Editing Geography of Austria (section)

==Human geography==
[[File:Austria satellite-map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Annotated satellite map of Austria]]
[[File:Bad kleinkirchheim.jpg|thumb|[[Bad Kleinkirchheim]], [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]], Austria]]
[[File:Landeck.jpg|thumb|[[Landeck]] in [[Tyrol (federal state)|Tyrol]], Austria]]
[[File:Burgruine-Aggstein.jpg|thumb|The ruin of [[Aggstein Castle]] overlooking the Danube (Wachau section) in [[Lower Austria]]]]
Land-use patterns in Austria change from Alpine to non-Alpine regions.<ref name=":0" /> Approximately one-tenth of Austria is barren or unproductive, that is, extremely Alpine or above the [[tree line]].<ref name=":0" /> Just over 40% of Austria is covered by forests, the majority of which is in Alpine regions.<ref name=":0" /> Less than one-fifth of Austria is [[arable land|arable]] and suitable for conventional [[agriculture]].<ref name=":0" /> The percentage of arable land in Austria increases in the East as the country becomes less alpine.<ref name=":0" /> More than one-fifth of Austria is pasture and meadow located at varying altitudes.<ref name=":0" /> Almost half of this [[grassland]] consists of high Alpine pastures.<ref name=":0" />

Historically, high Alpine pastures have been used during the summer for grazing dairy cattle, thus making space available at lower altitudes for cultivating and harvesting fodder for winter.<ref name=":0" /> Many of the high pastures are at altitudes of more than 1,000 m.<ref name=":0" />

Although agriculture in mountainous areas was at one time economically viable, in recent decades it has survived only with the help of extensive subsidies.<ref name=":0" />

The Alps make many areas of Austria uninhabitable.<ref name=":0" /> Austria's so-called areas of permanent settlement – regions that are cultivated, continuously inhabited, and used for transportation, but do not include forests, Alpine pastures, or barren land – cover only 40% or 35,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of the country.<ref name=":0" /> The great majority of the area of permanent settlement is in the Danube valley and the lowlands or hilly regions north, east, and south of the Alps, where approximately two-thirds of the population lives.<ref name=":0" />

In the country's predominantly Alpine provinces, most of the population live in river valleys: Bregenz on the shores of Lake Constance in Vorarlberg; Innsbruck on the river Inn in Tyrol; Salzburg on the river Salzach in Salzburg; and Klagenfurt on the [[Wörthersee]] lake in Carinthia.<ref name=":0" /> The higher the Alps are, the less inhabitable they become in terms of soil, microclimate, and vegetation.<ref name=":0" /> Conversely, the lower and broader the Alpine valleys are, the more densely populated they become.<ref name=":0" />

Tyrol illustrates most clearly the relationship between Alpine geography and habitation.<ref name=":0" /> As the most mountainous province (less than 3% of the land is arable), it is the most sparsely inhabited, with an area of permanent settlement of only 15%.<ref name=":0" />

Because of the Alps, the country as a whole is one of the least densely populated states of Western and Central Europe.<ref name=":0" /> With ninety-three inhabitants per square kilometre, Austria has a population density similar to that of the former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].<ref name=":0" />

Austria's national borders and geography have corresponded very little.<ref name=":0" /> Since the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], the Alps and the Danube have not served to mark political boundaries.<ref name=":0" /> Even within Austria, provincial borders were only occasionally set by the ranges and ridges of the Alps.<ref name=":0" />

Although the Alps did not mark political boundaries, they often separated groups of people from one another.<ref name=":0" /> Because in the past the Alps were impassable, inhabitants isolated in valleys or networks of valleys developed distinct regional subcultures.<ref name=":0" /> Consequently, the inhabitants of one valley frequently maintained dialects, native or traditional dress, architectural styles, and folklore that substantially differed from those of the next valley.<ref name=":0" /> Differences were great enough that the origins of outsiders could easily be identified.<ref name=":0" /> However, mass media, mobility, prosperity, and tourism have eroded the distinctness of Alpine regional subcultures to a great extent by reducing the isolation that gave them their particular character.<ref name=":0" />

Despite the Alps, Austria has historically been a land of transit.<ref name=":0" /> The Danube valley, for centuries [[Central Europe|Central Europe's]] aquatic link to the [[Balkan Peninsula]] and the "[[Orient]]" in the broadest sense of the word, has always been an avenue of east–west transit.<ref name=":0" /> However, Europe's division into two opposing economic and military blocs after [[World War II]] diminished Austria's importance as a place of transit.<ref name=":0" /> Since the opening of [[Eastern Europe]] in 1989, the country has begun to re-assume its historical role.<ref name=":0" /> By the early 1990s, it had already experienced a substantial increase in the number of people and vehicles crossing its eastern frontiers.<ref name=":0" />

Within the Alps, four passes and the roads that run through them are of particular importance for north–south transit.<ref name=":0" /> The [[Semmering Pass]] on the provincial border of Lower Austria and Styria connects the Vienna Basin with the Mürz and Mur valleys, thus providing northeast–southwest access to Styria and Slovenia, and, via Carinthia, to Italy.<ref name=":0" />

The [[Pyrhn Pass]] between the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria and the [[Tauern Pass]] between the [[High Tauern]] range and the [[Lower Tauern]] range of the Central Alps in Salzburg, provide access to the Mur Valley in Styria and the Drau Valley in Carinthia, respectively.<ref name=":0" /> The highways that run through these passes are important northwest–southeast lines of communication through the Alps.<ref name=":0" /> The Pyrhn highway has been nicknamed the ''Fremdarbeiterweg'' ("foreign workers' route") because millions of ''[[Gastarbeiter]]'' ("guest workers") in Germany use it to return to their homes in the [[Balkans]] and [[Turkey]] for vacation.<ref name=":0" /> Many Germans and northern Europeans also use it in the summer months to reach the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic coast]].<ref name=":0" /> After the outbreak of hostilities in Yugoslavia in the summer of 1991, however, a substantial amount of this traffic was re-routed through the Danube Valley and [[Hungary]].<ref name=":0" />

The most important pass in the Austrian Alps is the [[Brenner Pass]], located on the Austrian-Italian border in Tyrol.<ref name=":0" /> At 1,370 m, it is one of the lowest Alpine passes.<ref name=":0" /> The route up the Inn valley and over the Brenner Pass has been historically an important and convenient route of north–south transit between Germany and Italy, and provides the most direct route between Europe's two most highly industrialized regions: Germany and northern Italy.<ref name=":0" />

'''Natural resources:'''
[[Petroleum|oil]], [[lignite]], [[timber]], [[iron ore]], [[copper]], [[zinc]], [[antimony]], [[magnesite]], [[tungsten]], [[graphite]], [[salt]], [[hydropower]]

'''Land use:'''
<br>''arable land:''
16.44%
<br>''permanent crops:''
0.79%
<br>''other:''
82.77% (2012)

'''Irrigated land:'''
1,170&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (2007)

'''Total renewable water resources:'''
77.7&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> (2011)

'''Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)'''
<br>''total:''
3.66&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>/yr (18%/79%/3%)
<br>''per capital:''
452.4 m<sup>3</sup>/yr (2008)