Australia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the country. For the continent, see Australia (continent). For other uses, see Australia (disambiguation).

Commonwealth of Australia

Flag

Coat of arms

Anthem: "Advance Australia Fair" [N 1]

Capital

Canberra
3518.48S 1497.47E

Largest city

Sydney

Official languages

None[N 2]

National language

English (de facto)[N 2]

Demonym

Australian Aussie[3][4] Federal parliamentaryconstitutional monarchy

Government

-Monarch

Elizabeth II

-Governor-General

Quentin Bryce

-Prime Minister

Tony Abbott

-Chief Justice

Robert French

Legislature -Upper house

Parliament Senate

-Lower house

House of Representatives

Independence from the United Kingdom -Constitution 1 January 1901

-Statute of Westminster

11 December 1931

-Statute of Westminster Adoption Act -Australia Act

9 October 1942 (with effect

from 3 September 1939)

3 March 1986

Area -Total 7,692,024 km2 (6th) 2,969,907 sq mi Population -2013 estimate 23,313,935[5] (52nd)

-2011 census

21,507,717[6]

-Density

2.8/km2 (233rd) 7.3/sq mi

GDP (PPP) -Total

2013 estimate $998.265 billion[7] (17th)

-Per capita

$43,042[7] (10th)

GDP (nominal) -Total

2013 estimate $1.488 trillion[7] (12th)

-Per capita

$64,157[7] (5th)

Gini (2006)

30.5[8] medium

HDI (2013)

0.938[9] very high 2nd

Currency Time zone -Summer (DST)

Australian dollar (AUD) various[N 3](UTC+8 to +10.5) various[N 3] (UTC+8 to +11.5)

Date format Drives on the Calling code ISO 3166 code Internet TLD

dd-mm-yyyy left +61 AU .au

Australia

/strelj, -, -i/,[10][11] officially the Commonwealth of Australia,[12] is a country comprising

the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries includeIndonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. For at least 40,000 years[13] before the first British settlement in the late 18th century,[14][15] Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians,[16]who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups.[17][18] After the discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The federation comprises six states and several territories. The population of 23.1 million[5] is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states.[19] Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy. In 2012 Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita income,[20] Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.[21] Australia is a

member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS,Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the Pacific Islands Forum.