NOTES on Australia

......... just so we don't forget who we are.

Australia is the sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil.

Australia is the only nation to occupy an entire continent.

Australia is estimated to be 7682300.0 square Kilometres in land area.

Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands.

The Australian mainland is the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on Earth.

Australia's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The Australian mainland is three times the size of Greenland, the next largest island .

Australia is an independent Western democracy with a population of more than 22 million.

The Australian island state, Tasmania, is the 26th largest island in the world.

Australia lies between 10° and 39° South latitude, about one third lies in the tropics.

Australia has a coastline of 36,735km.

Australia has one flag to fly over the whole continent.

Australia's highest point is Mount Kosciuszko, which is only 2,228 metres.

Australia’s average elevation is only 330 metres, the lowest of all the continents.

Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, platypus and spiny anteater.

The Australian federation consists of six States and two Territories.

Australian inland (state) borders mostly follow lines of longitude and latitude.

The largest Australian State, Western Australia is about the same size as Western Europe.

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth.  (Only Antarctica is dryer).

Australia's State Capitals  - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, Darwin.

The Australian National Flag was first flown on 3 September 1901, in Melbourne.

Australia has accepted over six million people as new settlers, from 200 countries, since 1945.

Australian migrants or the first-generation children of migrants = 4 in 10 in the population.

Of all Australian migrants half are from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Australia's 3 time zones - Western: GMT +8 hrs, Central: GMT +9.5 hrs, Eastern: GMT +10hrs.

Australia is highly urbanised with about 70 % of the population living in the 10 largest cities.

Australians of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent numbered 410,003 in 2010.

 Australia has extremes of climate and topography from rainforests to snowfields to desert.

Australia has 20,000 species of plants, including some living fossils.

Australia’s official language is English, by common usage rather than law.

The Australian interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world.

Australia's country telephone code is 61.

Australia's area codes by state are  NSW&ACT:02, VIC&TAS:03, SA,WA &NT:08, QLD:07

Australia is home to 700 listed bird species, 400 of these species are found nowhere else.

Australia’s anthem, Advance Australia Fair, was declared the national anthem in April 1984.

Advance Australia Fair is a revised version of a late 19th-century patriotic song.

Australia's currency is the Australian dollar. (AU$)

Australia is a Member of the British Commonwealth.

Australia's Official name is the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Australian Flag:  The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven-pointed star represents the six States and the Territories, and the small stars form the Southern Cross – a prominent feature of the southern hemisphere night sky.

Australia’s coat of arms: The official emblem of the Australian Government the coat of arms was granted by King George V in 1912.  The arms displays a shield holding the badges of the six States. The shield supporters are native Australian fauna – a kangaroo and an emu, and fauna -  yellow wattle.

Australia's popular tourist destinations

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end 

may also be only the beginning. - Ivy Baker Priest