Vorarlberg Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area (Vienna is the smallest), it borders three countries: Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) Switzerland (Graubünden and St. Gallen) Liechtenstein, as well as the Austrian state of Tyrol. Due to their isolated location from the rest of Austria, the people in Vorarlberg speak a very distinct dialect which the other Austrians have a hard time understanding. It is in some way similar to those spoken in Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg and the Alsace region in France (they all belong to the Alemannic dialects whereas those of the rest of Austria form part of the Bavarian-Austrian language group). Generally this seems to be one dialect, but in fact every little town in Voralberg has its own "secret" language. There are approximately 352.000 inhabitants in Vorarlberg split up into the 96 municipalities. The capital of Vorarlberg is Bregenz, which also is one of the five cities. The other four are: Dornbirn, Hohenems, Feldkirch and Bludenz. Vorarlberg is split up into four large districts: Bregenz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch and Bludenz. These districts come up on the license plates in form of abbreviations: B, DO, FK and BZ. The main rivers 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 lakes, other than the Lake of Constance are the Lüner Lake, the Silvretta Lake, the Vermunt Lake, the Spuller Lake, the Kops Basin and the Formarin Lake, the first 4 have been created for the production of hydroelectric energy (the Lüner Lake was even before the dam for the powerplant was built the largest mountain lake in the Alps). Most of the energy is exported to Germany at peak times. At night the surplus (and therefore cheap) energy from the caloric powerplants in Germany is used to pump the water back into some of the lakes. As Vorarlberg is a famous skiing region there are some mountain ranges of larger interest, such as the Silvretta, the Rätikon, the Verwall and the Arlberg. The highest mountain is Piz Buin, a giant rocky peak of 3.312 m. Next to a flourishing industry in the Rhine Valley where clothing, elctonics, machines, packing material and other industrial goods are produced and a well-going agriculture in the Bregenzerwald (specified in dairy products, famous for its soft-tourism in form of the "Bregenzerwälder Cheese Street"), quite a lot of Vorarlbergians work in tourism. The largest tourism attraction are the mountains and the numerous skiing regions, the largest (and most famous) of which are: the Bregenzerwald, the Arlberg region (including noble ski resorts Lech and Zürs), the Brandnertal, and the Montafon. Some skiers that come (or came) from these regions include Anita Wachter, Egon Zimmermann, Gerhard Nenning, Mario Reiter, Toni Innauer and Hannes Schneider. Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarlberg