1. Australia
Factfile
Official name: The Commonwealth of Australia
Status: Independent federative state, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Form of Government: Constitutional monarchy (Federal Parliamentary Democracy)
Head of State: King or Queen of Great Britain who is also King or Queen of Australia.
King or Queen is represented by Governor General
Head of Government: Prime minister
Legislative body: Federal Parliament consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives.
National Flag: It has 3 main features: the red, white, and blue. Union Jack in the upper left
quarter, indicating Australia's membership in the Commonwealth; the white five-star-
Southern Cross in the right half; and the white seven-pointed federal star below the
Union Jack (Approved by King Edward VII in 1903)
National Anthem: Advance Australia Fair
National emblem: the eucalyptus, wattle, emu, and kangaroo
Area: 7 686 850 square km (6th largest country)
Highest point: 2 229 m (Mt Kosciusko)
Lowest point: 15 m (Lake Eyre)
Longest river: the Darling (2 757 km)
Climate: Arid/Semi arid, temperate and tropical
Population: 18 300 000 people
Population density: 6 per square mile
Population in urban areas: 85%
Federal capital: Canberra (300 000)
Largest cities: Sidney (3, 74 mln), Melbourne (3, 2 mln) and Brisbane ( 1 , 4 5 mln)
States and their capitals: New South Wales (NSW) – Sidney, Queensland (QLD)
-Brisbane, South Australia (SA) – Adelaide, Tasmania: (Tas) – Hobart, Victoria (Vic)-
Melbourne, Western Australia (WA) - Perth
Territories and their capitals: Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – Canberra, Northern
Territory (NT) - Darwin
The official language: English
Currency: Australian dollar
Economy: Market oriented, highly developed agriculture and mining industry
Premier exports: Tourism, coal
Premier import: Motor vehicles
Education: Compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15 in all states except Tasmania,
where the leaving age is 16
National holiday: Australia Day, 26 January (celebrates the first settlement of Australia)
Australia: The Unfinished Dream
Australia is in many ways all things to all men. To the Texas rancher, it's the great
escape to the last frontier; to the young troubled teacher from Newark, New Jersey, it is
light and air and freedom from discipline problems; to businessmen from Manchester
and Mannheim, it offers great opportunities in a country that is carefully backing into
Asia.
Australia as a country is, of course, the unfinished dream. It is a continent of almost
unbelievable natural wealth, where breathtaking discoveries of uranium, copper, bauxite
or coal are casually explained as just one more example of God-given luck, but where,
especially for the young, all the modern problems of pollution, urban decay, and social
inequality have become real enough to worry about in the future. So although Australia
desperately wants geologists, engineers, chemists and metallurgists, it also needs
architects, town planners, social workers, teachers and nurses to help build the fair and
comfortable society that is now well within its grasp.