AUSTRIA, EMPIRE OF, or AusTito-HuxonnTAN MONARCHY. The Austrian domin ions form a compact territory, with a circumference of about 5350 miles. The body of the empire lies in the interior of Europe, though it has about 500 m. of sea-coast on the Adriatic. A. borders on Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria, Prussia, Russia, Rouma nia, Servia, Turkey, and Montenegro. With the sanction of the Berlin congress of 1878, the small territory of Spizza, on the Montenegrin frontier and formerly Turkish, has been incorporated with Dalmatia; the Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though occupied and also administered by Austria, cannot of course be regarded as part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The following table shows the area and population of the empire at the time of the census: A later estimate of the total area makes it just 240,000 sq. miles. In 1876, the pop. was calculated to have increased to 37,350,000.
This population comprises the military establishment, which, excluding the land wehr, was, at the end of 1876, on a peace footing, 271,757 men; and 777,496 on a war footing. The naval forces of Austria consisted, in April, 1876, of .47 steamers and 10 sailing vessels.
The first eleven of these divisions—except a part of Illyria—and also part of Galicia, making an extent of 75,180 sq.m., with a pop. of above 12,000,000, formerly belonged to the German Confederation.
Sulfate.—Three fourths of A. is mountainous or hilly, being traversed by three great mountain chains—the Alps, Carpathians, and Sudetes (q.v.), whose chief ridges are of primitive rock. The Rhaetian and boric Alps stretch from Switzerland to the Danube, and contain the highest points of the Austrian territories, the Ortler Spitze rising to 12,719 English feet. Theirheightdeclinesgraduallytowardsthee.,wheretheLeithahills (3000 ft.), overlooking the plain of Vienna, form the transition to the Carpathians. This chain rises on the left bank of the Danube, near Presburg, and sweeping in a curve,first e., and then southward through Transylvania, again meets the Danube. Thehighest point is Butschetje, in Transylvania,where a height of 9528 ft. is reached. The central part, or
Tatra mountains, are vast granitic masses, resembling the Alps in characters the highest of these is the Lomnitz, in the longitude of Cracow, 8133 feet. The Alps are accompanied, n and s., by parallel ranges of calcareous mountains, covering whole provinces with their nunitleations. The Carpathians are lapped on their northern side by sandstone for mations: mountains of the same character also occupy Transylvania. the n.w. bend of the Carpathians, the Sudetes run through the n.e. of Moravia and Bohemia, in which last the range is known as the Riesengebirge, or Giant mountains. The boundary between Bohemia and Prussian Silesia passes over the Schneekoppe, the highest peak of these mountains, which is 5275 ft. in height. Continuous with this range, and beginning on the left bank of the Elbe, are the Erzgebirge, or Ore mountains, on the confines of Saxony; and veering round to nearly ae., the range is further pro longed in the Bohemian-forest mountains, between Bohemia and Bavaria.—The chief plains of the Austrian empire afe the great plains of Hungary (the smaller of these is in the w., between the offsets of the Alps and Carpathians, and is about 4200 sq.m. in extent; the other, which'is in the e., and traversed by the Danube and the Theiss, has an area of 21,000 sq.m.), and the plain of Galicia.
From the gulf of Triest to the s. point of Dalmatia, A. has a sea-line of about 1000 in., not counting the coasts of the numerous islands, the largest of which is Veglia, 23 m. by12. The chief lakes are the Platten see (about 400 sq.m.), and the Neusiedler see (about 100 m.), both in Hungary. The first is navigable by steamers, and both are rich in,lish, and hate fruitful vineyards around them. The Alps and Carpathians inclose numerous mountain lakes. The Long lake in the Tatra mountains lies at an elevation of 6000 feet. The most remarkable of is the Zirknitz lake (q.v.) in Hlyria. There are extensive swamps or morasses in Hungary. One connected with the 1Neusiedler see covers some 80 sq. miles. A good deal has been done in draining morasses.