Ethnicity, Language, & Religion of Austria
Ethnicity
Nearly all of Austria's population is ethnically Austrian,
but this is very similar genetically to what is commonly referred to as "German."
There are numerous ethnic and genetic variations within the German population, both
inside and outside of Germany, but among the German-speaking
people of Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg there are no genetic
extremes as all are more closely related to each other than they are to other Germanic
people, such as the Dutch.
Today there are a number of minority groups in Austria, particularly in Vienna.
The largest of these groups are ethnic Turks and the people
of what was formerly Yugoslavia (primarily Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and
Bosniaks).
Language
German is the only official national language in Austria; however
Slovenian, Croatian, and Hungarian
are official languages regionally. The dialect of German
spoken in Austria is understood by other native German speakers,
but it is a distinct dialect similar to the dialect spoken in Bavaria (Germany).