Information: A country.

Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 by Bosnian-Serb Gavrilo Princip was used by leading Austrian politicians and generals to persuade the emperor to declare war on Serbia, thereby risking and prompting the outbreak of World War I.

On March 12, 1938, Austria was annexed to the Third Reich and ceased to exist as an independent country. Austria secesseded from the Third Reich by the Declaration of Independence 27 April 27, 1945 and set up a provisional government in Vienna. On May 15, 1955, after talks which lasted for years and were influenced by the Cold War, Austria regained full independence.

The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language.

National Dances: Ländler, Waltz

Location: Europe

Regions: Donautal, Tyrol

Language: Austrian German.

Religion: Predominantly Christian.