Australia By Alan Mather

Australia Australia is located in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Asia. Australia is part of the Australia and Oceania continent. This continent is the driest inhabited continent. Australia was first visited by Europeans in the 17th Century Australia was claimed by James Cook for Great Britain in 1770

People The life for men is 79.63 years and 84.64 years for women. There is a 99% literacy rate in Australia. A family in Australia earns around $64,594 per a year.

Australia’s Economy Australia has a stable economy that s growing at a rate of 3.5% each year. Australia exports coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, and machinery and transportation Equipment. Australia’s currency is the Australian Dollar and it is equivalent to 1.031 U.S. dollars. Australia has a 5.7% unemployment rate and the GDP per capita of $43,000

Australia’s Geography Australia is the world’s sixth largest country, with a total area of 7,741,220 square km. Australia has a arid to semiarid climate, with temperate regions in the south and east, and tropical regions in the north. Australia’s 5 largest cities, in order from greatest to least by population are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. Australia’ s capital, Canberra has the 8th largest population in Australia.

Australia’s Geography Australia’s natural resources are bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum. Australia has mostly flat land with deserts. But there are some fertile lands in the southeast. Australia’s tallest mountain is Mt. Kosciuszko at 2,229 m.

Australia’s Government Australia has a parliamentary democracy but it is a commonwealth realm Queen Elizabeth leads the commonwealth and is represented by Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove. Australia’s prime minister is Anthony John Abbott

Culture and Food Australia has a very diverse culture and diverse food. Australia is also agriculturally efficient and it produces high quality food. Some traditional Australian food are lamingtons

Religion and Language Religion Language Protestant- 28.8% Catholic- 25.3% Eastern Orthodox- 2.6% Buddhist- 2.5% Muslim- 2.2% Hindu- 1.3% Other- 13% None- 22.3% English- 76.8% Mandarin- 1.6% Italian- 1.4% Arabic- 1.3% Greek- 1.2% Cantonese- 1.2% Vietnamese- 1.1% Other and Unspecified- 15.4%

Fun Facts Australia/Oceania is the only continent without glaciers. Australia has the world’s longest fence at 5,600 kilometers to keep dogs away from sheep. The first Ugg boots were created by Australian farmers.

http://www.flagsaustralia.com.au/NationalFlag.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html http://www.geonames.org/AU/largest-cities-in-australia.html http://www.livingin-australia.com/wages-in-australia/ http://listverse.com/2013/11/23/10-fascinating-facts-about-australia/ https://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html