2.  the name Australia is derived from
the Latin australis, meaning "southern".
 These first inhabitants may have been
ancestors of modern Indigenous
Australians.
 The indigenous population, estimated at
750,000 to 1,000,000 at the time of
European settlement, declined for 150
years following settlement, mainly due to
infectious disease

3.  The “Stolen Generations" (removal of
Aboriginal children from their families)
have contributed to the decline in the
Indigenous population.
 It only has six States - five of which are on
the mainland, and one which is an island.
The five mainland States are New South
Wales, Queensland, South Australia,
Victoria, and Western Australia.
 The island State is Tasmania.

4.  Australia also has two Territories, those
are the Australian Capital Territory, or
ACT, and Northern Territory.
 Australia is the smallest continent, but the
sixth largest country in the world.
 Between the 18th and 19th centuries, six
colonies were established: New South
Wales (1786), Tasmania (1825), Western
Australia (1829), South Australia (1834),
Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859). In
1901, the colonies united and became
federated as the States of the
Commonwealth of Australia.

5.  The government is democratic, has an
elected Prime Minister, and recognizes
the British Monarch as sovereign.
 Monarch is represented by a Governor
General
 Although Australia is a fully independent
parliamentary democracy, Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is also
formally the Queen of Australia.

6.  The Australian Constitution sets out the
powers of government in three separate
chapters: - the legislature, the executive
and the judiciary.
 Minorities parties often hold the balance
of power in the Senate. Senators are
elected for six-year terms.

7.  The average life of parliament is about
two-and-a-half years.
 The governing party has changed about
every five years on average since
federation in 1901.
 Prior to World War II,several goverments
lasted less than a year. But since 1945
there have been seven changes of
goverment.

8.  All citizens over
the age of 18
must vote in
both federal
and state
government
elections.

9.  Australia’s political parties discipline are
extemely tight.
 There are four political parties: - Labour
Party, Liberal Party, National Party or
Country Party and finally Australian
Greens.

10.  religion in
Australia is
predominantly
Christian.

11.  The question about a person's religious
affiliation has been asked on every census
taken in Australia.
 In 1971 the choice of "if no religion, write
none" was introduced. As a result, there
was a seven-fold increase over the previous
census in people stating "none".
 The Australian Bureau of Statistics Census
Dictionary defines "No Religion" as a
category of religion which has sub
categories such as
agnosticism, atheism, Humanism and
rationalism.

12. 2006 2001 2006 2001
Total Christian 63.9% 68.0% 12,685,829 12,764,342
... Roman Catholic
... Anglican 25.8% 26.6% 5,126,884 5,001,624
... Uniting Church in 18.7% 20.7% 3,718,250 3,881,162
Australia 5.7% 6.7% 1,135,423 1,248,674
... Presbyterian and 3.0% 3.4% 596,668 637,530
Reformed 2.7% 2.8% 544,162 529,444
... Orthodox 1.6% 1.6% 316,740 309,205
... Baptist 1.3% 1.3% 251,108 250,365
... Lutheran 1.1% 1.0% 219,689 194,592
... Pentecostal 3.7% 3.6% 736,004 675,422
... Other Protestant 0.2% 0.2% 40,901 36,324
... Oriental Orthodox
Buddhist 2.1% 1.9% 418,753 357,813
Muslim 1.7% 1.5% 340,397 281,578
Hindu 0.7% 0.5% 148,123 95,473
Jewish 0.5% 0.5% 113,876 98,125
Other Religions 1.2% 0.5% 242,848 92,369
No Religion 18.7% 15.5% 3,706,556 2,905,993
Unknown 11.2% 11.6% 2,223,959 2,187,688
Total Population 100.0% 100.0% 19,855,293 18,769,249

13.  The climate of
Australia varies
widely, but by far
the largest part of
Australia is desert
or semi-arid.

14.  Only the south-east and south-west
corners have a temperate climate and
moderately fertile soil.
 The northern part of the country has a
tropical climate, varied between tropical
rainforests, grasslands, part desert.
 Australia's climate is ruled by the
hot, sinking air of the subtropical high
pressure belt which moves north and
south with the seasons

15.  The rainfall patterns
across Australia are
highly seasonal.
Compared to the
Earth's other
continental
landmasses Australia
is very dry. More than
80% of the continent
has an annual rainfall
of less than 600 mm.

16.  Australia has been blessed with
wonderful, unique and iconic wildlife.
 Australia boasts a range of unique and
diverse animals. Kangaroos, koalas and
platypuses/platypi often provoke a
sense of wonder from those unfamiliar
with them.

17.  The fauna of Australia consists of a huge
variety of animals; some 83% of
mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and
insects and 93% of amphibians that
inhabit the continent are endemic to
Australia.
 geologic and climatic events helped to
make Australia's fauna unique.

18.  Australia has a
rich
mammalian
fossil history, as
well as a
variety of
extant
mammalian
species,
dominated by
the marsupials.

19.  Australia and its
territories are
home to around
800 species of
bird; about 350 of
these are
endemic to the
zoogeographic
region that
covers Australia,
New Guinea and
New Zealand

20.  Australia has four families of native frogs
and one introduced toad, the Cane Toad.
 Australia has two species of crocodile.
The Saltwater Crocodile, known
colloquially as the "salty," is the largest
living crocodile species; reaching over
7 m, and weighing over 1,000 kg, they can
and do kill people.

21.  The Australian coast is visited by six species
of sea turtle: the Flatback, Green
Sea,Hawksbill, Olive
Ridley, Loggerhead and the Leatherback
Sea Turtles; all are protected in Australian
waters. There are 29 species of Australian
freshwater turtles from eight genera of
family Chelidae.
 Australia is the only continent where
venomous snakes outnumber their non-
venomous cousins. Australian snakes
belong to seven families. Of these, the most
venomous species, including the Fierce
Snake,Eastern Brown
Snake, Taipan and Eastern Tiger Snake are
from the family Elapidae.

22.  There are more than 700 species of
lizards in Australia with representatives of
five families.There are >130 species in 20
genera of gecko found throughout the
Australian continent.

23.  More than 4,400 species of fish inhabit
Australia's waterways; of these, 90% are
endemic. However, because of the relative
scarcity of freshwater waterways, Australia
has only about 300 species of freshwater fish.

24.  Of the estimated 200,000 animal species
in Australia, about 96% are invertebrates.
While the full extent of invertebrate
diversity is uncertain, 90%
of insects and molluscs are considered
endemic.

25.  Tourism is an important industry for the
Australian economy. In the financial year
2011/12, the tourism industry represented
2.5% of Australia's GDP at a value of
approximately A$35 billion to the national
economy.
 Popular Australian destinations include the
coastal cities of Sydney and Melbourne, as
well as other high profile destinations
including regional Queensland, the Gold
Coast and theGreat Barrier Reef, the world's
largest reef.

26.  The Great Barrier Reef attracts up to two
million visitors every year.
 Major events attract a large number of
tourists. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras is an annual event that
attractions thousands of international
tourists