BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Country Name: AUSTRALIA
Capital
Canberra
Largest city Sydney
(for population), Brisbane (for
size)
Official language
English
Government
Federal Const. monarchy
Area 7,741,220
km²
Population
- 2006 est. 20,555,300
Currency Australian
dollar (AUD)
Time
zone (UTC+10)
Internet
TLD .au
Calling
code +61
|
|
GEOGRAPHY
& BACKGROUND
Australia,
officially the Commonwealth of Australia,
is a country in the Southern Hemisphere
comprising the world's smallest continent
and a number of islands in the Southern,
Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring
countries include Indonesia, East Timor
and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon
Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency
of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New
Zealand to the southeast.
The
continent of Australia has been inhabited
for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous
Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen
from the north and by European explorers
and merchants starting in the seventeenth
century, the eastern half of the continent
was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially
settled through penal transportation as
the colony of New South Wales on 26 January
1788. As the population grew and new areas
were explored, another five largely self-governing
Crown Colonies were successively established
over the course of the nineteenth century.
On
1 January 1901, the six colonies federated
and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed.
Since federation, Australia has maintained
a stable liberal democratic political system
and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital
city is Canberra, although the current national
population of around 20.6 million is concentrated
mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Australia's
7,686,850 square kilometres (2,967,909 sq.
mi) landmass is on the Indo-Australian Plate.
Surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific
oceans, Australia is separated from Asia
by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia
has a total 25,760 kilometres (16,007 mi)
of coastline and claims an extensive Exclusive
Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres
(3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic
zone does not include the Australian Antarctic
Territory.
The
Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest
coral reef, lies a short distance off the
north-east coast and extends for over 2,000
kilometres (1,250 mi). The world's largest
monolith, Mount Augustus, is located in
Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310
ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing
Range is the highest mountain on the Australian
mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote
Australian territory of Heard Island is
taller at 2,745 metres (9,006 ft).
By
far the largest part of Australia is desert
or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited
continent, the flattest, and has the oldest
and least fertile soils. Only the south-east
and south-west corners of the continent
have a temperate climate. The northern part
of the country, with a tropical climate,
has a vegetation consisting of rainforest,
woodland, grassland, mangrove swamps and
desert. Climate is highly influenced by
ocean currents, including the El Niño
southern oscillation, which is correlated
with periodic drought, and the seasonal
tropical low pressure system that produces
cyclones in northern Australia.
For
more information please visit
http://www.fco.gov.uk/
or
visit
http://www.tripadvisor.com
