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{{Infobox settlement
| name = Upper Austria
| official_name = Federal State of Upper Austria {{native name|de|Bundesland Oberösterreich}} {{native name|bar|Bundesland Obaöstareich}} {{native name|cs|Spolková země Horní Rakousy}}
| native_name = ''Oberösterreich''
| settlement_type = [[States of Austria|State]]
| image_flag = Flag of Upper Austria.svg
| flag_size = 120px
| image_shield = Oberoesterreich Wappen.svg
| shield_size = 60px
| anthem = Hoamatgsang {{center|[[File:Hoamatgsang.ogg]]}}
| image_map = Oberösterreich in Austria.svg
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{AUT}}
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = [[Linz]]
| leader_party = [[Austrian People's Party|ÖVP]]
| leader_title = [[List of governors of Upper Austria|Governor]]
| leader_name = [[Thomas Stelzer (politician)|Thomas Stelzer]]
| leader_title1 = Deputy Governors
| leader_name1 = {{ubl|[[Christine Haberlander]] (ÖVP)}} {{ubl|[[Manfred Haimbuchner]] (FPÖ)}}
| area_total_km2 = 11718.32
| population_total = 1522825
| population_as_of = 1 January 2023
| population_footnotes =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| demographics_type1 = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Basisdaten Bundesländer |url=http://wko.at/statistik/bundesland/basisdaten.pdf |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = Total
| demographics1_info1 = €69.994 billion (2021)
| demographics1_title2 = Per capita
| demographics1_info2 = €46,700 (2021)
| timezone1 = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1 = +1
| timezone1_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST = +2
| iso_code = AT-4
| blank_name_sec1 = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2022)
| blank_info_sec1 = 0.917<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref> {{color|#090|very high}} · [[List of Austrian states by Human Development Index|5th of 9]]
| blank1_name_sec1 =
| blank1_info_sec1 =
| blank_name_sec2 = [[First level NUTS of the European Union#Austria|NUTS Region]]
| blank_info_sec2 = [[NUTS of Austria|AT3]]
| blank1_name_sec2 = [[Federal Council of Austria|Votes in Bundesrat]]
| blank1_info_sec2 = 12 (of 62)
| website = {{Official|https://www.upperaustria.at}}
| footnotes =
| governing_body = [[Landtag of Upper Austria]]
}}

'''Upper Austria''' ({{langx|de|Oberösterreich}} {{IPA|de-AT|ˈoːbɐˌ(ʔ)øːstɐraɪç||De-at-Oberösterreich.ogg}}; {{langx|bar|Obaöstareich}}; {{langx|cs|Horní Rakousy}} {{IPA|cs|ˈɦorɲiː ˈrakousɪ|}}) is one of the nine [[States of Austria|states]] of [[Austria]]. Its capital is [[Linz]]. Upper Austria borders [[Germany]] and the [[Czech Republic]], as well as the other Austrian states of [[Lower Austria]], [[Styria]], and [[Salzburg (state)|Salzburg]]. With an area of {{convert|11,982|km2|abbr=on}} and 1.49 million inhabitants, Upper Austria is the fourth-largest Austrian state by land area and the third-largest by population.

==History==
===Origins===
For a long period of the Middle Ages, much of what would become Upper Austria constituted [[:de:Traungau|Traungau]], a region of the [[Duchy of Bavaria]]. In the mid-13th century, it became known as the Principality above the [[Enns River]] (''{{lang|de|Fürstentum ob der Enns}}''), this name being first recorded in 1264. (At the time, the term "Upper Austria" also included [[German Tyrol|Tyrol]] and various scattered [[Habsburg]] possessions in southern Germany.)

===Early modern era===
In 1490, the area was given a measure of independence within the [[Holy Roman Empire]], with the status of a [[principality]]. By 1550, there was a [[Protestantism|Protestant]] majority. In 1564, Upper Austria, together with Lower Austria and the [[Crown of Bohemia|Bohemian territories]], fell under Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]].

At the start of the 17th century, the [[Counter-Reformation]] was instituted under Emperor [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]] and his successor [[Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor|Matthias]]. After a military campaign, the area was under the control of [[Bavaria]] for some years in the early 17th century.

The [[Innviertel]] was ceded from the [[Electorate of Bavaria]] to Upper Austria in the [[Treaty of Teschen]] in 1779. During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Upper Austria was occupied by the [[Grande Armée|French army]] on more than one occasion.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Hallstatt - Zentrum .JPG|thumb|250px|[[Hallstatt]], a village in Upper Austria inside the [[Salzkammergut]]]]
In 1918 after the collapse of [[Austria-Hungary]], the name ''Oberösterreich'' was used to describe the province of the new Austria. After Austria was annexed by [[Adolf Hitler]], the [[Nazism|Nazi dictator]], who had been born in the Upper Austrian town of [[Braunau am Inn]] and raised in Upper Austria, Upper Austria became [[Reichsgau Oberdonau]], although this also included the southern part of the Sudetenland, annexed from Czechoslovakia, and a small part of Styria. In 1945, Upper Austria was [[Allied-occupied_Austria#Occupation_zones|partitioned]] between the American zone to the south and the Soviet zone to the north.

== Industry ==
Today Upper Austria is [[Austria]]'s leading industrial region. As of 2009, it accounted for approximately a quarter of the country's exports.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tmg.at/622_ENG_HTML.php |title=Upper Austria in figures |author=Upper Austria Technology and Marketing Company |access-date=2014-05-03 |archive-date=2014-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503084200/http://www.tmg.at/622_ENG_HTML.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Lakes ==
[[File:Frankenburg_am_Hausruck.jpg|thumb|right|Frankenburg am Hausruck]]
[[File:Gosausee_and_Dachstein_Upper_Austria_Austro-Hungary.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gosauseen]] and [[Dachstein]]]]
* [[Ausee]]
* [[Gosauseen]]
* [[Höllerersee]]
* [[Nussensee]]
* [[Oedter See]]
* [[Pichlinger See]]
* [[Puckinger See]]
* [[Rosenhofer Teiche]]

==Demographics==
As of January 1, 2021, 1,495,608 people resided in the state, of which 107,318 (7.17 percent) were [[European Union]]/[[European Economic Area]]/[[Switzerland]]/[[UK]] citizens and 96,623 (6.46 percent) were third-country nationals.<ref>Statistik Austria</ref>

The majority of Upper Austrians are [[Christians|Christian]]. In 2001, 79.4 percent of the people still belonged to the [[Roman Catholic church]], about 4.4% were members of the [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] [[Lutheran Church]], 4.0 percent were [[Muslims]], and 8.8 percent were of no confession.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Glaube & Religion |url=https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/files/publikationen/praes_religion.pdf}}</ref> By the end of 2020, the proportion of Catholics had fallen to 62 percent, while the corresponding proportion of Protestants was about 3.1 percent of the Upper Austrian population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kirchliche Statistik: Eintritte, Austritte, Pastoraldaten |url=https://www.katholisch.at/statistik |access-date=2022-01-26| publisher=www.katholisch.at |language=de}}</ref>

In the last census in 2021, 73.4% of people were Christians, overwhelmingly Catholic, around 7.4% practiced Islam and 17.3% practiced no faith. By the end of 2022, the proportion of Catholics has decreased to 58.9%, and around 3% of the population were members of Austria’s national [[Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria|Lutheran]] church. At the end of 2023, a good 800,000 of the 1.53 million inhabitants were Catholic and 43,847 or almost 3% were Protestant.

=== Population development ===
After [[World War II]], Upper Austria received a million [[refugee]]s. The [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and [[United States of America|American]] armies occupied Upper Austria as hundreds of thousands of people fled from both sides of the land front.<ref>{{cite book | editor1=Ronald W. Zweig| editor2=Thomas Albrich |title=Escape Through Austria: Jewish Refugees and the Austrian Route to Palestine |publisher= Frank Cass |year=2002 |page=15 |isbn=9780714652139 }}</ref>{{Historical populations|1869|736,856|1880|760,091|1890|786,496|1900|810,854|1910|853,595|1923|876,698|1934|902,965|1939|927,583|1951|1,108,720|1961|1,131,623|1971|1,229,972|1981|1,269,540|1991|1,333,480|2001|1,376,797|2011|1,413,762|2021|1,504,237|align=right|cols=1|source=Censuses<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic Censuses - STATISTICS AUSTRIA|url=https://www.statistik.at/en/statistics/population-and-society/population/population-stock/historic-censuses|publisher=Statistics Austria}}</ref>}}

<timeline>
Colors=
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7)
id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30
PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
AlignBars = late
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:25 start:0
BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo

PlotData=
color:skyblue width:22 shift:(-60,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till
bar:1527 from:0 till:335 text:335,000
bar:1600 from:0 till:380 text:380,000
bar:1700 from:0 till:450 text:450,000
bar:1754 from:0 till:526 text:526,000
bar:1780 from:0 till:601 text:601,000
bar:1790 from:0 till:623 text:623,000
bar:1800 from:0 till:626 text:626,000
bar:1810 from:0 till:630 text:630,000
bar:1821 from:0 till:652 text:651,911
bar:1830 from:0 till:682 text:682,140
bar:1840 from:0 till:699 text:699,324
bar:1850 from:0 till:706 text:706,316
bar:1857 from:0 till:707 text:707,450
bar:1869 from:0 till:737 text:736,856
bar:1880 from:0 till:760 text:760,091
bar:1890 from:0 till:786 text:786,496
bar:1900 from:0 till:811 text:810,854
bar:1910 from:0 till:854 text:853,595
bar:1923 from:0 till:877 text:876,698
bar:1934 from:0 till:903 text:902,965
bar:1939 from:0 till:928 text:927,583
bar:1951 from:0 till:1109 text:1,108,720
bar:1961 from:0 till:1132 text:1,131,623
bar:1971 from:0 till:1230 text:1,229,972
bar:1981 from:0 till:1270 text:1,269,545
bar:1991 from:0 till:1333 text:1,333,480
bar:2001 from:0 till:1377 text:1,376,797
bar:2011 from:0 till:1413 text:1,412,640
bar:2021 from:0 till:1496 text:1,495,608

TextData=
fontsize:M pos:(35,20)
text:"Source: Statistik Austria"

</timeline>

== Economy ==
The [[Gross domestic product]] (GDP) of the state was 65.9 billion € in 2018, accounting for 17.1% of the Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 39,500 € or 131% of the EU27 average in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10474907/1-05032020-AP-EN.pdf/81807e19-e4c8-2e53-c98a-933f5bf30f58|title=Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018|website=Eurostat}}</ref>
==Transport==
[[Linz Airport]] is only passenger airport in the state which provide direct routes to some European destinations. However, other airports such as [[Munich Airport]], [[Salzburg Airport]] and [[Vienna International Airport|Vienna Airport]] are also used by air travellers from the state.

==Politics==
The Upper Austrian state constitution defines Upper Austria as an independent state of the democratic Republic of Austria. In its constitution, Upper Austria also declares its support for a [[united Europe]] that is committed to democratic, constitutional, social and federal principles as well as the principle of subsidiarity, preserves the autonomy of the regions and ensures their participation in European decision-making. In its regional constitution, Upper Austria defines its position in Europe as an independent, future-oriented and self-confident region that participates in the further development of a united Europe.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/files/publikationen/Verf_schriftenreihe_Nr1.pdf#page=8 | title=Oö. Landes-Verfassungsgesetz (Oö. L-VG) - Artikel 1a | language=de | page=8 | access-date=2024-01-25}}</ref>

Like Styria, Upper Austria is a swing state that usually has a signal character in nationwide elections. The conservative [[Austrian People's Party]] dominates in rural areas, the [[Social Democratic Party of Austria]] has its strongholds in the cities of [[Linz]], [[Wels]] and [[Steyr]] or in the [[Attnang-Puchheim station|Attnang-Puchheim railroad junction]], but the [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] [[Freedom Party of Austria]] has also traditionally had a strong presence, for example in the [[Innviertel]].

==Administrative divisions==
[[File:Upper Austria Districts.png|middle|400px|OberösterreichLänd Bezirke]]

Administratively, the state is divided into 15 districts (''[[Bezirk]]e''), three [[Statutarstadt|Statutarstädte]] and 438 municipalities.

===Statutory cities===
#[[Linz]]
#[[Steyr]]
#[[Wels]]
[[File:Neuer Dom Linz (DFdB).JPG|300px|thumb|[[Linz]], [[New Cathedral, Linz|New Cathedral]]]]

===Districts===
#<li value="4">[[Braunau District|Braunau]]</li>
#[[Eferding (district)|Eferding]]
#[[Freistadt (district)|Freistadt]]
#[[Gmunden (district)|Gmunden]]
#[[Grieskirchen (district)|Grieskirchen]]
#[[Kirchdorf District|Kirchdorf]]
#[[Linz-Land]]
#[[Perg (district)|Perg]]
#[[Ried District|Ried]]
#[[Rohrbach (district)|Rohrbach]]
#[[Schärding (district)|Schärding]]
#[[Steyr-Land]]
#[[Urfahr-Umgebung]]
#[[Vöcklabruck (district)|Vöcklabruck]]
#[[Wels-Land]]

====Historical regions====
Historically, Upper Austria was traditionally divided into four regions: [[Hausruckviertel]], [[Innviertel]], [[Mühlviertel]], and [[Traunviertel]].

==See also==
* [[Austro-Bavarian language]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.upperaustria.at Upper Austria]
* [https://www.upperaustria.com/en/ Tourism]

{{Wikisource1911Enc|Austria, Upper}}
{{wikivoyage|Upper Austria}}

{{States of Austria}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Upper Austria| ]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:States of Austria]]

Upper Austria - Revision history

imported>Rxfdies at 10:38, 5 October 2025