ABSTRACT
Austria is a federal republic. The country comprises 83,871 km2 with a total of 8.28 million residents (2006).1 The capital is Vienna (Wien) with approximately 1.65 million residents. The federal level of the Parliament consists of two chambers: the National Council (the lower house) and the Federal Council (the upper house), which represents the states. The head of the Federal Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is also the Chairman of the Federal Cabinet, which consists of 12 ministers. The National Council is elected every four years.
