is the westernmost
State (''Land'') of
Austria . Though it is the second smallest in terms of area (
Vienna is the smallest), it borders three countries:
Due to their isolated location from the rest of Austria, the people in Vorarlberg speak a very distinct German dialect which other Austrians have a hard time understanding. It is in some way similar to the German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg and the
Alsace region in France (they are all
Alemannic dialects, whereas the dialects in the rest of Austria form part of the Bavarian-Austrian language group). In fact many towns or even villages in Voralberg have their own distinct sub-dialects.
In a referendum held on 11 May 1919 over 80% of those voting supported Vorarlberg's adhesion to the
Swiss Confederation . However, the Austrian Government and the
Allies were opposed to this, as were Swiss liberals, the Swiss-Italians and the Swiss-French.http://c2d.unige.ch/int/voteres.php?entit=10&vote=101&lang=
There are approximately 352,000 inhabitants in Vorarlberg's 96 municipalities.
Vorarlberg is divided into four large districts, from north to south:
Bregenz ,
Dornbirn ,
Feldkirch and
Bludenz . These districts appear on the automobile license plates in the form of abbreviations: B, DO, FK and BZ.
The capital of Vorarlberg is
- Bregenz , which also is one of the five cities.
The other four are:
The main
River s in Vorarlberg are the
Ill (running through the
Montafon and Walgau valleys into the Rhine), the
Rhine (forming the border to
Switzerland ), the
Bregenzer Ach and the
Dornbirner Ach . Important
Lake s, other than the
Lake Of Constance are
Lüner Lake ,
Silvretta Lake ,
Vermunt Lake ,
Spuller Lake , the
Kops Basin and
Formarin Lake ; the first four were created for the production of
Hydroelectric Energy . Even before the dam for the power plant was built, Lüner Lake was the largest mountain lake in the Alps. Most of this hydroelectric energy is exported to Germany at peak times. At night the surplus (and therefore cheap) energy from the caloric power plants in Germany is used to pump the water back into some of the lakes.
As there are several notable
Mountain Range s in Vorarlberg, such as the
Silvretta , the
Rätikon , the
Verwall and the
Arlberg , there are many famous skiing regions. The highest mountain is
Piz Buin , whose rocky peak of 3,312 meters is surrounded by
Glaciers .
In addition to the flourishing textile, clothing, electronics, machinery, packing materials industries of the
Rhine Valley , there is also a broad agricultural base, especially in the
Bregenzerwald , which is noted for its dairy products ("Bregenzerwälder Cheese Route" and tourism-lite. The tourist industry employs a considerable number of Vorarlbergers. The greatest tourist attractions are the mountains and the numerous
Ski Resorts , the largest (and most famous) of which are:
