Australia Facts

Australia
The world is becoming a smaller place everyday. Due to the internet and other factors, people can communicate and coordinate with their counterparts in the other hemisphere in a matter of seconds. This has also opened up many vistas in the business and tourism sectors. Therefore, it is necessary for people to know some facts about various countries. Here are some facts about Australia.

The Country
The Commonwealth of Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere, and comprises of the mainland of the world's smallest continent. It is comparatively smaller to the United States of America. Though Australia is the smallest continent, it is the largest country in the world. It is surrounded by the Indian, Pacific and Southern ocean.

Australia is surrounded by Ashmore, Cartier, Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), Coral Sea, Heard, McDonald, Norfolk, and Macquarie Islands at it's coast. Australia also has the lowest population density in the world, two people per square kilometre.Australia has only six states, out of which one is an island while the other five are mainland.

The five states are:

• NewSouthWales
• Queensland
• SouthAustralia
• Victoria
• Western Australia

whereas Tasmania is the island state. Australia has two territories, namely the:

• Australian Capital Territory
• Northern Territory

Political Structure
Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has an elected Prime Minister. The country recognizes the sovereignty of the British Monarch. The British Monarch is represented by a Governor General, who is appointed at the recommendation of the Prime Minister.The Federal Parliament has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Economy
Australia enjoys a Western Style economy. It's GDP is slightly higher than United Kingdom, Germany and France. The legal currency for Australia is the Australian Dollar. The Service Industry in Australia is responsible for about 12% of the GDP. Australia is suffering from a trade deficit of around $17 Billion due to various factors like the drought, infrastructural constraints and a small and declining manufacturing sector. Australia's currency is the Australian Dollar.

Trade
Australia exports aluminium, coal, gold, wool, iron ore meats, machinery, wheat, and transport equipment. Australia imports computers and office equipment, crude oil and petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, and telecommunications equipment and parts. It's major trading partners China, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Among it's natural resources, Australia has diamonds, natural gas and petroleum, nickel, bauxite, uranium, coal, tin, zinc, silver, iron ore, mineral sands, lead, and tungsten.Australia is the largest exporter of beef in the world.

Entertainment and Media
Australia has two public broadcasters, namely the ABC and SBS and three commercial television networks. Apart from this, there are a number of pay-channels available to the Australian viewer along with several non-profit television and radio channels.

Australia has always been interested in sports, and it plays a huge role in their day to day life. Some of the strong teams Australia has are the rugby union, rugby league, netball, cricket and hockey.

Australian Tourism
Australia has emerged to be a vibrant tourist attraction. There are various places to see and visit in Australia for the tourist. One of the most unique is the kangaroo, possibly the most recognized mammal in Australia. There are around 30 to 50 million kangaroos in Australia today.

The Opal Capital of the world, Coober Pedy, is located in South Australia. Australia also boasts of the world's largest population of Merino sheep, and is therefore responsible for almost 70 percent of the wool produced globally.

Other places of interest are the 478 kilometers straight railway track, the longest in Australia crossing the Nullarbor Plain. In Western Australia, the Eyre Highway is the longest straight road stretch in Australia, a full 148 kilometers.