Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal state (Bundesland) of Austria. It has the second-smallest area after Vienna, and although it has the second-smallest population, it also has the second-highest population density (also after Vienna). It borders three countries: Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg via Lake Constance), Switzerland (Grisons and St. Gallen) and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east.
The capital of Vorarlberg is Bregenz (29,500 inhabitants), although Dornbirn (48,700 inhabitants) and Feldkirch (33,000 inhabitants) have larger populations. Vorarlberg is also the only state in Austria where the local dialect is not Austro-Bavarian, but rather an Alemannic dialect; it therefore has much more in common culturally with its (historically) Alemannic-speaking German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Swabia and Alsace than with rest of Austria, southeastern Bavaria, and South Tyrol.
Vorarlberg is almost completely mountainous and has been nicknamed the 'Ländle' meaning 'small land'.
