» About Australia
About Australia - a brief overview of the country of Australia.
Australian Flag
Australian Coat of Arms
Official Name
Commonwealth of Australia
Capital City
Canberra
Climate
Ranges from tropical to temperate. The extreme north is tropical, the southeast and southwest more Mediterranean. The east coast and the Eastern Highlands are the areas of greatest rainfall. More Info: Bureau of Meteorology
Population
20,551,900 at March 2006
Government
Democratic Federal system comprising six states and two territories.
Current governing party: Labor
Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd - More Info see: http://www.pm.gov.au/
Treasurer: Wayne Swan - More Info see: http://www.treasurer.gov.au
States
New South Wales Queensland - South Australia - Victoria - Western Australia - Tasmania
Territories
Northern Territory - Australian Capital Territory
Telephone
Australia's country code is 61
Area Codes:
South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory - 08
Queensland - 07
Victoria and Tasmania - 03
New South Wales - 02
More Info see: http://www.whitepages.com.au
Time Zones
Australia has three time zones with some areas having daylight savings.
Western: GMT +8 hrs
Central: GMT +9.5 hrs
Eastern: GMT +10 hrs
General Information
• Australia has been inhabited by humans for over 60,000 years.
• The first European settlement was established by Great Britain in 1788
• The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.
• The golden wattle was proclaimed the official national floral emblem in August 1988.
• Green and gold were proclaimed Australia's national colours in April 1984.
• 'Advance Australia Fair' was officially declared the national anthem on 19 April 1984.
• The population of Australia in 2006 was 19,855,288.
• 49.4 percent males and 50.6 percent females.
• Life expectancy for men is 77 years.
• Life expectancy for women is 82 years.
• In 2006 It was ranked the 8th richest nation in per capita terms.
• It is the 6th oldest continuously functioning democracy in the world.
• The World Bank ranks Australia as the second easiest economy in which to start up a business.
• Australia also ranks third on the United Nations Human Development Index.
• In 2005, Australia was the world’s largest exporter of coal, iron ore, beef and wool.
• Australia has a population density of 2.6 people per km2
Australian Geography
• Australia is the sixth largest country in the world (At 7617930 km2) and is five percent of the world's land area (149,450,000 km2).
• Australia is approximately 3700 kilometres long, from its most northerly point to its most southerly point in Tasmania, and it is almost 4000 kilometres wide, from east to west.
• Its ocean territory is the world’s third largest, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometres.
• There are 16 Australian properties on the World Heritage List and over 10 percent of mainland Australia’s natural environment is protected by legislation.
• It is one of the worlds most diverse countries being home to more than one million species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
• Australia has some of the oldest land surface on earth with parts dating more than 3,500 million years old.
• Highest Recorded Temperature was 53 º C in 1889 at Cloncurry, Queensland.
• Lowest Recorded Temperature was -23 º C in 1994 at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales.
• The lowest annual rainfall occurs at Lake Eyre in South Australia, with an annual mean precipitation of about 100mm.
• The highest annual rainfall occurs at Tully in Queensland, with an annual mean precipitation of 4400mm.
• Only six per cent of the Australian landmass is arable and it is the driest inhabited continent on earth.
• The driest place in Australia is Lake Eyre with an average annual rainfall of less than 125mm.
• Not including Tasmania, Melville Island (5698km2), near Darwin, is the largest Island in Australian Waters.
• The highest point in Australia is the top of Mt Kosciusko in New South Wales (2230 metres).
• The lowest point in Australia is 15 metres below sea level at Lake Eyre in South Australia.
• The largest lakes in Australia include Lake Eyre (9500km2), Lake Torrens (5900km2) and Lake Gairdner (4300km2) which are all in South Australia.
• The largest artificial lake in Australia is Lake Argyle (700km2) which is in Western Australia.
• The Deepest lake in Australia is Lake St Clair.
• The Murray River is the longest river in Australia at 2520km, combining with the Darling and Upper Darling Rivers to form the Murray-Darling basin. The Murray Darling extends over 15% of the continent, and serving 4 States and the ACT with water.
• The largest state is Western Australia with an area of over 2.5 million square kilometres.
• The smallest state is Tasmania.
Major Media Groups in Australia
News Ltd - http://www.news.com.au - News Corp - http://www.newscorp.com
Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) - http://www.pbl.com.au
John Fairfax Holdings Ltd - http://www.fxj.com.au
APN News and Media - http://www.apn.com.au/
Rural Press Limited - http://www.ruralpress.com
Seven Network - http://www.sevencorporate.com.au/
Ten Group Ltd - http://www.tencorporate.com.au
Southern Cross Broadcasting Australia Ltd - http://www.southerncrossbroadcasting.com.au
Prime Television Ltd - http://www.primetv.com.au
West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd - http://www.thewest.com.au
WIN Corporation Pty Ltd - http://www.wintv.com.au
DMG Radio Australia - http://www.dmgradio.com.au
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)- http://www.abc.net.au
Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) - http://www20.sbs.com.au
Sources and More info on Australian Facts & Statistics:
GeoScience Australia - DFAT Gov.au - OECD Australia - Australian Bureau of Statistics