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AUSTRIA, LOWER (Ger. Niederosterreich...

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 2 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AUSTRIA, See also:LOWER (Ger. Niederosterreich or Osterreich unter der See also:Enns, " Austria below the See also:river Enns ") , an archduchy and crownland of Austria, bounded E. by See also:Hungary, N. by Bohemia and See also:Moravia, W. by Bohemia and Upper Austria, and S. by See also:Styria. It has an See also:area of 7654 sq. m. and is divided into two parts by the See also:Danube, which enters at its most See also:westerly point, and leaves it at its eastern extremity, near See also:Pressburg. See also:North of this See also:line is the See also:low hilly See also:country, known as the Waldviertel, which lies at the See also:foot and forms the continuation of the Bohemian and Moravian See also:plateau. Towards the W. it attains in the Weinsberger Wald, of which the highest point is the Peilstein, an See also:altitude of 3478 ft., and descends towards the valley of the Danube through the Gfohler Wald (2368 ft.) and the Manhartsgebirge (1758 ft.). Its most See also:south-easterly offshoots are formed by the Bisamberg (I18o ft.), near See also:Vienna, just opposite the Kahlenberg. The See also:southern See also:division of the See also:province is, in the See also:main, mountainous and hilly, and is occupied by the Lower See also:Austrian See also:Alps and their offshoots. The See also:principal See also:groups are: the Voralpe (5802 ft.), the Durrenstein (6156 ft.), the Otscher (62o5 ft.), the Raxalpe (6589 ft:) and the See also:Schneeberg (68o6 ft.), which is the highest See also:summit in the whole province. To the E. of the famous See also:ridge of Semmering are the groups of the Wechsel (5700 ft.) and the Leithagebirge (1674 ft.). The offshoots of the Alpine See also:group are formed by the 'Wiener Wald, which attains an altitude of 2929 ft. in the Schopfl and ends N.W. of Vienna in the Kahlenberg (1404 ft.) and Leopoldsberg (138o ft.). Lower Austria belongs to the See also:watershed of the Danube, which with the exception of the Lainsitz, which is a tributary of the Moldau, receives all the other See also:rivers of the province. Its principal affluents on the right are: the Enns, Ybbs, Erlauf, Pielach, Traisen, Wien, See also:Schwechat, Fischa and Leitha; on the See also:left the Isper, See also:Krems, Kamp, Gollersau and the See also:March.

Besides the Danube, only the Enns and the March are navigable rivers. Amongst the small Alpine lakes, the Erlaufsee and the Lunzer See are See also:

worth mentioning. Of its See also:mineral springs, the best known are the See also:sulphur springs of See also:Baden, the See also:iodine springs of See also:Deutsch-See also:Altenburg, the See also:iron springs of Pyrawarth, and the thermal springs of VBslau. In See also:general the See also:climate, which varies with the configuration of the See also:surface, is moderate and healthy, although subject to rapid changes of temperature. Although 43.4 % of the See also:total area is arable See also:land, the See also:soil is only of moderate fertility and does not satisfy the wants of this thickly-populated province. See also:Woods occupy 34.2%, gardens and meadows 13•I% and pastures 3.2%. Vineyards occupy 2% of the total area and produce a See also:good See also:wine, specially those on the sunny slopes of the Wiener Wald. See also:Cattle-rearing is not well See also:developed, but See also:game and See also:fish are plentiful. See also:Mining is only of slight importance, small quantities of See also:coal and iron-ore being extracted in the Alpine foothill region; See also:graphite is found near Muhldorf. From an See also:industrial point of view, Lower Austria stands, together with Bohemia and Moravia, in the front See also:rank amongst the Austrian provinces. The centre of its See also:great industrial activity is the See also:capital, Vienna (q.v.); but in the region of the Wiener Wald up to the Semmering, owing to its many See also:waters, which can be transformed into See also:motive See also:power, many factories are spread. The principal See also:industries are, the metallurgic and textile industries in all their branches, milling, See also:brewing and chemicals; See also:paper, See also:leather and See also:silk; See also:cloth, objets de luxe and millinery; See also:physical and musical See also:instruments; See also:sugar, See also:tobacco factories and See also:food-stuffs.

The very extensive See also:

commerce of the province has also its centre in Vienna. The See also:population of Lower Austria in 1900 was 3,100,493, which corresponds to 405 inhabitants per sq.. m. It is, therefore, the most densely populated province of Austria. According to the See also:language in See also:common use, 95 % of the population IT was See also:German, 4.66 %was See also:Czech, and the See also:remainder was composed of Poles,'lovaks, Ruthenians, Croatians and Italians. According to See also:religion 92'47 % of the inhabitants were See also:Roman Catholics; 5'07% were See also:Jews; 2.11% were Protestants and the remainder belonged to the See also:Greek See also:church. In the See also:matter of See also:education, Lower Austria is one of the most advanced provinces of Austria, and 99.8% of the See also:children of school-going See also:age attended school regularly in 1900. The See also:local See also:diet is composed of 78 members, of which the See also:archbishop of Vienna, the See also:bishop of St Polten and the See also:rector of the Vienna University are members ex officio. Lower Austria sends 64 member.,- to the Imperial Reichsrat at Vienna. For administrative purposes, the province is divided into 22 districts and three towns with autonomous municipalities: Vienna (1,662,269), the capital (since 1905 including Floridsdorf, 36,599), Wiener-See also:Neustadt (28,438) and Waidhofen on the Ybbs (4447)• Other principal towns are: Baden(12,447), Bruck on the Leitha (5134), Schwechat (8241), See also:Korneuburg (8298), Stokerau (10,213), Krems (12,657), See also:Modling (15,304), See also:Reichenau (7457), See also:Neunkirchen (10,831), St Polten (14,510) and See also:Klosterneuburg (11,595), The See also:original archduchy, which included Upper Austria, is the See also:nucleus of the Austrian See also:empire, and the See also:oldest See also:possession of the See also:house of See also:Habsburg in its See also:present dominions. See F. Umlauft, Das Erzherzogtum Osterreich unter der Enns, vol. i. of the collection See also:Die See also:Lander Osterreich- Ungarns in Wort and Bild (Vienna, 1881–1889, 15 VON.); Die osterreichisch-ungsrische Monarchie in Wort and Bild, vol. 4 (Vienna,1886–1902, 24 vols.);.

M. Vansca, Gesch. Rieder- u. Ober-Osterreitrhs (in See also:

Heeren's Staatengesch., G6tha,' 1905).

End of Article: AUSTRIA, LOWER (Ger. Niederosterreich or Osterreich unter der Enns, " Austria below the river Enns ")

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