Vorarlberg
| |
| Bundesland | AT-8 (ISO) |
| Capital | Bregenz |
| Governor | Herbert Sausgruber (ÖVP) |
| Area - Total | Ranked 8th 2,601 km² |
| Population - Total (2001) - Density | Ranked 8th 372,791 143/km² |
 The state of Vorarlberg on the map of Austria | |
Vorarlberg is the westernost federal state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area (Vienna is the smallest), it borders three countries:
- Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg)
- Switzerland (Graubünden and St. Gallen)
- Liechtenstein,
as well as the Austrian state of Tyrol.
Due to their isolated location from the rest of Austria, the people in Vorarlberg speak a very distinct dialect, which most other Austrians have a hard time understanding. The dialect is in some ways similar to those Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg and the Alsace region in France. The dialects in the rest of Austria form part of the Bavarian-Austrian language group. Generally this seems to be one dialect, but in fact every little town in Voralberg has its own "secret" language of sub-dialect variations. There are approximately 352,000 inhabitants in the 96 official communities of Vorarlberg.
The capital city of Vorarlberg is
- Bregenz, which also is one of the five municipalities.
The other four are:
Vorarlberg is split up into four large districts: Bregenz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch and Bludenz. These districts have their codes on car license plates: B, DO, FK and BZ.
The main rivers in Vorarlberg are the Ill (running through the Montafon and Walgau valleys into the Rhine), the Rhine (forming the border to Switzerland), the Bregenzer Ach and the Dornbirner Ach. Important lakes, other than the Lake of Constance are the Lake Lüner, Lake Silvretta, the Lake Vermunt, the Lake Spuller, the Kops Basin and the Lake Formarin. The first four were artificially created for the production of hydroelectric energy (Lake Lüner was, even before the dam for the power plant was built, the largest mountain lake in the Alps). Most of this hydroelectric power is exported to Germany at peak times. At night the surplus (and therefore cheap) energy from the caloric power plants in Germany is used to pump the water back into some of the lakes.
Vorarlberg is a famous skiing region and there are some mountain ranges of larger interest, such as the Silvretta, the Rätikon, the Verwall and the Arlberg. The highest mountain is Piz Buin, with its giant rocky peak 3,312 meters above sea level.
There are flourishing industries in the Rhine Valley where clothing, electronics, machinery, packing material and other industrial goods are produced, as well as a thriving agricultural economy in the Bregenzerwald. This area is known for its soft tourism and dairy products in form of the "Bregenzerwälder Cheese Route". Tourism is one of the main sectors of the Vorarlberg economy. The largest tourist attractions include the Alps and their numerous skiing regions, the largest (and most famous) of which are:
- the Bregenzerwald,
- the Arlberg region (including the chic ski resorts Lech and Zürs),
- the Brandnertal, and
- the Montafon.
Among the famous skiers from these regions are Anita Wachter, Egon Zimmermann, Gerhard Nenning, Mario Reiter, Toni Innauer and Hannes Schneider.
External link
- Vorarlberg homepage (http://www.vorarlberg.at/)
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Categories: States of Austria