Austria

Country Information:

The  Republic of Austria, founded in 1804! The capital is Vienna. About 8.5 million people live here and the primary languages are German, Slovenian, Hungarian, and Austrian German. In Austria there is religious freedom, but many Austrians are Roman Catholic followed by smaller Protestant, Islam, and Christian Orthodox followers. The top exports are cars, vehicle parts, machinery, packaged medicines, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, metal goods, iron, steel, and textiles. 

Jim’s Perspectives:

I have been to Austria and Vienna several times, once with my father while on a GATE 1 tour of Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary in 1997, and with my MBA classmates. We visited the Hofburg Palace, Schonbrunn Palace, and St. Stephens Cathedral. Also, went to Austria with my son and stayed right in the middle of downtown!

Austria is the country to visit to see biodiverse life; it is one of the most forested countries in Europe with almost half of the country covered in forest lands. Austria is also a leading country in environmental sustainability.

An amazing place to visit in Austria is Eisriesenwelt in Salzburg, a German word meaning “World of the Ice Giants.” Eisriesenwelt is the largest ice cave in the world!

An interesting historical fact about Austria is that, after WWII, the Austrian Parliament declared Austria to be a permanently neutral country. The country also chose to not use any nuclear energy and is trying to gain support for non-nuclear energy research. Also interesting is that Austria is famous for its musicians; Mozart, So were Haydn, Schubert, and Strauss were all Austrian.

 

 

Portugal

Beautiful castle outside of Sintra Jim and Kenan in Lisbon On the coast outside of Sintra Visited Portugal with my son Kenan in 2109, although I had briefly crossed the Spanish/Portugese border briefly in 1989. In Portugal, the capital city is Lisbon. There are...

Tonga

Country Information:  In the Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga), an archipelago of over 170 islands with 36 of them inhabited. It’s capital is Nukuʻalofa and its main languages are Tongan and English. About 104,000 people live here (2011). The main religion is the Free Wesleyan...

Mauritania

Country Information: The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott and the country’s population is about 5 million. The government declares the entire population is Muslim. The main language is Arabic followed by French.  Away from city life, travelers can brave the Sahara...