Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich;
Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine
states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the
capital of Lower Austria has been
Sankt Pölten, replacing
Vienna which became a separate state in 1921. With a land area of and a population of 1.685 million people, Lower Austria is the second most populous federal state (after Vienna). Other large cities are
Amstetten,
Krems an der Donau and
Wiener Neustadt.
Geography
With a land area of situated east of
Upper Austria, Lower Austria is the country's largest state. Lower Austria derives its name from its downriver location on the
Enns River which flows from the west to the east. Lower Austria has an international border, long, with the
Czech Republic (
South Bohemia and
South Moravia Regions) and
Slovakia (
Bratislava and
Trnava Regions). The state has the second longest external border of all Austrian states.
It also borders the other Austrian states of
Upper Austria,
Styria and
Burgenland as well as surrounding
Vienna.
Lower Austria is divided into four regions, known as ''Viertel'' (quarters):
* ''
Weinviertel'' or Tertiary Lowland (below the
Manhartsberg)
* ''
Waldviertel'' or Bohemian Plateau (above the Manhartsberg)
* ''
Mostviertel'' (above the
Vienna Woods)
* ''
Industrieviertel'' (below the Vienna Woods).
These regions have different geographical structures. Whilst the ''Mostviertel'' is dominated by the foothills of the
Limestone Alps with mountains up to high, most of the ''Waldviertel'' is a
granite plateau. The hilly ''Weinviertel'' lies to the northeast, descends to the plains of
Marchfeld in the east of the state, and is separated by the Danube from the
Vienna Basin to the south, which in turn is separated from the Vienna Woods by a line of thermal springs (the ''Thermenlinie'') running north to south.
Mountains
*
Schneeberg (Klosterwappen; 2,076 m)
*
Rax (Scheibwaldhöhe; 1,943 m; highest summit: Heukuppe; 2,007 m –
Styria)
*
Ötscher (1,893 m)
*
Dürrenstein (1,878 m)
*
Schneealpe (Ameisbühel; 1,828 m; highest summit: Windberg; 1,903 m –
Styria)
*
Hochkar (1,808 m)
*
Gamsstein (1,774 m)
*
Stumpfmauer (1,770 m)
* Göller (1,766 m)
*
Hochwechsel (1,743 m)
*
Gippel (1,669 m)
* Großer Sonnleitstein (1,639 m)
*
Großer Zellerhut (1,639 m)
*
Gemeindealpe (1,626 m)
* Scheiblingstein (1,622 m) (not to be confused with
Scheiblingstein (2,197 m), which is in
Styria)
* Drahtekogel (1,565 m)
*
Sonnwendstein (1,523 m)
* Obersberg (1,467 m)
*
Königsberg (1,452 m)
*
Großer Sulzberg (1,400 m)
*
Reisalpe (1,399 m)
*
Gahns (1,380 m)
*
Tirolerkogel (1,377 m)
*
Türnitzer Höger (1,372 m)
*
Unterberg (1,342 m)
*
Traisenberg (1,230 m)
*
Dürre Wand (1,222 m)
* Hohenstein (1,195 m)
*
Eisenstein (1,185 m)
*
Hohe Wand (1,132 m)
*
Großer Peilstein (1,061 m)
*
Weinsberg (1,041 m)
*
Hocheck (1,036 m)
*
Nebelstein (1,017 m)
*
Eibl (1,007 m)
*
Hohe Mandling (967 m)
*
Jauerling (961 m)
*
Hoher Lindkogel also named Eisernes Tor (834m)
*
Anninger (675 m)
*
Buschberg (491 m)
Other mountains in Lower Austria may be found at
:Category:Mountains of Lower Austria.
Alpine passes
*
Semmering (985 m)
*
Wechsel (980 m)
The state border with Styria runs over both passes.
Rivers
thumb|March
Almost all of Lower Austria is drained by the Danube. The only river that flows into the North Sea (via the
Moldau and the
Elbe) is the
Lainsitz in northern ''Waldviertel'', the
Erlauf river.
The most important rivers north of the Danube (on its left bank) are the
Ysper,
Kamp,
Krems,
Lainsitz,
March and
Thaya. South of the Danube (on its right bank) are the
Enns,
Ybbs,
Erlauf,
Melk,
Pielach,
Traisen,
Schwechat,
Fischa,
Schwarza,
Triesting,
Pitten and the
Leitha.
Lakes
*
Ottenstein Reservoir (4.3 km)
*
Lunzer See (0.69 km)
*
Erlaufsee (0.56 km, of which about half lies in Lower Austria)
*
Erlauf Reservoir
*
Wienerwaldsee (0.32 km)
Caves
Lower Austria is rich in natural
caves; in all 4,082 have been recorded. Most of the caves have formed in limestone and dolomite rocks and are therefore called
karst caves. Cavities also form in the marble of the Central Alps and the Bohemian Massif. Among the largest caves in Lower Austria are:
*
Ötscherhöhlensystem (
Ötscher): 27,003 m long; union of the
Taubenloch and
Geldloch
*
Pfannloch (
Ötscher): 5,287 m long
*
Lechnerweidhöhle (
Dürrenstein): 5,252 m long
*
Trockenes Loch (
Schwarzenbach an der Pielach): 4,510 m long
*
Hermannshöhle (
Kirchberg am Wechsel): 4,430 m long
*
Eisensteinhöhle (
Bad Fischau): 2,341 m long
The last two are open as
show caves, along with the Allander stalactite cave, the
Unicorn Cave, the
Hochkarschacht, the
Nixhöhle and the
Ötschertropfsteinhöhle.
Land use
History
The history of Lower Austria is very similar to the
history of Austria. Many castles are located in Lower Austria.
Klosterneuburg Abbey, located here, is one of the oldest abbeys in Austria. Before
World War II, Lower Austria had the largest number of
Jews in Austria.
The names ''Lower Austria'' and ''
Upper Austria'' are derived from the earlier names ''Austria below the Enns'' and ''Austria above the Enns'', references to the
river Enns. Going down from its source on the northern edge of the
Central Eastern Alps, the river crosses Upper Austria, then on its lower reaches forms the boundary between Upper Austria and Lower Austria.
Economy
The
gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 61.0 billion € in 2018, accounting for 15.8% of Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 32,300 €, or 107% of the EU27 average in the same year. Lower Austria is the state with the second-lowest GDP per capita in Austria.
Population
Administrative divisions

Lower Austria is divided into four regions: ''
Waldviertel'', ''
Mostviertel'', ''
Industrieviertel'', and ''
Weinviertel''. The
Wachau valley, situated between
Melk and
Krems in the
Mostviertel region, is famous for its landscape, culture, and
wine.
Administratively, the state is divided into 20 districts (''
Bezirke''), and four independent towns (''
Statutarstädte''). In total, there are 573 municipalities within Lower Austria.
thumb|right|350px|Map of Lower Austria showing districts and the four quarters (_in_green,_[[Weinviertel">Waldviertel_in_green,_[[Weinviertel_in_red,_[[Mostviertel.html" style="text-decoration: none;"class="mw-redirect" title="Weinviertel.html" style="text-decoration: none;"class="mw-redirect" title="Waldviertel in green, [[Weinviertel">Waldviertel in green, [[Weinviertel in red, [[Mostviertel">Weinviertel.html" style="text-decoration: none;"class="mw-redirect" title="Waldviertel in green, [[Weinviertel">Waldviertel in green, [[Weinviertel in red, [[Mostviertel in yellow, and [[Industrieviertel]] in blue)]]
Independent towns
* [[Krems an der Donau]]
* [[Sankt Pölten]]
* [[Waidhofen an der Ybbs]]
* [[Wiener Neustadt]]
Districts
*
Amstetten
*
Baden
*
Bruck an der Leitha
*
Gänserndorf
*
Gmünd
*
Hollabrunn
*
Horn
*
Korneuburg
*
Krems-Land
*
Lilienfeld
*
Melk
*
Mistelbach
*
Mödling
*
Neunkirchen
*
Sankt Pölten-Land
*
Scheibbs
*
Tulln an der Donau
*
Waidhofen an der Thaya
*
Wiener Neustadt-Land
*
Zwettl
References
External links
Country of Lower Austria - official webpageLower Austria - official visitor information webpagePhotoGlobe- georeferenced photos of Lower Austria
{{Authority control
Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union
Category:States of Austria
Category:Wine regions of Austria
Category:Cisleithania