Australia

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Australia
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General Information

• Population 21,007,310 (53rd)
• Land Size 7,686,850 km² (6th)
• Currency Australian Dollar (AUD)
• Independence January 01, 1901
• Capital Canberra
• Largest City Sydney

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General Information

• Australia, officially the Commonwealth of
  Australia, is a country in the southern
  hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's
  smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania
  and numerous other islands in the Indian and
  Pacific Oceans.
• Neighboring countries include Indonesia, East
  Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the
  Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the
  northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.

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General Information

• The name 'Australia' comes from the Latin phrase
  terra australis incognita ("unknown southern
  land).
• Australia is the only single country to occupy an
  entire continent.
• 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)

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History

• Prior to European settlement in the late 1700's
  and early 1800's, the Australian mainland was
  inhabited by around 250 individual nations of
  indigenous Australians who lived sustainably on
  the land for around 40,000 years.
• After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north
  and then European discovery by Dutch explorers in
  1606, the eastern half of Australia was later
  claimed by the British in 1770 and initially
  settled through penal transportation to the
  colony of New South Wales, commencing on 26
  January 1788.

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History

• As the population grew and new areas were
  explored, another five largely self-governing
  Crown Colonies were established during the 19th
  century.
• On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a
  federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was
  formed. Since federation, Australia has
  maintained a stable liberal democratic political
  system and remains a Commonwealth realm.

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History

• The new country took advantage of its natural
  resources to rapidly develop 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
  1990s, a performance due in large part to
  economic reforms adopted in the 1980s.

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Government and politics

• The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional
  democracy based on a federal division of powers.
  The form of government used in Australia is a
  constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
  system of government.
• Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a
  role that is distinct from her position as
  monarch of the other Commonwealth realms.

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Government and politics

• The Queen is represented by the Governor-General
  at federal level and by the Governors at state
  level. Although the Constitution gives extensive
  executive powers to the Governor-General, these
  are normally exercised only on the advice of the
  Prime Minister.
• The most notable exercise of the
  Governor-General's reserve powers outside the
  Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of
  the Whitlam Government in the constitutional
  crisis of 1975.

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Geography

• world's smallest continent but sixth-largest
  country population concentrated along the
  eastern and southeastern coasts the invigorating
  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
• By far the largest part of Australia is desert or
  semi-arid 40 of Australia is covered by sand
  dunes. Only the southeast and southwest corners
  have a temperate climate and moderately fertile
  soil. The northern part of the country has a
  tropical climate part is tropical rainforests,
  part grasslands, and part desert.

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Geography

• The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest
  coral reef, and lies a short distance off the
  northeast coast and extends for over 1,200
  kilometers.

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Geography

• Uluru (until 1986 known as Ayers Rock) is the
  largest monolith in the world and is located in
  central Australia. (A monolith is a monument or
  natural feature such as a mountain, consisting of
  a single massive stone or rock.)

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Economy

• Australia's economic development was slow at
  first and based on the export of wool. This all
  changed with the discovery of gold in 1851 and
  mining has, overall, been the most important
  sector of the Australian economy. A large portion
  of Australian money comes from their export
  commodities coal, gold, meat, wool, aluminum,
  iron ore, wheat, machinery transport equipment.
• By the late 20th century, Australia had a
  prosperous Western-style mixed economy.

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Economy

• Australia has an enviable, strong economy with a
  per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West
  European economies.
• In recent years, the Australian economy has been
  resilient in the face of global economic decline,
  with steady growth.
• Robust business and consumer confidence and high
  export prices for raw materials and agricultural
  products are fueling the economy, particularly in
  mining states.

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Economy

• Australia's emphasis on reforms, low inflation, a
  housing market boom, and growing ties with China
  have been key factors behind the economy's 16
  solid years of expansion.
• Australia's budget has been in surplus since 2002
  due to strong revenue growth.

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Economy

• Many raw materials (including resources suggested
  to exist but yet to be discovered) remain mostly
  unused. Australia is often referred to by
  economists as the "world's farm", but despite
  this emphasis on the agriculture sector, in
  recent years the Australian government has been
  focusing on the tourism, education and technology
  markets.

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Demographics

• Most of the Australian population descends from
  19th and 20th century immigrants, most from Great
  Britain and Ireland to begin with, but from other
  sources in later years. Although Australia was
  founded as a penal colony, the transportation of
  British convicts to Australian colonies was
  gradually phased out between 1840 and 1868.
• During the "gold rush" of the late 19th century,
  the convicts and their descendants were rapidly
  overshadowed by hundreds of thousands of free
  settlers from many different countries for
  example, in the 1850s about two per cent of the
  combined populations of Britain and Ireland
  emigrated to New South Wales and Victoria.

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Demographics

• The native population, the Australian Aborigines
  and Torres Strait Islanders, make up 2.2 of the
  population.
• In common with many other developed countries,
  Australia is currently experiencing a demographic
  shift towards an older population, with more
  people retiring and fewer people of working age.

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Demographics

• Similarly, a large number of Australian citizens
  (750,000 as of 2005) live outside of their home
  country. This number (almost 5) represents a
  higher per capita percentage of overseas
  residents than many other countries including the
  USA.
• Because of the aging population, Australia
  maintains one of the most active immigration
  programs in the world, absorbing tens of
  thousands of immigrants from all over the world
  every year. Most permanent resident visas are
  granted on the basis of professional skills or
  family associations.

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Demographics

• School attendance is compulsory throughout
  Australia, starting at 6 years and ending at 15
  years (16 years in South Australia and Tasmania
  and 17 years in Western Australia and
  Queensland), contributing to an adult literacy
  rate that is assumed to be 99.
• The Programme for International Student
  Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, currently
  ranks Australia's education as the 8th best in
  the world a significantly better ranking than
  the OECD average.

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Language

• English is the primary language used in
  Australia. Yet their colorful vocabulary, accent,
  phonetics system and slang ('Strine') can take a
  lot of getting used to.
• In 1788, there were about 250 separate Aboriginal
  languages spoken in Australia, plus dialects.
  Today, only two thirds of these languages survive
  and only 20 of them are still strong enough to
  have chance of surviving well into the next
  century. In addition to these there are also the
  languages of immigrants from Europe, the Middle
  East and Asia.

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Aussie modesty

• Australians are very down to earth and always
  mindful of not giving the impression that they
  think they are better than anyone else.
• They value authenticity, sincerity, and loathe
  pretentiousness.
• Australians prefer people who are modest, humble,
  self- deprecating and with a sense of humor.

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Aussie modesty

• They do not draw attention to their academic or
  other achievements and tend to distrust people
  who do.
• They often downplay their own success, which may
  make them appear not to be achievement-oriented.

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Mates

• Australians place a high value on relationships.
• With a relatively small population, it is
  important to get along with everyone, since you
  never know when your paths may cross again.

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A multicultural society

• The initial population of Australia was made up
  of Aborigines and people of British and Irish
  descent.
• After World War II there was heavy migration from
  Europe, especially from Greece, Italy, Germany,
  the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, and Turkey.
  
• This was in response to the Australian policy of
  proactively trying to attract immigrants to boost
  the population and work force.

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A multicultural society

• In the last thirty years, Australia has
  liberalized its immigration policy and opened its
  borders to South East Asia.
• This has caused a real shift in self-perception
  as Aussies begin to re-define themselves as a
  multi-cultural and multi-faith society rather
  then the old homogenous, white, Anglo- Saxon,
  Protestant nation.

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A multicultural society

• Since 1945 more than six million people from
  across the world have come to Australia to live.
• Today, more than 20 per cent of Australians are
  foreign born and more than 40 per cent are of
  mixed cultural origin.
• 226 languages are spoken in Australian homes -
  after English, the most popular are Italian,
  Greek, Cantonese and Arabic.
• most of the worlds cuisines
• many colourful festivals
• a rainbow of religious beliefs

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Australian English

• Convict influence
• Early British English influence
• Early Irish English influence
• The Goldfields
• Recent history
• close ties with the USA Americanisation
• Homogenising influence of nationwide television,
  movies and radio
• colloquial language distinctively Australian
  spoken by older people
• Aboriginal borrowings

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Australian English

• Australian English is most similar to New Zealand
  English, each having a shared history and
  geographical proximity. Both use the expression
  different to (also encountered in British
  English, but not American) as well as different
  from.
• There is also some influence from Irish English,
  but perhaps not as much as might be expected
  given that many Australians are of Irish descent.

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Australian English

• Some elements of Aboriginal languages have been
  adopted by Australian English  mainly as names
  for places, flora and fauna (for example dingo).
  Beyond that, little has been adopted into the
  wider language, except for some localized terms
  and slang. Some examples are cooee and Hard yakka.

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Australian English

• Australian English makes frequent use of
  diminutives. They are formed in various ways and
  are often used to indicate familiarity. Some
  examples are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue),
  footy (Australian rules football, rugby union
  football or rugby league football).

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ANZAC Day

• Anzac Day is commemorated by Australia and New
  Zealand on 25 April every year to honor members
  of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
  (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during
  World War I. Anzac Day is also celebrated in the
  Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.
• In Turkey the name "Anzac Cove" was officially
  recognized by the Turkish government on Anzac Day
  in 1985.