Styria

About the region

Flag of Styria Styria is located in the southeast of Austria. In area, it is the second largest of the nine Austrian states, covering 16,388 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The population estimate (as of 2006) was 1,203,986. The capital city is Graz.

Compared with the rest of Austria, Styria exhibits above-average innovative strength and has enormous potential for further development due to its excellent R&D infrastructure. The Styrian rate of R&D (i.e. the share of the total R&D expenditure in relation to gross regional product) is currently 3.55%. Styria thus occupies first place in the Austrian federal province ranking. In 2004 €1.011 million was expended on R&D. Styrian companies account for almost 70%, i.e. approx. € 700 million of that. Styria has an excellent R&D and educational infrastructure in the higher education field. Over 40,000 students are currently being trained at 5 universities and 2 universities of applied science (with over 30 courses of study in applied sciences).