OBERÖSTERREICH - Geography and history
Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) came into being in the High Middle Ages. It has an area of 11 982 km2, three chartered cities including its capital, Linz, 15 political districts and 445 municipalities (2001 figures). It has international borders with Germany and the Czech Republic and internal borders with the Bundesländer of Niederösterreich, Steiermark and Salzburg.
North of the Danube lies the Mühlviertel, an area of hills and low mountains, which is part of the Bohemian Massif. To the south stretches the fertile, predominantly hilly but in some places flat, Alpine foreland, with its transitional climate (between the southern German and the Pannonian climate zones). In the east, the central region of Oberösterreich is the most highly industrialized part of Austria. The Alps then rise southwards and the climate, too, becomes more Alpine. Here, the Salzkammergut was one of the first areas to be opened up to tourism. Just over the half (50.5 %) of the land area of Oberösterreich is agricultural or horticultural land and 38.8% is forested.
Most traffic routes, whether by the Danube, road or rail, run east to west or north-west. An old road leads south from Bohemia via Linz.
A strong economy, but problems in many branches of industry
Oberösterreich has one of Austria's strongest regional economies. Its population increased steadily in the past and is still rising, most recently as a result of the marked influx of foreigners. It is the industrial centre of the country, with many branches of industry represented and the highest concentrations in the central area (Linz-Wels-Steyr triangle) and around the Vöckla and Ager rivers. Agriculture is also highly developed, with slightly more of' the land given over to arable (foodstuffs, cereals, sugar beet and field crops) than to grassland farming. Forestry is another major industry. Tourists are attracted to the area by the scenic beauty of the Salzkammergut lakes, the Alps and the Mühlviertel.
There are, however, problems in the industrial sector, primarily in iron and steel production and, to some extent, in the chemical works in Linz, vehicle building in Steyr and aluminium works. Brown-coal-mining in the Hausruck district and on the Salzach is being closed down. The lack of jobs in the Mühlviertel is forcing an exodus of commuters to Linz.
Key area in the centre, considerable regional differences
The five NUTS 3 regions of Oberösterreich, which has a population density of 115 per km2 and a per capita GDP at 109% of the EU average, are very different from one another.
In most of the Linz-Wels region, which covers much of the centre of Oberösterreich, 38 % of the population live on 15% of the land area. This is Austria's industrial heartland, to which many people commute from the rest of Oberösterreich and the western parts of Niederösterreich. The unemployment rate is below the national average. Persons living in the Mühlviertel, a rural area in the north, often work in the Linz-Wels region. The Innviertel, despite housing a few industrial enterprises, some of them on a large scale, is predominantly an agricultural area, with arable land and grassland.
The Steyr-Kirchdorf region has some industry, notably vehicle-building in the city of Steyr, but otherwise it is rural, with arable land, grassland and forests as well as some tourist trade in the south. The Traunviertel has many kinds of industry and, in the Alpine regions of the Salzkammergut, one of the best-known tourist areas of Austria.
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