Introduction

 

Background: Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 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 in the name of Great Britain. 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 its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990's, a performance due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980's. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Geography

 

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean  

 

Geographic coordinates: 27 00 S, 133 00 E

 

Map references: Oceania

 

Area: total: 7,686,850 sq km; land: 7,617,930 sq km; water: 68,920 sq km;

note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island

 

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states

 

Land boundaries: 0 km

 

Coastline: 25,760 km

 

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm; contiguous zone: 24 nm ;exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ;continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

 

Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

 

Terrain: mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast

 

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m; highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m

 

Natural resources: bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum

Land use: arable land: 6.55% (includes about 27 million hectares of cultivated grassland)

permanent crops: 0.04%;other: 93.41% (2001)

 

Irrigated land: 24,000 sq km (1998 est.)

 

Natural hazards: cyclones along the coast; severe droughts; forest fires

 

Environment - current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to the use of poor quality water; desertification; clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species; 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; limited natural fresh water resources

 

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

 

Geography - note: world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country; population concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts; the invigorating tropical sea breeze known as the "Fremantle Doctor" affects the city of Perth on the west coast, and is one of the most consistent winds in the world

 

People

 

Population: 20,090,437 (July 2005 est.)

 

Age structure: 0-14 years: 19.8% (male 2,038,809/female 1,943,563);15-64 years: 67.2% (male 6,815,600/female 6,695,189);65 years and over: 12.9% (male 1,145,274/female 1,452,002) (2005 est.)

 

Median age: total: 36.56 years; male: 35.74 years; female: 37.4 years (2005 est.)

 

Population growth rate: 0.87% (2005 est.)

 

Birth rate: 12.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Death rate: 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Net migration rate: 3.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female;15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female;65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female; total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

 

Infant mortality rate: total: 4.69 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 4.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 80.39 years; male: 77.52 years; female: 83.4 years (2005 est.)

 

Total fertility rate: 1.76 children born/woman (2005 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 14,000 (2003 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

 

Nationality: noun: Australian(s);adjective: Australian

 

Ethnic groups: Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%

 

Religions: Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census)

 

Languages: English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)

 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 100%;male: 100%;female: 100% (1980 est.)

 

Government

 

Country name: conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia; conventional short form: Australia

 

Government type: democratic, federal-state system recognizing the British monarch as sovereign

 

Capital: Canberra

 

Administrative divisions: 6 states and 2 territories; Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

 

Dependent areas: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island, Macquarie Island

 

Independence: 1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies)

 

National holiday: Australia Day, 26 January (1788)

 

Constitution: 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901

 

Legal system: based on English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

 

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

 

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen of Australia ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Michael JEFFERY (since 11 August 2003)

head of government: Prime Minister John Winston HOWARD (since 11 March 1996); Deputy Prime Minister Mark VAILE (since 6 July 2005)

cabinet: Prime Minister nominates, from among members of Parliament, candidates who are subsequently sworn in by the Governor General to serve as government ministers

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general

note: government coalition - Liberal Party and National Party

 

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats - 12 from each of the six states and two from each of the two mainland territories; one-half of state members are elected every three years by popular vote to serve six-year terms while all territory members are elected every three years) and the House of Representatives (150 seats; members elected by popular preferential voting to serve terms of up to three-years; no state can have fewer than five representatives)

elections: Senate - last held 9 October 2004 (next to be held no later than June 2008); House of Representatives - last held 9 October 2004 (next to be called no later than November 2007)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party (for session beginning on 1 July 2002) - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 35, Australian Labor Party 28, Australian Democrats 7, Green Party 2, One Nation Party 1, Australian Progressive Alliance 1, independent 2; (for session beginning on 1 July 2005) - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 39, Australian Labor Party 28, Democrats 4, Australian Greens 4, Family First Party 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 87, Australian Labor Party 60, independents 3

 

Judicial branch: High Court (the chief justice and six other justices are appointed by the governor general)

 

Economy

 

Economy - overview: Australia has an enviable Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies. Rising output in the domestic economy, robust business and consumer confidence, and rising exports of raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the economy. Australia's emphasis on reforms, low inflation, and growing ties with China are other key factors behind the economy's strength. The impact of drought, weak foreign demand, and strong import demand pushed the trade deficit up from $8 billion in 2002, to $18 billion in 2003, and to $13 billion in 2004. One other concern is the rapid increase in domestic housing prices, which have raised the prospect that interest rates will need to be raised to prevent a speculative bubble.

 

GDP: purchasing power parity - $611.7 billion (2004 est.)
 

GDP - real growth rate: 3.5% (2004 est.)
 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $30,700 (2004 est.)
 

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.4%;industry: 28.2%;services: 68.4% (2004 est.)
 

Labor force: 10.35 million (2004 est.)

 

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 3.6%, industry 26.4%, services 70% (2004 est.)

 

Unemployment rate: 5.1% (December 2004 est.)

 

Population below poverty line: NA

 

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2%;highest 10%: 25.4% (1994)

 

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 35.2 (1994)

 

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2004 est.)

 

Investment (gross fixed): 25.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Budget: revenues: $222.7 billion; expenditures: $221.7 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

 

Public debt: 17.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry

 

Industries: mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel

 

Industrial production growth rate: 1.9% (2004 est.)

 

Electricity - production: 210.3 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - consumption: 195.6 billion kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

 

Oil - production: 537,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - consumption: 796,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

 

Oil - exports: 523,400 bbl/day (2001)

 

Oil - imports: 530,800 bbl/day (2001)

 

Oil - proved reserves: 3.664 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

 

Natural gas - production: 33.08 billion cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - consumption: 23.33 billion cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - exports: 9.744 billion cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)

 

Natural gas - proved reserves: 2.407 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

 

Current account balance: $-38.3 billion (2004 est.)

 

Exports: $86.89 billion (2004 est.)

 

Exports - commodities: coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment

 

Exports - partners: Japan 18.6%, China 9.2%, US 8.1%, South Korea 7.7%, New Zealand 7.4%, India 4.6%, UK 4.2% (2004)

 

Imports: $98.1 billion (2004 est.)

 

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products

 

Imports - partners: US 14.8%, China 12.7%, Japan 11.8%, Germany 5.8%, Singapore 4.4%, UK 4.1% (2004)

 

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $35.14 billion (2004 est.)

 

Debt - external: $308.7 billion (3rd quarter, 2004 est.)

 

Economic aid - donor: ODA, $894 million (FY99/00)

 

Currency (code): Australian dollar (AUD)

 

Exchange rates: Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000)

 

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

 

Communications

 

Telephones - main lines in use: 10.815 million (2003)

 

Telephones - mobile cellular: 14.347 million (2003)

 

Telephone system:

General assessment: excellent domestic and international service

Domestic: domestic satellite system; much use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile cellular telephones

International: country code - 61; submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia;

Satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat (Indian and Pacific Ocean regions) (1998)

 

Radio broadcast stations: AM 262, FM 345, shortwave 1 (1998)

 

Television broadcast stations: 104 (1997)

 

Internet country code: .au

 

Internet hosts: 2,847,763 (2003)

 

Internet users: 9.472 million (2002)

 
Transportation

 

Railways: total: 54,439 km (3859 km electrified);broad gauge: 5,434 km 1.600-m gauge; standard gauge: 34,110 km 1.435-m gauge (1,397 km electrified);narrow gauge: 14,895 km 1.067-m gauge (2,462 km electrified);dual gauge: