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Australia
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Country Profile
- Capital City: Canberra
- Area: 7,682,300sq km / 2,966,200sq mi
- Population: 19,546,792 (2002 estimate)
- GDP: $390 billion (2000)
- Form of Government: Federal parliamentary state
- Official Language: English
- Monetary unit: 1 Australian dollar ($A), consisting of 100 cents
- Religions: Anglican 26%; Roman Catholic 26%; Other Christian 24%; Other or nonreligious 24%
- Major Cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Canberra, Gold Coast, Wollongong, Hobart
- 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
- Natural Resources: Bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, gold, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum
- 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.
- 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.
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