Geography
Situated east of Upper Austria, Lower Austria derives its name from its downriver location on the Danube River, which flows from west to east. Lower Austria has an international border, 414 km long, with the Czech Republic (South Moravia) and Slovakia. The state has the second longest external border of all Austrian states. It borders on other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Styria and Burgenland. The state surrounds Vienna.
Lower Austria is divided four regions, known as Viertel (quarters):
- Weinviertel or Tertiary Lowland (below the Manhartsberg),
- Waldviertel or Bohemian Plateau (above the Manhartsberg),
- Mostviertel (above the Vienna Woods)
- Industrieviertel (below the Vienna Woods).
These regions have different geographical structures. Whilst the Mostviertel is dominated by the foothills of the Limestone Alps with mountains up to 2,000 m AA high, most of the Waldviertel is a granite plateau. The hilly Weinviertel lies to the northeast, descends to the plains of Marchfeld in the east of the state, and is separated by the Danube from the Vienna Basin to the south, which in turn is separated from the Vienna Woods by a line of thermal springs (the Thermenlinie) running north to south.
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