{{background|Austria}} '''Austrians''' are a homogeneous people, although four decades of strong immigration have significantly altered the population of the country. According to the 2001 population census, 88,6% are native German speakers (96% Bavarian and 4 % Alemanic) 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 form recent immigration. == Traditional ethnic Minorities in Austria == Only three numerically significant traditional minority groups exist -- 14,000 Slovenians (according to the 2001 census - inofficial numbers of Slovene organisations put the number to 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 St. Germain in 1919. Some Austrians, particularly near Vienna, still have relatives in the Czech_Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. A small minority of Romas and Sinthis also lives in the country. Its size appears to be growing with emigration from neighbouring countries. == New ethnic Minorities in Austria (foreigners and naturalized)== According to Austrian Statistical Bureau, at the beginning of 2005 788,000 foreigners legally lived in Austria, representing 9,6% of the total population, one of the highest rates in Europe. Of these foreign residents, 340,000 came from Former_Yugoslavia and 130,000 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 milion Austrian citizen 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)live today 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 citizen 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. At the same time, many Austrians have been leaving the churches. ==Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook== ===Population=== :8,184,691 (July 2005 est.) ===Age structure=== :0-14 years: 15.6% (male 656,058/female 624,574) :15-64 years: 67.8% (male 2,790,673/female 2,756,612) :65 years and over: 16.6% (male 543,626/female 813,148) (2005 est.) ===Median age=== :Total: 40.44 years :Male: 39.3 years :Female: 41.61 years (2005 est.) ===Population growth rate=== :0.11% (2005 est.) ===Birth rate=== :8.81 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ===Death rate=== :9.7 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ===Net Migration Rate=== :1.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ===Sex ratio=== :At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female :Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female :15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female :65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female :Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ===Infant mortality rate=== :Total: 4.66 deaths/1,000 live births :Male: 5.74 deaths/1,000 live births :Female: 3.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ===Life expectancy at birth=== :Total population: 78.92 years :Male: 76.03 years :Female: 81.96 years (2005 est.) ===Total fertility rate=== :1.36 children born/woman (2005 est.) ===HIV/AIDS=== :Adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2003 est.) :People living with HIV/AIDS: 10,000 (2003 est.) :Deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.) ===Nationality=== :Noun: Austrian(s) :Adjective: Austrian ===Ethnic groups=== *'''Austrians 90,0%:''' Bavarians 96%, Alemanics 4%, Croatians 0,3%, Slovenes 0,3%-0,5%, Hungarians 0,2%, Czechs 0,2%, Slovaks 0,1%, Roma and Sinti 0,1%) *'''recent immigrant groups 10%:''' (includes Turks, Bosnians, Serbians, Croatians, Germans) (2005) ===Religions=== :Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 0.1%, none 17.4% ===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 from the recent immigrant groups 10% ===Literacy=== :Definition: age 15 and over can read and write :Total population: 98% :Male: NA% :Female: NA% :Illiterates: some 3-4% of the Austrians are functional illiterates (people who have problems with reading, writing and understanding a text and therefore can´t use their acquired knowledge properly) http://science.orf.at/science/lenz/117377 ==References== *{{CIA WFB 2005}} *Statistik Austria - Census 2001 *Statistik Austria - Monthly Statistical Tables - Vital Statistics *Statistik Austria - Quarterly Population Estimates Category:Geography_of_Austria Category:Austrian_society Austria Bg:Население_на_Австрия Es:Demografía_de_Austria Ru:Население_Австрии