url=https://en.climate-data.org/country/4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415201756/https://en.climate-data.org/country/4 |archive-date=15 April 2017 |access-date=15 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zampieri |first1=Matteo |last2=Scoccimarro |first2=Enrico |last3=Gualdi |first3=Silvio |date=2013 |title=Atlantic influence on the Alps |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=034026 |bibcode=2013ERL.....8c4026Z |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034026 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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