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 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. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.
Country Name
Conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia
Conventional short form: Australia
Capital
Name: Canberra
Geographic coordinates: 35 17 S, 149 13 E
Time difference: UTC+10
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in October; ends last Sunday in March Note: Australia is divided into three time zones
Location
Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Coordinates
27 00 S, 133 00 E
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
Land Boundaries
0 km
Coastline
25,760 km
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
Lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m Arable land: 6.15% (includes about 27 million hectares of cultivated grassland)
Permanent crops: 0.04% Other: 93.81% (2005)
Government Type
Federal parliamentary democracy
Administrative Divisions
6 states and 2 territories*; Australian Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Independence
1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies)
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
Political Parties
Australian Democrats [Lyn ALLISON]; Australian Greens [Bob BROWN]; Australian Labor Party [Kevin RUDD]; Country Liberal Party [Jodeen CARNEY]; Family First Party [Steve FIELDING]; Liberal Party [John Winston HOWARD]; The Nationals [Mark VAILE]
Blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and a large seven-pointed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant known as the Commonwealth or Federation Star, representing the federation of the colonies of Australia in 1901; the star depicts one point for each of the six original states and one representing all of Australia's internal and external territories; on the fly half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in white with one small five-pointed star and four larger, seven-pointed stars
Telephones - Main Lines in Use
9.94 million (2006)
Telephones - Mobile Cellular
18.42 million (2005)
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 - 19 (10 Intelsat - 4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean, 2 Inmarsat - Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, 2 Globalstar, 5 other) (2005)
Internet Country Code
.au
Internet Hosts
7.773 million (2006)
Internet Users
14.664 million (2006)
Source : The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency Last Update : 16 August 2007
