Rent a Car Austria - Geography Austria

Austria lies in central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia. It is landlocked and surrounded by Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, and Switzerland. Nearly half the country is covered in pristine forest, namely oak and beech at low altitudes with beech and fir at higher altitudes. The Danube valley lies in the east where most of Austria’s agriculture takes place. The Alps run along the southern and western portions of the country. In the low lying areas, orchids and poppies are common as well as scrub, deciduous wood, and heathland.

Animals living in the alpine areas include: mountains goats, chamois, and marmots. In the rest of Austria, deer, hare, foxes, badgers, and other small animals predominate. Austria is covered in lakes, and water is abundant; therefore, birds flourish, namely, the heron, spoon bill, and avocet. Austria also boasts Lake Neusiedl, central Europe's only steppe lake. Austria is also rich in natural resources such as iron ore, oil, timber, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, and hydropower.