Republic of Austria, known as Austria in short, is a central European country with parliamentary republican system, and it has nine federal states. As a landlocked country, it has its boundary bordered with many countries: borders with Hungary and Slovakia in the east, neighbors with Italy and Slovenia in the south, borders with Liechtenstein and Switzerland in the west and neighbors with Germany and the Czech Republic in the north. Its capital and largest city is Vienna with a population of more than 1.7 million and a land area of 83,855 square kilometers.

From the Middle Ages onward Austria was one of the European powers till the end of the World War I, and is the location of Habsburg dynasty which ruled the Central Europe for 650 years. The other ethnic groups include Slovenes, Croats and Hungarians, accounting for 1 percent of the total population. Its official language is German and 78% of its population believes in Catholic.

Austria is a highly-developed capitalist country, and is also one of the richest countries in the world today with the per capita GDP reaching 46,330 US dollars in 2012. Its human development index in 2011 ranked 19th in the world, its industry features a high degree of nationalization, with state-owned enterprises controlling 95% of the basic industries and more than 85% of the power industry, and the output value as well as the number of employees account for more than 70%. It joined the European Union in 1995, and it is one of the founding countries of the OECD. In 1955 it declared itself as a permanent neutral country, signed the Schengen Convention in 1995 and accepted the euro in 1999.