Population: On 28 October 2008 at 05:08:37 AM (Canberra time), the resident population of Australia is projected to be: 21,469,953. This projection is based on the estimated resident population at 31 March 2008 and assumes growth since then of:
one birth every 1 minute and 51 seconds,
one death every 3 minutes and 48 seconds,
a net gain of one international migrant every 2 minutes and 55 seconds leading to
an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 37 seconds.
More than one in five people living in Australia were born overseas. With their Australian-born children, they account for about 40% of the population.
GDP: Gross domestic product GDP $1,037,027,000,000 (2007-08).
Industries: Mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, textiles, chemicals, iron and steel
Agriculture: World’s largest exporter of beef and wool, second largest for mutton, and among top wheat exporters; major crops—wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruit; livestock—cattle, sheep, poultry
Geography: Australia is the world's smallest continent and the sixth largest country. Its area is equal to the United States without Alaska, or double the size of Europe, excluding Russia.
More than one-fifth of its land area is desert. More than two-thirds of the country is classified as arid or semi-arid.
The length of mainland Australia's coastline is about 33.535km. If it was possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60km/h it would take 23 days to reach your starting point.
The tip of Queensland's Cape York is the continent's northernmost point (latitude 10°41'S), while Australia's most northerly town is Thursday Island.
Queensland and Western Australia account for more than half Australia's land area. WA alone spreads over more than one-third of its surface.
The hottest temperature recorded in Australia was 53.1°C (128°F) at Cloncurry in Queensland in January 1889.
Australia is the lowest and flattest of all the continents because it lies near the centre of a tectonic plate.
Australia is the only continent without current volcanic activity. The last eruption took place more than 1400 years ago at Mount Gambier.
Since European settlement, Australia has lost about 75% of its rainforests and about 40% of its total forest area. Almost 70% of native vegetation has been removed or modified for agriculture, urban development and forestry since 1788. Land clearing continues at a rate of more than 600,000ha each year, with most occurring in New South Wales and Queensland.
We have more species of venomous snakes than any other continent. Our spiders are also among the world's most poisonous.
More than 500 shark attacks have been recorded off the Australian coastline since 1791. Fewer than half were fatal.
The first recorded landing by Europeans on Australian soil was made in 1606 by Dutch explorers.
Between 200,000 and 750,000 Aborigines are thought to have lived in Australia when white settlement began. By 1930 this number had been reduced by about two-thirds through a combination of disease and violence.
