Australia

  

Governor-General: Quentin Bryce (2008)Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Prime Minister: Julia Gillard (2010)

Land area: 2,941,283 sq mi (7,617,931 sq km); total area: 2,967,893 sq mi (7,686,850 sq km)

Population (2010 est.): 21,515,754 (growth rate: 1.1%); birth rate: 12.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.67/1000; life expectancy: 81.7; density per sq mi: 7

Capital (2003 est.): Canberra, 327,700

Largest cities: Sydney, 4,250,100; Melbourne, 3,610,800; Brisbane, 1,545,700; Perth, 1,375,200; Adelaide, 1,087,600

Monetary unit: Australian dollar

The continent of Australia, with the island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m). The western half of the continent is occupied by a desert plateau that rises into barren, rolling hills near the west coast. The Great Barrier Reef, extending about 1,245 mi (2,000 km), lies along the northeast coast. The island of Tasmania (26,178 sq mi; 67,800 sq km) is off the southeast coast.

Government

Democracy. Symbolic executive power is vested in the British monarch, who is represented throughout Australia by the governor-general.

History

The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there at least 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. There may have been between a half million to a full million Aborigines at the time of European settlement; today about 350,000 live in Australia.

Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships sighted Australia in the 17th century; the Dutch landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606. In 1616 the territory became known as New Holland. The British arrived in 1688, but it was not until Captain James Cook's voyage in 1770 that Great Britain claimed possession of the vast island, calling it New South Wales. A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson (what is now Sydney) in 1788, and about 161,000 transported English convicts were settled there until the system was suspended in 1839.

Free settlers and former prisoners established six colonies: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859). Various gold rushes attracted settlers, as did the mining of other minerals. Sheep farming and grain soon grew into important economic enterprises. The six colonies became states and in 1901 federated into the Commonwealth of Australia with a constitution that incorporated British parliamentary and U.S. federal traditions. Australia became known for its liberal legislation: free compulsory education, protected trade unionism with industrial conciliation and arbitration, the secret ballot, women's suffrage, maternity allowances, and sickness and old-age pensions.

From the World Wars to the End of the Millennium

Australia fought alongside Britain in World War I, notably with the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the Dardanelles campaign (1915). Participation in World War II helped Australia forge closer ties to the United States. Parliamentary power in the second half of the 20th century shifted between three political parties: the Australian Labour Party, the Liberal Party, and the National Party. Australia relaxed its discriminatory immigration laws in the 1960s and 1970s, which favored Northern Europeans. Thereafter, about 40% of its immigrants came from Asia, diversifying a population that was predominantly of English and Irish heritage. An Aboriginal movement that grew in the 1960s gained full citizenship and improved education for the country's poorest socioeconomic group.

In March 1996, the opposition Liberal Party–National Party coalition easily won the national elections, removing the Labour Party after 13 years in power. Pressure from the new, conservative One Nation Party threatened to reduce the gains made by Aborigines and to limit immigration.

In Sept. 1999, Australia led the international peacekeeping force sent to restore order in East Timor after pro-Indonesian militias began massacring civilians to thwart East Timor's referendum on independence.

Changes in Immigration Policy

John Howard won a third term in Nov. 2001, primarily as the result of his tough policy against illegal immigration. This policy has also brought him considerable criticism: refugees attempting to enter Australia—most of them from Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq and numbering about 5,000 annually—have been imprisoned in bleak detention camps and subjected to a lengthy immigration process. Asylum-seekers have staged riots and hunger strikes. Howard has also dealt with refugees through the “Pacific solution,” which reroutes boat people from Australian shores to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. In 2004, however, the government began easing its policies on immigration.

Australia on the International Stage as Peacekeeper

Prime Minister Howard sent 2,000 Australian troops to fight alongside American and British troops in the 2003 Iraq war, despite strong opposition among Australians.

In July 2003, Australia successfully restored order to the Solomon Islands, which had descended into lawlessness during a brutal civil war.

Australian citizens have been the victims of two significant terrorist attacks in recent years: the 2002 Bali, Indonesia, bombings by a group with ties to al-Qaeda in which 202 died, many of whom were Australian, and the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Indonesia, which killed ten.

In Oct. 2004, Howard won a fourth term as prime minister. When rival security forces in East Timor began fighting each other in 2006, Australia sent 3,000 peacekeeping troops to stem the violence. Howard was defeated by the Labor Party's Kevin Rudd in elections in Nov. 2007. Rudd campaigned on a platform for change, and promised to focus on the environment, education, and healthcare. Observers predicted Rudd would maintain a close relationship with the United States. The military began withdrawing Australia’s 550 troops from Iraq in June 2008, following through on a promise made by Rudd.

The worst wildfires in Australian history killed at least 181 people in the state of Victoria, injured more than a hundred, and destroyed more than 900 houses in Feb. 2009. At least one of the fires was determined to be the work of arsonists. Australian officials were criticized for failing to evacuate those in danger. A government inquiry was requested to research the state's response to the fires.

Australia Elects Its First Female Prime Minister

Rudd's popularity plummeted in May 2010, largely because he shelved his environmental policy that centered on an emissions-trading system. In June, the Labor Party ousted him as its leader and elected his deputy, Julia Gillard. She became Australia's first female prime minister in June and promptly called for elections, which were held in August. They resulted in a hung parliament, with neither the incumbent Labor Party nor the conservative Liberal-National coalition, led by Tony Abbott, taking a majority of seats. It is the country's first hung parliament in 70 years. After several weeks of attempting to woo members of parliament to her side, Gillard succeeded in early September, when two independents backed her. It was enough to give her the slimmest majority: 76 out of 150 seats.

the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria experienced serious flooding, including in the city of Brisbane. Please check the latest travel advisories for updates and travel information. While much of Queensland was flooded, many popular tourist destinations were unaffected. Queensland Tourism has further information.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sure it's got deadly spiders, snakes and sharks, but they don't stop people from coming here, never mind living here. And for good reason. From the prehistoric gorges of Kakadu National Park, to the white sails of theSydney Opera House, Australia is a country as big your imagination. Kick back on a beach as white as your mother's wedding dress inWestern Australia; lose yourself in the labyrinthine laneways of culture-richMelbourne or be humbled by red desert sunsets over Uluru. Turn south to visit hundred year old giants that loom large in the forests of Tasmania or take on Sydney, a heady mix of surf, sun, money and sex, and you'll soon realise Australia is a place to be discovered, not feared.

The locals seem to be cursed with an insatiable yen for the unknown and they bend to it willingly, fleeing for weeks, months even, into that vast spot in the middle called the outback. And it's a big out back; you can travel indefinitely without coming within cooee of a phone call or an email. Nuts! Instead you have to make do with landscapes that shift from saffron to ochre beneath a seamless canopy of deep indigo. And then there are ancient Aboriginal cultures, dazzling salt pans, secretive reptiles, rough-cut canyons and pristine gorges. Some Australians simply go walkabout, traversing national parks filled with such devilish critters as koalas, sugar gliders and knee-high wallabies. Others whiz through world heritage rainforests on mountain bikes or apply ropes to their limbs, chalk to their hands, truly skimpy shorts to their nether regions and scale lofty summits like bronze-backed insects. And some simply launch themselves into the sky with parachutes attached to their backs.

Then there are the Australians who feel separation pains if they stray from the coast. So they don't. They sport permanent golden hues, adopt languid gaits and wear cheeky grins. They glue themselves to surfboards, kayaks and boats and loll in the surf for hours (days even!). As if that weren't enough, they flee to the Whitsunday Islands (Qld), the Ningaloo Reef (WA) or the immense Great Barrier Reef (Qld) and spend days under the water defending themselves from kaleidoscopic marine life, colossal whale sharks, giant turtles and mischievous dolphins.

Fortunately, this lovely country is not without its urban havens, and in its dizzying cities you'll find folk who indulge in saner delights. Rather than risk life and limb in the feisty Australian bush, they litter the beaches like comatose seals, reluctant to move unless emergency dictates. Or they populate pubs with enormous beer gardens and focus all their energy on the pint/schooner bicep curl. They watch hours of sport and possess a vast amount of knowledge about most games, without ever having actually played them. Of course Australia's metropolises also offer glorious ways to wrap your head around the country's culture in myriad museums, theatres, festivals and galleries. A solid study of the bars and restaurants will reveal the population's helpless addiction to coffee, seafood, organics and global cuisine; and the wine industry delights discerning connoisseurs from around the world.

Ask an Australian what issues make them tick and you'll get a diversity of responses to match the multicultural mix. In general, they're a pretty laid-back mob and the fundamentals of family, friends and fun tend to keep them relatively placated. To avoid 'spirited' discussions it's best to keep talk regarding lacklustre performances of Australian sports teams to a minimum. Many Australians feel a strong connection to the land, regardless of their background, and in recent years, the fragile state of the environment has emerged as a universal equalizer. As much of the world tackles climate change at a theoretical level, Australians experience it at a micro level. This is the driest continent in the world, and water restrictions are now the norm in most cities. But Australians tend to face such difficulties with the same cocky spirit as anything else, and although the question of when will it rain/how will it rain/will it please bloody rain is a constant, they cope with little complaint.

So yep, it's a tough life down under. But only if you're averse to wide open skies, dramatic landscapes, countless activities, fine wining and dining, and friendly locals. We know, because we've done our research.

Posted in: country wikipedia