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Australia (GPS: 27 00 S, 133 00 E) located in Oceania, a continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. The country’s area measurements are total: 7,741,220 sq km; land: 7,682,300 sq km, water: 58,920 sq km. This sovereign state is slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states. The total irrigated land is 25,500 sq km (2012).
One of the essential features of Australia: World’s smallest continent but sixth-largest country. The largest country in Oceania, the largest country entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, and the largest country without land borders. The only continent without glaciers. The refreshing sea breeze known as the “Fremantle Doctor” affects Perth’s city on the west coast and is one of the world’s most consistent winds. The Great Dividing Range that runs along eastern Australia is that continent’s most extended mountain range and the third-longest land-based range in the world. The term “Great Dividing Range” refers to the fact that the mountains form a watershed crest from which all of the rivers of eastern Australia flow east, west, north, and south.
It’s significant, and at the same time, the principal city, Canberra’s GPS coordinates are 35 16 S 149 08 E. Canberra’s local time is 15 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time. The capital’s time difference: UTC+10, note; Daylight saving time: +1hr begins first Sunday in October; ends first Sunday in April. Note: Australia has three time zones.
Prehistoric settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770 when Capt. James COOK took possession of the east coast in Great Britain (all of Australia was claimed as British territory in 1829 with the creation of the colony of Western Australia). Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; They federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the Allied effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has become an internationally competitive, advanced market economy due largely to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s and its location in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world economy. Long-term concerns include an aging population, pressure on infrastructure, and environmental issues such as floods, droughts, and bushfires. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, making it particularly vulnerable to climate change challenges. Australia is home to 10% of the world’s biodiversity, and a great number of its flora and fauna exist nowhere else in the world.
Australia’s names conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia, conventional short form: Australiaabbreviation: AS, etymology: the name Australia derives from the Latin “australis” meaning “southern”; the Australian landmass was long referred to as “Terra Australis” or the Southern Land. The name Australia derives from the Latin “australis,” meaning “southern”; The Australian landmass was long referred to as “Terra Australis” or the Southern Land.
Australia’s terrain is typically mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in the southeast. The country’s mean elevation: 330 m, elevation extremes; lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m, highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m.
The general climate in the country; generally arid to semiarid: temperate in the south and east: tropical in the north.
The total number of border countries is 0. None are the neighboring nations with the indicated border lengths. Australia’s coastline is 25,760 km. Its marital claims are territorial sea: 12 nautical miles, contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles, exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles, continental shelf: 200 nautical miles or the edge of the continental margin. Waterways: 2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling river systems) (2011). Land use: agricultural land: 53.4%; arable land 6.2%; permanent crops 0.1%; permanent pasture 47.1%; forest: 19.3%; other: 27.3% (2011 estimate).
The population in Australia 23,470,145 (July 2018 estimate), urban population: 89.4% of total population (2015), major urban area’s population: Sydney 4.505 million; Melbourne 4.203 million; Brisbane 2.202 million; Perth 1.861 million; Adelaide 1.256 million; CANBERRA (capital) 423,000 (2015), while Australia has N/A. Their spoken languages are: English 76.8%, Mandarin 1.6%, Italian 1.4%, Arabic 1.3%, Greek 1.2%, Cantonese 1.2%, Vietnamese 1.1%, other 10.4%, unspecified 5% (2011 estimate). Main religions in Australia are Protestant 30.1% (Anglican 17.1%, Uniting Church 5.0%, Presbyterian and Reformed 2.8%, Baptist, 1.6%, Lutheran 1.2%, Pentecostal 1.1%, other Protestant 1.3%), Catholic 25.3% (Roman Catholic 25.1%, other Catholic 0.2%), other Christian 2.9%, Orthodox 2.8%, Buddhist 2.5%, Muslim 2.2%, Hindu 1.3%, other 1.3%, none 22.3%, unspecified 9.3% (2011 estimate).
The nation uses a common law system based on the English model. It is a(n) parliamentary democracy (Federal Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm, National holiday(s) Australia Day (commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of Australian settlers), 26 January (1788); ANZAC Day (celebrates the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915).
Economic overview for the country: Australia is an open market with minimal restrictions on imports of goods and services. The process of opening up has increased productivity, stimulated growth, and made the economy more flexible and dynamic. Australia plays an active role in the WTO, APEC, the G20, and other trade forums. Australia’s free trade agreement (FTA) with China entered into force in 2015, adding to existing FTAs with the Republic of Korea, Japan, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the US a regional FTA with ASEAN and New Zealand. Australia continues to negotiate bilateral agreements with Indonesia and more extensive agreements with its Pacific neighbors and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and an Asia-wide Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that includes the 10 ASEAN countries and China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and India. Australia is a significant exporter of natural resources, energy, and food.
Australia’s abundant and diverse natural resources attract high foreign investment levels and include extensive reserves of coal, iron, copper, gold, natural gas, uranium, and renewable energy sources. A series of significant investments, such as the US$40 billion Gorgon Liquid Natural Gas Project, will significantly expand the resources sector. For nearly two decades up till 2017, Australia had benefited from a dramatic surge in its terms of trade. As export prices increased faster than import prices, the economy experienced continuous growth, low unemployment, contained inflation, very low public debt, and a strong and stable financial system. Australia entered 2018 facing a range of growth constraints, principally driven by the sharp fall in global prices of essential export commodities. Demand for resources and energy from Asia, especially China, is growing at a slower pace, and sharp drops in export prices have impacted growth.
Australia’s natural resources: bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum. Note: Australia is the world’s largest net exporter of coal, accounting for 29% of global coal exports.
The main export partners for Australia, Oceania are China 32.2%, Japan 15.9%, South Korea 7.1%, US 5.4%, India 4.2% (2015) for coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, machinery, and transport equipment, while the main import partners for the country are: China 23%, US 11.2%, Japan 7.4%, South Korea 5.5%, Thailand 5.1%, Germany 4.6% (2015) for machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment, and parts; crude oil and petroleum products.
When you visit this country in Oceania, consider the natural hazards in Australia: Cyclones along the coast, severe droughts, forest fires, volcanism: volcanic activity on Heard and McDonald Islands, while infectious diseases are N/A. Also, note that Australia faces the following environmental issues: Soil erosion from overgrazing, deforestation, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices, Limited natural freshwater resources, Soil salinity rising due to the use of insufficient quality water, Drought, desertification, Clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species, Disruption of the fragile ecosystem has resulted in significant floral extinctions, The Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site, Overfishing, pollution, and invasive species are also problems.
You may also be interested in the countries next to Australia around its 0 km border – No border countries.
