Austria

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC, at the Museum of Natural History Vienna

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

The Congress of Vienna met in 1814–15. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Map of the German Confederation (1815–1836) with its 39 member states

An ethno-linguistic map of Austria-Hungary, 1910

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked World War I, one of the most disastrous conflicts in human history

German-speaking provinces claimed by German-Austria in 1918: The border of the subsequent Second Republic of Austria is outlined in red.

Adolf Hitler speaking at Heldenplatz, Vienna, 1938

Austria in 1941 when it was known as the "Ostmark"

The liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp, 1945

The United Nations Office in Vienna is one of the four major UN office sites worldwide.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna

The Leopoldine Wing of Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, home to the offices of the Austrian president

The Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz

The European Parliament: Austria is one of the 27 EU members.

A topographic map of Austria showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Austria

A proportional representation of Austria exports, 2019

Austria is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Children in Austria, near Au, Vorarlberg

Bilingual sign of Oberwart (in Hungarian Felsőőr) in Burgenland

The birthplaces of foreign-born naturalised residents of Austria

The Basilica of Mariazell is Austria's most popular pilgrimage site.

Stiftsgymnasium Melk is the oldest Austrian school.

The campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known Austrian and American actor.

Wiener Schnitzel, a traditional Austrian dish

Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, the first in history.

Ski racer Franz Klammer won a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

Landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, situated at Eastern Alps.

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Switzerland

Landlocked country at the confluence of Western, Central and Southern Europe.

Founded in 44 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, Augusta Raurica (near Basel) was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.

The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colours shown are the subject territories.

The Act of Mediation was Napoleon's attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Régime and a Republic.

The first Federal Palace in Bern (1857). One of the three cantons presiding over the Tagsatzung (former legislative and executive council), Bern was chosen as the permanent seat of federal legislative and executive institutions in 1848, in part because of its closeness to the French-speaking area.

Inauguration in 1882 of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel connecting the southern canton of Ticino, the longest in the world at the time

General Ulrich Wille, appointed commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army for the duration of World War I

In 2003, by granting the Swiss People's Party a second seat in the governing cabinet, the Parliament altered the coalition that had dominated Swiss politics since 1959.

Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Council in 2022 with President Ignazio Cassis (bottom) standing on an abstract, reduced railway lines map and positioned at their respective political origins

The Federal Palace, seat of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council

The Landsgemeinde is an old form of direct democracy, still in practice in two cantons.

The colour-reversed Swiss flag became the symbol of the Red Cross Movement, founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant.

A Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornet at Axalp Air Show

Swiss-built Mowag Eagles of the Land Forces

A proportional representation of Switzerland exports, 2019

The city of Basel (Roche Tower) is the capital of the country's pharmaceutical industry, which accounts for around 38% of Swiss exports worldwide.

The Greater Zürich area, home to 1.5 million inhabitants and 150,000 companies, is one of the most important economic centres in the world.

The University of Basel is Switzerland's oldest university (1460).

Some Swiss scientists who played a key role in their discipline (clockwise):
Leonhard Euler (mathematics)
Louis Agassiz (glaciology)
Auguste Piccard (aeronautics)
Albert Einstein (physics)

The LHC tunnel. CERN is the world's largest laboratory and also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

Members of the European Free Trade Association (green) participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area.

Switzerland has the tallest dams in Europe, among which the Mauvoisin Dam, in the Alps. Hydroelectricity is the most important domestic source of energy in the country.

Entrance of the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel, the third-longest railway tunnel in the world, under the old Lötschberg railway line. It was the first completed tunnel of the greater project NRLA.

Population density in Switzerland (2019)

Percentage of foreigners in Switzerland (2019)

Urbanisation in the Rhone Valley (outskirts of Sion)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was not only a writer but also an influential philosopher of the eighteenth century.

Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, making him among the most successful men's tennis players ever.

Fondue is melted cheese, into which bread is dipped

Switzerland is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

Italy

Country that consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it, whose territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region.

Expansion of the territory called "Italy" from ancient Greece until Diocletian

The Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries a symbol of the Kings of Italy

Marco Polo, explorer of the 13th century, recorded his 24 years-long travels in the Book of the Marvels of the World, introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.

The Italian states before the beginning of the Italian Wars in 1494

Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance man, in a self-portrait (ca. 1512, Royal Library, Turin)

Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.

Flag of the Cispadane Republic, which was the first Italian tricolour adopted by a sovereign Italian state (1797)

Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946

Animated map of the Italian unification from 1829 to 1871

The Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

The fascist dictator Benito Mussolini titled himself Duce and ruled the country from 1922 to 1943.

Areas controlled by the Italian Empire at its peak

Italian partisans in Milan during the Italian Civil War, April 1945

Alcide De Gasperi, first republican Prime Minister of Italy and one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union

The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the European Economic Community, forerunner of the present-day European Union

Funerals of the victims of the Bologna bombing of 2 August 1980, the deadliest attack ever perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead

Italian government task force to face the COVID-19 emergency

Dolphins in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Aeolian Islands

Gran Paradiso, established in 1922, is the oldest Italian national park.

The Italian wolf, the national animal of Italy

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Italy

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Italy.

An Alfa Romeo 159 vehicle of the Carabinieri corps

Group photo of the G7 leaders at the 43rd G7 summit in Taormina

Heraldic coat of arms of the Italian Armed Forces

A proportional representation of Italy exports, 2019

Milan is the economic capital of Italy, and is a global financial centre and a fashion capital of the world.

The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), the first motorway built in the world

FS' Frecciarossa 1000 high speed train, with a maximum speed of 400 km/h

Trieste, the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline

ENI is considered one of the world's oil and gas "Supermajors".

Solar panels in Piombino. Italy is one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy.

Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science, physics and astronomy

Enrico Fermi, creator of the world's first first nuclear reactor

The Amalfi Coast is one of Italy's major tourist destinations.

Map of Italy's population density at the 2011 census

Italy is home to a large population of migrants from Eastern Europe and North Africa.

Linguistic map showing the languages spoken in Italy

Vatican City, the Holy See's sovereign territory

Bologna University, established in AD 1088, is the world's oldest academic institution.

Olive oil and vegetables are central to the Mediterranean diet.

The Last Supper (1494–1499), Leonardo da Vinci, Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Michelangelo's David (1501–1504), Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

The Birth of Venus (1484–1486), Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the mount of Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco, 1465

Niccolò Machiavelli, founder of modern political science and ethics

Pinocchio is one of the world's most translated books and a canonical piece of children's literature.

Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas, proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism; Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria, considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori, credited with the creation of the Montessori education

Statues of Pantalone and Harlequin, two stock characters from the Commedia dell'arte, in the Museo Teatrale alla Scala

Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style.

Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently worldwide performed in the standard repertoire

Luciano Pavarotti, considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs"

Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music, is known as the "Father of disco".

The Azzurri in 2012. Football is the most popular sport in Italy.

Starting in 1909, the Giro d'Italia is the Grands Tours' second oldest.

A Ferrari SF21 by Scuderia Ferrari, the most successful Formula One team

Prada shop at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

The traditional recipe for spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce

The Frecce Tricolori, with the smoke trails representing the national colours of Italy, during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world.

A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, the country covers a total area of 301230 km2 and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, as well as the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino.

Landlocked country

Country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins.

Landlocked countries: 42 landlocked (green), 2 doubly landlocked (purple)

Bolivia's loss of its coastline in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) remains a major political issue

Some landlocked countries in Europe are affluent, such as Andorra, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City, all of which, excluding Luxembourg, a founding member of NATO, frequently employ neutrality in global political issues.

States of Austria

Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states (German: Länder).

Duchy of Bavaria

Frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century.

Duchy of Bavaria (red, including the Austrian march) within the Holy Roman Empire circa 1000.

Bavaria and Frankish Avar March, in the time of Charlemagne

Bavaria in 976, with the marches of Austria, Carinthia and Verona

Coat of arms of counts of Bogen, later House of Wittelsbach

The Bavarian Square banner in the Wappenbuch des St. Galler Abtes Ulrich Rösch, 15th century

The medieval Bavarian stem duchy covered present-day Southeastern Germany and most parts of Austria along the Danube river, up to the Hungarian border which then ran along the Leitha tributary in the east.

Margraviate of Austria

The first mention of the word Ostarrîchi (996), the word is marked with a red circle.

Duchy of Bavaria and its dependencies in 976

The Margraviate of Austria (Markgrafschaft Österreich) was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria.

Austro-Prussian War

Fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation.

Battle of Königgrätz, by Georg Bleibtreu. Oil on canvas, 1869

Map depicting deployment and advance of Austrian (red) and Prussian (green) troops and their allies.

Depiction of Prussian and Austrian troop movements and maneuvers during the Battle of Königgrätz

Movements of the Prussian Army near the Main river

The memorial to the Battery of the dead in Chlum, (modern Czech Republic) commemorates some of the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Königgrätz.

Prussian Prince Friedrich Karl is cheered on by his troops.

Prussian artillery at the Battle of Langensalza. Oil painting by Georg von Boddien

Austrian victory at the naval Battle of Lissa

Austrian uhlans under Colonel Rodakowski attack Italian Bersaglieri during the Battle of Custoza

Reception of Prussian troops in Berlin on 21 September 1866

The North German Confederation (red), the South German states (golden) and the exposed Alsace-Lorraine (paler) after the war

Aside from five years (1740–1745), the Habsburg family, whose personal territory was Austria, controlled the Emperorship from 1440 to 1806, although it became increasingly ceremonial only as Austria found itself at war at certain times with other states within the Empire, such as Prussia, which in fact defeated Austria during the War of Austrian Succession to seize the province of Silesia in 1742.