Austrians

For an analysis on the nationality or Austrian citizenship, see Austrian nationality law.

Austrians
German: Österreicher
Total population
c. 8–8.5 million
Regions with significant populations
 Austria 7,427,759[a]
 United States684,184[2]
 Germany345,620[3]
 Canada197,990[4]
  Switzerland67,000[5]
 Australia45,530[6]
 United Kingdom39,600[5]
 France20,000[7]
 Israel18,200[5]
 Spain13,000[5]
 Brazil12,500[5]
 Argentina10,500[5]
Other countries (1,000–10,000)
 Netherlands9,900[5]
 Italy8,500[5]
 Turkey5,500[5]
 Czech Republic5,000[5]
 Hungary5,000[5]
 Sweden4,500[5]
 Belgium4,400[5]
 Turkey3,700[5]
 Egypt3,200[5]
 Mexico3,200[5]
 Romania3,200[5]
 Norway3,100[5]
 Serbia3,000[5]
 United Arab Emirates3,000[5]
 Liechtenstein2,500[5]
 Poland2,500[5]
 Portugal1,700[5]
 Colombia1,700[5]
 Chile1,600[5]
 Denmark1,600[5]
 Thailand1,600[5]
 China1,500[5]
 Croatia1,500[5]
 New Zealand1,500[5]
 Philippines1,400[5]
 Dominican Republic1,100[5]
 Luxembourg1,000[5]
 South Korea1,000[5]
Languages
German
(Austro-Bavarian, Alemannic)
Religion
Historically:[8]
primarily Roman Catholic
minority Lutheran
Nowadays:[9][10]
Christian (68%)
Irreligious or other (24%)

Austrians (German: Österreicher, pronounced [ˈøːstɐraɪçɐ] ⓘ) are the citizens and nationals of Austria. The English term Austrians was applied to the population of Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, it referred to the citizens of the Empire of Austria (1804–1867), and from 1867 until 1918 to the citizens of Cisleithania. In the closest sense, the term Austria originally referred to the historical March of Austria, corresponding roughly to the Vienna Basin in what is today Lower Austria.

Historically, Austrians were regarded as Germans and viewed themselves as such.[11][12][13] The Austrian lands (including Bohemia) were part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 which resulted in Prussia expelling the Austrian Empire from the Confederation.[12] Thus, when Germany was founded as a nation-state in 1871, Austria was not a part of it.[12] In 1867, Austria was reformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I, Austria was reduced to a rump state and adopted and briefly used the name the Republic of German-Austria (German: Republik Deutschösterreich) in an attempt for union with Germany, but was forbidden due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919). The First Austrian Republic was founded in 1919. Nazi Germany annexed Austria with the Anschluss in 1938.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II in Europe, both the political ideology of pan-Germanism and the union with Germany have become associated with Nazism, resulting in Austrians developing their own separate and distinct national identity. Today, the vast majority of Austrians do not identify as German.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ "Bevölkerung 2018 nach detaillierter Staatsangehörigkeit, Geschlecht und Bundesland" (in German). Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Results   Archived February 12, 2020, at archive.today American Fact Finder (US Census Bureau)
  3. ^ "Zensusdatenbank - Ergebnisse des Zensus 2011". Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  4. ^ Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey (197,990 reported Austrian origin)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "Austrians abroad". Statistik Austria.
  6. ^ Monash University ARROW Repository | People and Place Archived April 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Relations bilatérales entre l'Autriche et la France". France Diplomatie : Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Except a brief period in the 16th century, when much of what is now eastern Austria turned Lutheran.
  9. ^ "Kirchenaustritte gingen 2012 um elf Prozent zurück" [Leaving church increased by eleven percent in 2012]. derStandard.at (in German). January 8, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013.
  10. ^ WZ-Recherche 2016. Published in article: "Staat und Religion". Wiener Zeitung, January 2016.
  11. ^ Robert H. Keyserlingk (July 1, 1990). Austria in World War II: An Anglo-American Dilemma. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. pp. 138–. ISBN 978-0-7735-0800-2.
  12. ^ a b c Thaler 2001, pp. 72–.
  13. ^ Wodak, Ruth (2009). The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 56–. ISBN 978-0-7486-3734-8.
  14. ^ "Österreicher fühlen sich heute als Nation". Der Standard. March 12, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  15. ^ Thaler 2001, pp. 166–175.
  16. ^ Bischof & Pelinka 1997, pp. 32–63.


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