'''Austria''' (German: Österreich), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central [[Europe]]. It is composed of nine federated states (Bundesländer), one of which is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna Vienna], Austria's capital and its largest city. It is bordered by [[Country:Germany|Germany]] to the northwest, the [[Country:Czech Republic|Czech Republic]] to the north, [[Country:Slovakia|Slovakia]] to the northeast, [[Country:Hungary|Hungary]] to the east, [[Country:Slovenia|Slovenia]] and [[Country:Italy|Italy]] to the south, and [[Switzerland]] and [[Country:Liechtenstein|Liechtenstein]] to the west. Austria occupies an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 9 million people. While German is the country's official language, many Austrians communicate informally in a variety of Bavarian dialects.