Vienna is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine states of
Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city; with a population of about
1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), it is by far
the largest city in Austria as well as its cultural, economic and political
center. It is the 10th largest city by population in the European Union
and is identified having the 3rd highest quality of living. The United
Nations has offices there as has OPEC. The Vienna International Centre
near the Danube also hosts important international offices including
the International Atomic Energy Agency. Vienna lies in the very east
of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site
and an Economist Intelligence Unit study of 127 world cities ranked
it first ex aequo with Vancouver for the quality of life.
