Geography of Austria (German "Bodensee") on the Austrian-Swiss-German border in the west to the Neusiedler See on the Austrian-Hungarian border in the east. The contrast between these two lakes – one in the Alps and the other a typical steppe lake on the westernmost fringe of the Hungarian Plain – illustrates the diversity of Austria's landscape. Seven of Austria's nine provinces have long historical traditions predating the establishment of the Republic of Austria in 1918: Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. The provinces of Burgenland and Vienna were established after World War I. Most of Burgenland had been part
States of the Weimar Republic occupied by the last state premier. The names of these new "Reichsgaue" were sometimes different and there were some differences in borders. The former states of Burgenland and Vorarlberg were dissolved. The "Reichsgaue" were as follows: Subsequently, additional "Reichsgaue" were added as Germany invaded more European territories before and during World War II. These included: After World War I, the Saar Basin was occupied and governed jointly by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. After a plebiscite was held in 1935, the region was returned to Germany. In accordance with the