Monday, September 8, 2014

Up with Geography: Austria

Country Name:
Austria

Capital:
Vienna

Continent:
Europe

Maps:

European continent. Austria outlined in dark
ink and shaded.

A close up of Austria & its neighbors.


Neighbors:
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy

Water borders:
None

Total Area(added March 2015)
32,386 square miles

Five Largest Cities:
Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck

Famous Geographical Point:
Danube River

Famous Person:
Franz Schubert, composer

Book Set In/About:
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Pretty much what it says in the title. Rilke wrote this series of letters about life to a young poet by the name of Franz Xaver Kappus.

Movie Set In/About:
"The Counterfeiters (Die Faelscher)" (2007), directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky

Based on a true story, when a famous counterfeiter is captured by the Nazis, he's forced to work for them in order to survive. In the process, he's faced with a moral dilemma: should he do what's right or should he do what's prudent?

Headline of the Day:
"Ex-U.S. Envoy Khalilzad Subject of Money Laundering Probe" in Bloomberg

I sort of hate that the above headline is as much about the U.S. as it is about Austria but I'm sticking with my "first headline that pops up in a Google search" rule.

2 comments:

Patricia said...

Look at how many countries surround it! But not back in the day when it was part of the Austria-Hungary Empire. People in Budapest are still sad that the sun has set on that empire. I don't blame them.

balyien said...

I actually missed Liechtenstein the first time. I had to edit the post and add it in (technically it's sandwiched in between Switzerland & Austria). The only other country I can think of off the top of my head that has that many neighbors is Brazil. Nearly every country in South America touches it, but it's huge, so that makes sense.