Austria is in central Europe and has lots of mountains. The area was part of the Roman Empire, and was later overrun with various peoples (Huns, Rugii, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Bavarii, Avars, and Franks, in that order). Around the middle of the thirteenth century, German King Rudolf I of Hapsburg gave the area to his boys, and the 'Hapsburgs' ruled Austria into the twentieth century. There was a bit of messing around in World War I, then again in World War II, when Austria became part of Germany in 1938. The Allied Forces occupied the country after the war until 1955, when Austria became an independent Republic sworn to neutrality. Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and the Euro monetary system in 1999. Austria is a representative democracy.
Austria on Wikipedia
