Upper Austria Explained

Official Name:Upper Austria
Native Name:Oberösterreich
Settlement Type:State
Flag Size:120px
Anthem:Hoamatgsang
Subdivision Type:Country
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Linz
Leader Party:ÖVP
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:Thomas Stelzer
Leader Title1:Deputy Governors
Area Total Km2:11718.32
Population Total:1522825
Population As Of:1 January 2023
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:GDP
Demographics1 Footnotes:[1]
Demographics1 Title1:Total
Demographics1 Info1:€69.994 billion (2021)
Demographics1 Title2:Per capita
Demographics1 Info2:€46,700 (2021)
Timezone1:CET
Utc Offset1:+1
Timezone1 Dst:CEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+2
Iso Code:AT-4
Blank Name Sec1:HDI (2019)
Blank Info Sec1:0.913[2]
· 5th of 9
Blank Name Sec2:NUTS Region
Blank Info Sec2:AT3
Blank1 Name Sec2:Votes in Bundesrat
Blank1 Info Sec2:12 (of 62)
Governing Body:Landtag of Upper Austria

Upper Austria (German: Oberösterreich pronounced as /de/; Obaöstareich, Horní Rakousy) is one of the nine states or German: Länder of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg. With an area of 11982km2 and 1.49 million inhabitants, Upper Austria is the fourth-largest Austrian state by land area and the third-largest by population.

History

Origins

For a long period of the Middle Ages, much of what would become Upper Austria constituted Traungau, a region of the Duchy of Bavaria. In the mid-13th century, it became known as the Principality above the Enns River (German: Fürstentum ob der Enns), this name being first recorded in 1264. (At the time, the term "Upper Austria" also included Tyrol and various scattered Habsburg possessions in southern Germany.)

Early modern era

In 1490, the area was given a measure of independence within the Holy Roman Empire, with the status of a principality. By 1550, there was a Protestant majority. In 1564, Upper Austria, together with Lower Austria and the Bohemian territories, fell under Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II.

At the start of the 17th century, the Counter-Reformation was instituted under Emperor Rudolf II and his successor Matthias. After a military campaign, the area was under the control of Bavaria for some years in the early 17th century.

The Innviertel was ceded from the Electorate of Bavaria to Upper Austria in the Treaty of Teschen in 1779. During the Napoleonic Wars, Upper Austria was occupied by the French army on more than one occasion.

20th century

In 1918 after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the name Oberösterreich was used to describe the province of the new Austria. After Austria was annexed by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator, who had been born in the Upper Austrian town of Braunau am Inn and raised in Upper Austria, Upper Austria became Reichsgau Oberdonau, although this also included the southern part of the Sudetenland, annexed from Czechoslovakia, and a small part of Styria. In 1945, Upper Austria was partitioned between the American zone to the south and the Soviet zone to the north.

Industry

Today Upper Austria is Austria's leading industrial region. As of 2009, it accounted for approximately a quarter of the country's exports.[3]

Lakes

Demographics

As of January 1, 2021, 1,495,608 people resided in the state, of which 107,318 (7.17 percent) were European Union/European Economic Area/Switzerland/UK citizens and 96,623 (6.46 percent) were third-country nationals.[4]

The majority of Upper Austrians are Christian. In 2001, 79.4 percent of the people still belonged to the Roman Catholic church, about 4.4% were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4.0 percent were Muslims, and 8.8 percent were of no confession.[5] By the end of 2020, the proportion of Catholics had fallen to 62 percent, while the corresponding proportion of Protestants was about 3.1 percent of the Upper Austrian population.[6]

Population development

After World War II, Upper Austria received a million refugees. The Soviet and American armies occupied Upper Austria as hundreds of thousands of people fled from both sides of the land front.[7]

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TextData= fontsize:M pos:(35,20) text:"Source: Statistik Austria"

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 65.9 billion € in 2018, accounting for 17.1% of the Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 39,500 € or 131% of the EU27 average in the same year.[8]

Politics

The Upper Austrian state constitution defines Upper Austria as an independent state of the democratic Republic of Austria. In its constitution, Upper Austria also declares its support for a united Europe that is committed to democratic, constitutional, social and federal principles as well as the principle of subsidiarity, preserves the autonomy of the regions and ensures their participation in European decision-making. In its regional constitution, Upper Austria defines its position in Europe as an independent, future-oriented and self-confident region that participates in the further development of a united Europe.[9]

Like Styria, Upper Austria is a swing state that usually has a signal character in nationwide elections. The conservative Austrian People's Party dominates in rural areas, the Social Democratic Party of Austria has its strongholds in the cities of Linz, Wels and Steyr or in the Attnang-Puchheim railroad junction, but the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria has also traditionally had a strong presence, for example in the Innviertel.

Administrative divisions

Administratively, the state is divided into 15 districts (Bezirke), three Statutarstädte and 438 municipalities.

Statutory cities

  1. Linz
  2. Steyr
  3. Wels

Districts

  1. Braunau
  2. Eferding
  3. Freistadt
  4. Gmunden
  5. Grieskirchen
  6. Kirchdorf
  7. Linz-Land
  8. Perg
  9. Ried
  10. Rohrbach
  11. Schärding
  12. Steyr-Land
  13. Urfahr-Umgebung
  14. Vöcklabruck
  15. Wels-Land

Historical regions

Historically, Upper Austria was traditionally divided into four regions: Hausruckviertel, Innviertel, Mühlviertel, and Traunviertel.

See also

External Links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Basisdaten Bundesländer . 2023-09-01.
  2. Web site: Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab. hdi.globaldatalab.org. en. 2018-09-13.
  3. Web site: Upper Austria in figures. Upper Austria Technology and Marketing Company . 2014-05-03.
  4. Statistik Austria
  5. Web site: Glaube & Religion .
  6. Web site: Kirchliche Statistik: Eintritte, Austritte, Pastoraldaten . 2022-01-26. www.katholisch.at . de.
  7. Book: Ronald W. Zweig. Thomas Albrich . Escape Through Austria: Jewish Refugees and the Austrian Route to Palestine . Frank Cass . 2002 . 15 . 9780714652139 .
  8. Web site: Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018. Eurostat.
  9. Web site: Oö. Landes-Verfassungsgesetz (Oö. L-VG) - Artikel 1a . de . 8 . 2024-01-25.