Austria Through History.

  Austria's position in Central Europe   after World War II by 1948 about   1,225 kilometers, or 46 percent, of   its frontiers were with communist   states--and the proclamation of   Austrian neutrality in October 1955   made Austria Europe's most   important country of east-west   transit, transmigration, and the   claiming of refugee status. Between   1945 and 1990, approximately 2.6   million people came to Austria as   immigrants, transmigrants or   refugees. The great majority of them   stayed in Austria only for short   periods, and some 550,000 used   Austria exclusively as a land of   transit. Approximately 1.4 million   people were transmigrants who lived   in Austria before emigrating to other   countries or returning to their   countries of origin. About 650,000   people, over half of whom were not   ethnic Germans or native German   speakers, settled permanently in   Austria, the great majority of whom   became citizens.

  Although Austrians traditionally   viewed their country as a neutral land   of transit and political asylum, they   did not see Austria as a land of   immigration like the United States,   Canada, or Australia. This   perception, however, does not   correspond to the fact that more than   10 percent of the country's citizens   in 1990 had not been born in Austria   and that in the early 1990s more   than 500,000 legal foreigners,   predominantly guest workers, lived in   the country.

   The number of people seeking to   immigrate to Austria had increased   so greatly by the early 1990s that   the nation's army, the Bundesheer   (Federal Army), was called in to   assist customs and border   authorities in patrolling the country's   borders. After the fall of communism,   these borders were virtually open for   a time. By 1992 as many as 100,000   illegal immigrants were in Austria. 

  The presence of a large number of   foreign workers in Austria also   affected population trends. The size   of this group fluctuated according to   the state of the country's economy.

  From the mid-1960s through the   early 1970s, a period of rapid   domestic economic growth, Austria's   domestic labor force was not large   enough to satisfy the demands of its   growing economy, and foreign   workers were brought in to meet the   labor shortage.

  Despite these fluctuations, guest   workers and their dependents had   become a permanent feature of   Austria's population and accounted   for 80 percent of the 550,000 legally   registered foreign inhabitants in   Austria in 1991.