Auslandsösterreicher#

Auslandsoesterreicher (Austrians residing abroad): Approximately 400,000 Austrian citizens permanently reside outside of Austria, plus another several hundred thousand Austrian natives who have obtained citizenship in their new homelands. They are sometimes referred to as the "10th province of Austria". The largest number of Auslandsoesterreicher live and work in Germany (1990: 185,000) and Switzerland (40,000). 36,000 Auslandsoesterreicher live in Central and South America, 30,000 in Australia, 28,500 in the USA and 22,500 in Africa (esp. in South Africa). Another 62,256 Austrians (according to the census of 1991) officially reside in Austria but commute daily or weekly to work abroad (also predominantly in Germany and Switzerland).

Most of Austria's post-war emigrants left Austria for economic reasons. There are well-known communities of emigrants in South America ( Dreizehnlinden in Brazil, Pozuzo in Peru, Independencia in Paraguay).

In 1955 the "Auslandsoesterreicher-Werk" was founded as the official representative body for the interests of all Auslandsoesterreicher, and simultaneously a department for Auslandsoesterreicher was set up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main mission of the Auslandsoesterreicher-Werk lies in social, cultural (newspaper, periodical, film and lecture services) and political affairs (e.g. elections: the law granting Auslandsoesterreicher the right to vote was passed on March 15, 1990). The "Weltbund der Oesterreicher im Ausland" (World Association of Austrians Abroad) was established in 1952 and is the umbrella organisation of all associations and societies of Auslandsoesterreicher.

Publications#