Austria is the country that looks like a fried chicken drumstick, and once you see it you cannot unsee it. Players nail the fat east end, then forget the skinny Tyrolean tail that stretches halfway to Switzerland.
The shape at a glance
Austria is long and flat, about 2.3 times wider than tall, lying along the Danube. The east is a thick round mass around Vienna and the Hungarian plain, and the west tapers into a thin Alpine tail through Tyrol to Vorarlberg. The northern border with Germany and Czechia is wavy, the southern Alpine edge slightly jagged.
Step by step
- Start with a long horizontal band, well over twice as wide as tall.
- Draw the fat right end first: the round eastern bulge of Vienna and Burgenland pressing against Hungary and Slovakia.
- Pull the band leftward, steadily thinning it into the narrow Tyrolean tail.
- Give the top edge a wavy line following the Danube and the Bavarian border, with a bend where the river passes Linz.
- Keep the bottom edge jagged — the Alpine crest against Italy and Slovenia.
- End the far west with a small pointed tip at Vorarlberg, just short of Lake Constance.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Cutting the western tail short, which turns Austria into a stubby blob like Hungary.
- Making the country too tall — it is a thin ribbon, not a loaf.
- Confusing its compact neighbor Switzerland's outline with Austria's long one.
- Ignoring the Danube wave on the northern border and drawing it ruler-straight.
Place it on the map
Austria lies just east of Switzerland and south of Germany and Czechia, leaning on Hungary to the east and Italy and Slovenia to the south. Think of it as the bridge between the Alps and the Hungarian plain.
Pro tip: Anchor the Vienna bulge at about two-thirds of the width from the west tip. If that eastern mass is in the right place and fat enough, the thin tail can be wobbly and your overlap still holds.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw Austria from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is Austria wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw Austria?
- Austria rates as medium difficulty. The long east-west drumstick is easy to rough out, but the thin western tail and Danube curve need care.