Austria, or the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in the south part of Central Europe. Austria consists of nine federated states, including Vienna, which is Austria’s capital and largest city. Countries that border Austria includes Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. German is the official language in Austria, which spans across 32,386 square miles with a population of nearly 9 million people. Austria established its own empire in the 19th century, which came to lead the German Confederation until it eventually became independent of other German States.