Austrians are a homogeneous people, although four decades of strong immigration have significantly altered the composition of the population of Austria.

According to the 2001 population census, 88.6% are native German speakers (96% Austro-Bavarian dialects and 4% Alemanic dialects) while the remaining 11.4% speak several minority languages. The non-German speakers of Austria can be divided into two groups: traditional minorities, who are related to territories formerly part of the Habsburg Empire, and new minorities, resulting from recent immigration.

Traditional ethnic minorities in Austria

Only three numerically significant traditional minority groups exist -- 14,000 Carinthian Slovenes (according to the 2001 census - unofficial estimates of Slovene organisations put the number at 30,000 - 50,000) in Austrian Carinthia (south central Austria) and about 25,000 Croats and 20,000 Hungarians in Burgenland (on the Hungarian border). The Slovenians form a closely knit community. Their rights as well as those of the Croats are protected by law and generally respected in practice. The present boundaries of Austria, once the center of the Habsburg Empire that constituted the second-largest state in Europe, were established in accordance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919. Some Austrians, particularly near Vienna, still have relatives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

A small minority of Roma and Sinti also live in the country. Its size appears to be growing with emigration from neighbouring countries.

New ethnic minorities in Austria (foreigners and naturalized)

According to the Austrian Statistical Bureau, in Mid-2006, 814,800 foreigners legally lived in Austria, representing 9.8% of the total population, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Of these foreign residents, 305,100 came from Former Yugoslavia and 110,800 from Turkey.

Owing to a growing naturalization rate, 330,000 people have been naturalized between 1985 and the end of 2003, representing about 4% of the 7.4 million Austrian citizens living today in the country.

Of these new citizens 110,000 came from Former Yugoslavia and 90,000 from Turkey. Considering pre-1985 naturalizations, in 2005 at least 15% of the population was either foreign or of foreign origin.

Austria's growing Turkish minority

Between 250,000 and 270,000 ethnic Turks (including a sizable minority of Turkish Kurds) currently live in Austria. At about 3 to 3.5% of the total population, they make up today the biggest single ethnic minority in Austria.

13,000 Turks were naturalized in 2003 and, while 2,000 Turks left Austria in the same year, 10,000 immigrated to the country, confirming a strong trend of growth.

Resistance by many Austrians and by the Austrian Government to open EU access talks with Turkey in October 2005 appears to be at least partially linked to the fear that, if free to move in the EU territories, a disproportionate number of Turkish citizen could choose Austria as a suitable place for emigration, as it already has a well established Turkish community. As a comparison, only 12,000 Turkish citizens were living in Italy at the beginning of 2004.

The role of religion

About 78% of all Austrians are Roman Catholic. The church abstains from political activity; however, lay Catholic organizations are aligned with the conservative People's Party. The Social Democratic Party long ago shed its anticlerical stance. Small Lutheran minorities are located mainly in Vienna, Carinthia, and Burgenland. Immigration during the last decades has increased the percentage of Muslims.

Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook and Statistik Austria

Population

8,292,322 (October 1, 2006 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 16.0% (male 675,913/female 641,794)

15-64 years: 67.7% (male 2,792,690/female 2,784,522)

65 years and over: 16.3% (male 533,258/female 805,129) (2005 est.)

Median age

Total: 40.9 years

Male: 39.8 years

Female: 42 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate

0.50% (2005/06 est.)

Birth rate

9.50 births/1,000 population (2005)

Death rate

9.10 deaths/1,000 population (2005)

Net Migration Rate

6.10 migrants/1,000 population (2005)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.04 male/female

Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female

15-64 years: 1.00 male/female

65 years and over: 0.66 male/female

Total population: 0.95 male/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 4.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2005)

Male: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2005)

Female: 4.0 deaths/1,000 live births (2005)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 79.45 years

Male: 76.65 years

Female: 82.24 years (2005)

Total fertility rate

1.41 children born/woman (2005)

TFR by religion: Roman Catholic - 1.32, Protestant - 1.21, Islam - 2.34, Other Religions - 1.44 & Nonreligious - 0.86. [1]

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2006 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000-15,000 (2006 est.)

New Infections with HIV/AIDS: 453 (2005)

Deaths: 54 (2004)

Nationality

Noun: Austrian(s)

Adjective: Austrian

Ethnic groups

German-speakers 92%, recognized minorities include Slovene- Hungarian-,

Czech-, Slovak-, and Croatian-Speakers 4%, Turks 1.6%,

other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census)

93% of women have a husband

Religions

Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census)

• Roman Catholicism in Austria
• Buddhism in Austria
• Hinduism in Austria
• Islam in Austria
• History of the Jews in Austria
• Paganism in the Eastern Alps

Languages

• German (official nationwide) 88.8% (94% Bavarian, 6% Alemanic)
• Slovene (official in Carinthia) 0.2-0.5%
• Croatian (official in Burgenland) 0.3%
• Hungarian (official in Burgenland) 0.2%
• Czech 0.2%
• Slovak 0.1%
• Romany ?%
• Languages of the recent immigrant groups 10% (Census 2001)

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 98%

Male: NA%

Female: NA%

Illiterates: some 3-4% of Austrians are functionally illiterate [2]

References

• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
• Statistik Austria - Census 2001
• Statistik Austria - Monthly Statistical Tables - Vital Statistics
• Statistik Austria - Quarterly Population Estimates

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