Steiermark (Austria)

Styria (Steiermark) 

Styria is the second largest province and has the fourth highest population of all nince Austrian provinces. In the West, it borders on the provinces of Salzburg and Upper Austria, in the south on Carinthia and Slovenia, in the east on Burgenland, in the northeast and north on Lower Austria and Upper Austria. Its name was derived from the castle of the Counts of Traungau in the town of Steyr, Upper Austria. 14,7 % of the Austrian population live in Styria, of which 19,1 % live in Graz (237,000, second largest municipality in Austria after Vienna). Slovenes live along the southern border. The majority of Styrians are of Roman Catholic denomination (81,3 %), 4,3 % are Protestants.

Three quarters of Styria are richly wooded mountain area, so Styria is also called the "Green Heart of Austria". The landscape is full of variety - from the high alpine glaciers in the northeast to the wine country in the south. The climate of Styria belongs to the European transitional climate: the north and northwest of Styria are under the influence of an Alpine climate, the south and southeast under the influence of the Pannonian climate.

The state capital Graz forms the undisputed cultural center of the Steiermark with its opera, the schauspielhaus and numerous concert halls. Both the Syrian Autumn Festival ("Steirischer Herbst") and the "styriate" Music Festival are major avant-garde events in Austria and have achieved more than purely local significance. Styria has a wide ranged education system from kindergarted to five universities.

Facts about Steiermark

The year 1122 can be classified as the year of birth of Styria, since the rich inheritance in the Mur and Mürz valley fell to Leopold der Starke (1122-1129) of the Traungau dynasty. Graz became the preferred residence of the Margraves. In 1180, Styria was separated from Bavaria and raised to the status of an independent Duchy.

Area: 16,388.14 km²

Population: 1,183,303 (2001), population density: 72 per km²

Government

Capital: Graz; 17 administrative districts with 543 municipalities (of which 31 are towns and 102 market towns); Higher Provincial Court (Oberlandesgericht) in Graz, provincial courts in Graz and Leoben (second largest town).

Economy

Traditionally, Styria is an industrial province. Around 60 % of all industrial products manufactured in Styria are exported (especially steel, paper, machines, electrical and electronics products, motor vehicles, leather products and wood). The iron, steel and engineering industries are located in the Mur and Murz valleys (Upper Styria). A restructuring process undertaken during the past decade revitalized the outdated industrial areas of Upper Styria. Cellulose, paper and electrical industries are also important for the province's economy. Many state-of-the-art enterprises, particularly in the fields of electronics, plastics and environmental engineering have gained an international reputation. High-tech vehicle manufactures, whose products are exported all over the world, are centered on Graz. Styria's cluster of car firms is one of Austria's top business projects. The regional gross domestic product of Styria amounted to 27.6 billion euro in the year 2003 (thus approximately 23,000 euro GDP per head).

Unemployment rate (Austrian calculation) 7.0% and decreasing (Austrian average 7.1 %) - corresponding to 4.5 % (International calculation)

Health System

Austria is a federal republic in central Europe and consists of nine states. The Responsibility for enacting legislation and implementation in the Health Sector lies with the nine Länder (states), the federal government is only responsible for the basic law. Delivering health care services to the population and controlling the health care system is considered to be primarily a public task in Austria. Hence, more than two thirds of Austria's health care system is funded through social insurance contributions and general tax revenue. Approximately one third is paid by private households directly. Health care services are delivered by public bodies, non-profit organizations, for-profit private organizations and individuals.

In 1997, nine Länder funds were established for the purposes of hospital financing. The funds are financed through social health insurance budgets and general taxation. The Länder parliaments discuss and vote on bills relating to hospital care which are introduced by the state councillors. Responsibilities of the Structural Commission, established at federal level, include decision-making on, and monitoring the implementation of, the hospital and high-technology investment plans (ÖKAP/GGP).

In 1998 the Austrian population reached 8.08 million, 56% of which lived in urban areas (1995 data). With a population growth of 4.4% since 1990, Austria - together with the Netherlands - is among the EU countries with the highest growth rate, ranking just after Luxembourg. The total fertility rate per woman in Austria is 1.37 which is almost equal to the EU average. The dependency ratio was 47.9 in 1990 and is expected to rise to 62.1 by 2030, making it slightly above the projected OECD average.

Life expectancy in Austria:    men: 76,4    women: 82,1

Infant mortality rate:                0,4%

Office of the Styrian State Government

The Office of the Styrian State Government (Amt der Steiermrkischen Landesregierung) is the business apparatus of the state government. It is led after the principles of modern administrative management as a service enterprise. The activity of the office is not exhausted alone in carrying out of State-Law, it converts also Federal Law and finally procures on abundance of tasks of the country and the federation in the context of the private sector administration. We furnish these achievements with the goal, always to be a competent and efficient partner of the population.  

The field of competence of our department (Fachabteilung 8A) is e.g. the Legal Affairs in Public Health and nursing education, the financing of the public hospitals, the execution of veterinarian rights and so on. Our main purpose in the department is financial-planning for the Styrian Hospital Financing Found, master planning for the hospitals and to transfer the Austrian DRG-System to the Styrian Hospitals. Besides this we accompany and moderate projects in the public health sector.