Austrian Empire’s Resources

Natural Resources
Less than 17% of Austria can be farmed. The land that can be farmed grows potatoes, grains, fruit, and sugar beets. About 20% of the land has meadows that cows can graze on, so Austria produces many dairy products such as milk and cheese. The forest that covers 10% of Austria also means that lumber (wood) is an important product.

Cows on a mountain farm in Austria today. As you can see, the mountains make it hard to farm, but cows can still graze on the grass that grows here.

The Danube River was also very important to trade and travel during the Austrian Empire. Despite the mountains, the citizens of the Austrian empire were able to travel by water.

Do the rocky Alps look easy to cross? No? How about that Danube River? Thanks, Danube River, for making travel possible!

Even though the land of Austria did not have many natural resources, the Austrian Empire was made up of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. It was the second largest country in Europe at the time after the Russian Empire, which stretched across Europe and Asia. This area of the Austrian Empire had natural resources that were mostly mineral. Iron ore and coal were important to the Empire.

Freshly mined coal. Coals burns longer and hotter than wood, and kept the people of the Austrian Empire warm in the winter long before electricity.

Why coal is important, and why it is still used today.