Austria

Austria, the usual name of the great empire now officially called the AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY, is a Latinised form of the German Oesterreich (Fr. Autriche), meaning 'Eastern Kingdom.' Since 1867, the empire is composed of a union of two states under one emperor, but administratively distinct. The one is Austria, or Cisleithania ('on this side the Leitha,' a tributary of the Danube, on the frontiers of the archduchy of Austria and Hungary); the other, Hungary and the lands of the Hungarian crown, or Transleithania. The relation of the two divisions to one another is discussed below, and at the article HUNGARY. The present article deals with the empire as a whole. The Austrian dominions form geographically a compact territory, with a circumference of about 5350 miles. The total area, 240,456 sq. m., is greater than that of any other European state save Russia, and is nearly twice the area of the United Kingdom. The body of the empire lies in the interior of Europe, though it has about 500 miles of sea-coast on the Adriatic. Austria borders on Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria,

Saxony, Prussia, Russia, Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro. With the sanction of the Berlin Congress of 1878, the small territory of Spizza, on the Montenegrin frontier and formerly Turkish, has been incorporated with Dalmatia. The Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though occupied and also administered by Austria, cannot strictly be regarded as part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Area and Population.—The following table shows the area and population of the empire at the census of 31st December 1890.

These totals include, of course, the army and Landwehr and the navy. The population per square mile was for Austria 206 and for Hungary 139—the greater density being in Lower Austria (347), and the least (62) in Salzburg. In 1890 the empire had six cities of over 100,000 inhabitants: Vienna, the capital of the empire, 1,364,548; Budapest (Pesth), 506,384; Prague, 184,109; Trieste, 158,344; Lemberg, 128,419; and Gratz, 113,540. These figures include the garrisons and the suburbs, which, in the case of Trieste, doubled the population of the town proper. Besides these six, there were nine cities with over 50,000, and 53 with over 20,000 inhabitants. Besides 183,000 Hungarians, there were over 150,000 foreigners in Austria, mostly Germans and Italians, with 2000 British subjects. The birth-rate in Austria in 1890 was 36 per 1000, the death-rate 29, in Hungary 41 and 32 respectively. After Trieste, the chief harbours are Fiume, Curzola, Zara, Spalato, and Rovigno. More than two-thirds of the population are engaged in agriculture; but there is a constantly increasing tendency to concentration in the large towns. The following table of the civil population shows a steady increase since 1818, if we remember that between the census-dates of 1857 and 1869 the empire lost its Lombardo-Venetian territories, with over 5,000,000 inhabitants:

The Treaty of Berlin of 1878 gave Austria the right of occupying and administering Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the adjoining sanjak (district) of Novi Bazar, which makes it expedient to add the area and population of these Slavonic provinces of the Turkish Empire here:

Surface.—Three-fourths of Austria is moun- tainous or hilly, being traversed by three great mountain-chains—the Alps, Carpathians, and Sudetes, whose chief ridges are of primitive rock. The Rhætian and Noric Alps stretch from Switzerland to the Danube, and contain the highest points of the Austrian territories, the Ortler Spitze rising to 12,814 feet. Their height declines gradually towards the east, where the Leitha Hills (3000 feet), overlooking the plain of Vienna, form the transition to the Carpathians. This chain, extending for 880 miles, rises on the left bank of the Danube, near Presburg, and sweeping in a curve, first east, and then southward through Transylvania, again meets the Danube. The central part, or Tatra Mountains, are vast granitic masses, resembling the Alps in character; the highest of these is the Gerlsdorfer Spitze, 8517 feet, and their average elevation is over 6000 feet. Springing from the north-west bend of the Carpathians, the Sudetes run through the north-east of Moravia and Bohemia, in which last the range is known as the Riesengebirge, or Giant Mountains. The boundary between Bohemia and Prussian Silesia passes over the Schneekoppe, the highest peak of these mountains, which is 5330 feet in height. Continuous with this range, and beginning on the left bank of the Elbe, are the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains, on the confines of Saxony; and veering round to nearly south-east, the range is further prolonged in the Böhmerwald, between Bohemia and Bavaria. The chief plains of the Austrian empire are the vast lowlands of Hungary (the one in the west is about 4200 sq. m. in extent; the other, which is in the east, and traversed by the Danube and the Theiss, has an area of 21,000 sq. m.), and the plain of Galicia.

From the Gulf of Trieste to the south point of Dalmatia, Austria has a sea-line of about 1000 miles, not counting the coasts of the numerous islands, the largest of which is Veglia, 23 miles by 12. The chief lakes are Lake Balaton (382 sq. m.) and the Neusiedler See (117), both in Hungary. The Alps and Carpathians inclose numerous mountain-lakes. That in the Tatra Mountains lies at an elevation of 6000 feet. The most remarkable of all is the Zirknitz Lake (q.v.) in Illyria. There are extensive swamps or marshes in Hungary.

The leading rivers that have navigable tributaries are: the Danube, which has a course of 850 miles within the Austrian dominions, from Passau, at the mouth of the Inn, to Orsova, on the frontier of Wallachia, its navigable affluents being the Inn, Save, Drave, March, Waag, and the Theiss, which drains nearly half of Hungary; the Vistula, with its tributary the Bug; the Elbe, with the Moldau and Eger; the Dniester and Adige. The Rhine flows for about 25 miles of its course between Austria and Switzerland. The Isonzo, Zermagna, Kerka, and Narenta flow into the Adriatic.

The canal system of Austria is not extensive. The Vienna and Neustadt Canal, in Lower Austria, has a length of 40 miles; the Bacser or Franz Canal, between the Danube and Theiss in Hungary, 70 miles; and the Bega Canal, constructed by the Romans, between the Bega and Temes, 83 miles.

The climate of Austria is on the whole very favourable; but from the extent and diversity of surface, it presents great varieties. In the warmest southern region between 42°–46° lat., rice, olives, oranges, and lemons ripen in the better localities; and wine and maize are produced everywhere. In the middle temperate region from 46°–49°, which has the greatest extent and diversity of surface, wine and maize still thrive in perfection. In the northern region, beyond 49°, except in favoured spots, neither wine nor maize succeeds; but grain, fruit, flax, and hemp thrive excellently. The mean