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Wikipedia

Australia

December 15, 2023

This article is about the country. For the continent, see Australia (continent). For other uses, see Australia (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Australasia, Austrasia, or Austria.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia,[16] is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands.[17] Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest,[18] flattest,[19] and driest inhabited continent,[20][21] with the least fertile soils.[22][23] It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

Commonwealth of Australia
Anthem: "Advance Australia Fair"[N 1]
  Commonwealth of Australia
  Australian territorial claim in Antarctica
CapitalCanberra
35°18′29″S 149°07′28″E / 35.30806°S 149.12444°E / -35.30806; 149.12444
Largest citySydney (metropolitan)
Melbourne (urban)[N 2]
Official languagesNone at the federal level
National languageEnglish[N 3]
Religion
(2021)[5]
Demonym(s)
GovernmentFederal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch
Charles III
David Hurley
Anthony Albanese
LegislatureParliament
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
House of Representatives
Independence 
from the United Kingdom
1 January 1901
9 October 1942 (with effect
from 3 September 1939)
3 March 1986
Area
• Total
7,692,024[8] km2 (2,969,907 sq mi) (6th)
• Water (%)
1.79 (2015)[9]
Population
• 2023 estimate
 26,910,600[10] (53rd)
• 2021 census
 25,890,773[11]
• Density
3.5/km2 (9.1/sq mi) (192nd)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
 $1.719 trillion[12] (20th)
• Per capita
 $64,674[12] (23rd)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
 $1.688 trillion[12] (14th)
• Per capita
 $63,487[12] (10th)
Gini (2018) 32.5[13]
medium
HDI (2021) 0.951[14]
very high · 5th
CurrencyAustralian dollar ($) (AUD)
Time zoneUTC+8; +9.5; +10 (various[N 5])
• Summer (DST)
UTC+8; +9.5; +10;
+10.5; +11 (various[N 5])
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy[15]
Driving sideleft
Calling code+61
ISO 3166 codeAU
Internet TLD.au

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period.[24][25][26] Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world.[27] Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies were established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901.[28] This began a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Act 1986.[28]

Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories. Australia's population of nearly 27 million[10] is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.[29] Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.[30] It is ethnically diverse and multicultural, the product of large-scale immigration, with almost half of the population having at least one parent born overseas.[31] Australia's abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy, which generates its income from various sources including services, mining exports, banking, manufacturing, agriculture and international education.[32][33][34] Australia ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.[35]

Australia has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally.[36][37] Australia is a regional power, and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure.[38] It is a member of international groupings including the United Nations; the G20; the OECD; the World Trade Organization; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation; the Pacific Islands Forum; the Pacific Community; the Commonwealth of Nations; and the defence/security organisations ANZUS, AUKUS, and the Five Eyes. It is a major non-NATO ally of the United States.[39]

Etymology

Main article: Name of Australia

The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English[40]) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ("southern land"), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times.[41] Several sixteenth century cartographers used the word Australia on maps, but not to identify modern Australia.[42] When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was naturally applied to the new territories.[N 6]

Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland, a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland) and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts.[N 7] The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth".[48] The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst.[49] In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted.[50] In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name.[51] The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office.[52]

Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz" and "the Land Down Under" (usually shortened to just "Down Under"). Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country", "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land". The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar's 1908 poem "My Country".[53]

History

Main article: History of Australia
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Australian history.

Indigenous peoples

Main articles: Prehistory of Australia and Indigenous Australians
 
Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Indigenous Australians comprise two broad groups: the Aboriginal peoples of the Australian mainland (and surrounding islands including Tasmania), and the Torres Strait Islanders, who are a distinct Melanesian people. Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago,[24][54][55][25] with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia.[56] It is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians.[57][58] The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is recognised as the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia.[59] The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains, which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago.[60][61]

Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth.[62] At the time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians were complex hunter-gatherers with diverse economies and societies and about 250 different language groups.[63][64] Recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained.[65][66] Aboriginal Australians have an oral culture with spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime.[67]

The Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands around 4000 years ago.[68] Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas.[69]

The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically for trade by Makassan fishermen from what is now Indonesia.[70]

European exploration and colonisation

Main articles: European maritime exploration of Australia, European land exploration of Australia, and History of Australia (1788–1850)
 
Landing of James Cook at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770 to claim Australia's east coast for Great Britain

The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch.[71] The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken, captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon.[72] He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York.[73] Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated the Torres Strait Islands.[74] The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century, and although no attempt at settlement was made,[73] a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or, as in the case of the Batavia in 1629, marooned for mutiny and murder, thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit the continent.[75] In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named "New South Wales" and claimed for Great Britain.[76]

Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the First Fleet, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788,[77][78] a date which later became Australia's national day. Most early convicts were transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to "free settlers" (non-convict immigrants). While the majority of convicts settled into colonial society once emancipated, convict rebellions and uprisings were also staged, but invariably suppressed under martial law. The 1808 Rum Rebellion, the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia, instigated a two-year period of military rule.[79] The following decade, social and economic reforms initiated by Governor Lachlan Macquarie saw New South Wales transition from a penal colony to a civil society.[80][81]

The indigenous population declined for 150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectious disease.[82] Thousands more died as a result of frontier conflict with settlers.[83]

Colonial expansion

Main articles: History of Australia (1788–1850) and History of Australia (1851–1900)
 
Tasmania's Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites.

The British continued to push into other areas of the continent in the early 19th century, initially along the coast. In 1803, a settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania),[84] and in 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement.[85] The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany).[86] The Swan River Colony (present-day Perth) was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, Western Australia.[87] In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1841, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859.[88] South Australia was founded as a "free province"—it was never a penal colony.[89] Western Australia was also founded "free" but later accepted transported convicts, the last of which arrived in 1868, decades after transportation had ceased to the other colonies.[90]

In 1823, a Legislative Council nominated by the governor of New South Wales was established, together with a new Supreme Court, thus limiting the powers of colonial governors.[91] Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.[92] The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs[93] and defence.[94] South Australia became the first electorate in the world to grant men and women equal political rights, equally franchising all adults to vote and run for parliament from 1895.[95]

In the mid-19th century, explorers such as Burke and Wills went further inland to determine its agricultural potential and answer scientific questions.[96] A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China, North America and continental Europe,[97] as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees.[98]

From the 1850s a number of colonists such as William Wentworth, John Dunmore Lang and Sir Henry Parkes began to articulate ideas for an association or union of the Australian colonies.[99] From 1886, Australian colonial governments began introducing policies resulting in the removal of many Aboriginal children from their families and communities (referred to as the Stolen Generations).[100]

Federation to the World Wars

Main article: History of Australia (1901–1945)
See also: Federation of Australia, Military history of Australia during World War I, and Military history of Australia during World War II
 
The Big Picture, a painting by Tom Roberts, depicts the opening of the first Australian Parliament in 1901.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, constitutional conventions and referendums, resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation and the entering into force of the Australian Constitution.[101]

After the 1907 Imperial Conference, Australia and several other self-governing British settler colonies were given the status of self-governing "dominions" within the British Empire.[102][103] Australia was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920,[104] and subsequently of the United Nations in 1945.[105] Britain's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom. Australia adopted it in 1942,[106] but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during World War II.[107][108]

The Federal Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Capital Territory) was formed in 1911 as the location for the future federal capital of Canberra. Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927 while Canberra was being constructed.[109] The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the federal parliament in 1911.[110] Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883)[111] in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea) in 1920. The two were unified as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975.[112][113][114]

 
The 1942 Bombing of Darwin, the first of over 100 Japanese air raids on Australia during World War II

In 1914, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War, and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front.[115] Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded.[116] Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli in 1915 as the nation's "baptism of fire"—its first major military action,[117][118] with the anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove commemorated each year on Anzac Day.[119]

From 1939 to 1945, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War. Australia's armed forces fought in the Pacific, European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres.[120][121] The shock of Britain's defeat in Asia in 1942, followed soon after by the bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil, led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent, and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia's principal ally and security partner.[122] Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the United States, under the ANZUS treaty.[123]

Post-war and contemporary eras

Main article: History of Australia (1945–present)
 
Postwar migrants from Europe arriving in Australia in 1954

In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development.[124][125] Using the slogan "populate or perish", the nation encouraged a large wave of immigration from across Europe, with such immigrants referred to as "New Australians".[126]

A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War, Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972.[127] During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia,[128] and a bitter splitting of the Labor Party in 1955.[129]

As a result of a 1967 referendum, the Federal Government received a mandate to implement policies to benefit Aboriginal people, and all Indigenous Australians were included in the Census.[130] Traditional ownership of land ("native title") was recognised in law for the first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that the legal doctrine of terra nullius ("land belonging to no one") did not apply to Australia at the time of European settlement.[131]

Following the final abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973,[132] Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia.[133][134] The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations.[135] While the Australia Act 1986 severed the remaining vestigial constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom,[136] a 1999 referendum resulted in 55% of voters rejecting a proposal to abolish the Monarchy of Australia and become a republic.[137]

Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and the Iraq War from 2003 to 2009.[138] The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin.[139]

During the COVID-19 pandemic which commenced in Australia in 2020, several of Australia's largest cities were locked down for extended periods of time, and free movement across state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.[140]

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Australia and Environment of Australia
See also: Environmental issues in Australia

General characteristics

 
Topographic map of Australia. Dark green represents the lowest elevation and dark brown the highest.

Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans,[N 8] Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent[142] and sixth largest country by total area,[143] Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the "island continent"[144] and is sometimes considered the world's largest island.[145] Australia has 34,218 km (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands),[146] and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.[147]

Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44° South, and longitudes 112° and 154° East.[148] Australia's size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre.[149] The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land.[150] Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm.[151] The population density is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne.[152] In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland.[153]

 
Fitzroy Island, one of the 600 islands within the main archipelago of the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef,[154] lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith,[155] is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak (at 2,745 m (9,006 ft)), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island, and, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies, at 3,492 m (11,457 ft) and 3,355 m (11,007 ft) respectively.[156]

Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range, which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in height.[157] The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland.[157][158] These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland.[159][160][161][162] The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula.[148]

 
Uluru in the semi-arid region of Central Australia

The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country—with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert.[163][164][165] At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley, and below that the Pilbara. The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts.[166][167][168] At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia. Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast.[169][170][171][172] The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between the interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia.[171][173]

Geology

Main article: Geology of Australia
 
Basic geological regions of Australia, by age

Lying on the Indo-Australian Plate, the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history.[174][175] The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning over 3.8 billion years of the Earth's history. The Pilbara Craton is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.6–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth.[176]

Having been part of all major supercontinents, the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian, with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent. It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in the Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous.[177] When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait, separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and the mainland of Australia.[178] The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at the rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year.[179]

The Australian mainland's continental crust, excluding the thinned margins, has an average thickness of 38 km, with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km.[180] Australia's geology can be divided into several main sections, showcasing that the continent grew from west to east: the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west, Proterozoic fold belts in the centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins, metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east.[181]

The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes,[182] but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot, recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene, in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and southeastern South Australia. Volcanism also occurs in the island of New Guinea (considered geologically as part of the Australian continent), and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands.[183] Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low, with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake.[184]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Australia
 
Köppen climate types of Australia[185]

The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.[186][187] These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall (monsoon).[151] The south-west corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate.[188] The south-east ranges from oceanic (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to humid subtropical (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates. The interior is arid to semi-arid.[151]

Driven by climate change, average temperatures have risen more than 1°C since 1960. Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires. 2019 was Australia's warmest recorded year,[189] and the 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country's worst on record.[190] Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world.[191]

Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought.[192][193] Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in the early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought.[194]

Biodiversity

See also: Fauna of Australia, Flora of Australia, and Fungi of Australia
 
The koala and the eucalyptus form an iconic Australian pair.

Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia.[195] Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.[196] Australia has at least 755 species of reptile, more than any other country in the world.[197] Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species. Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in the 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species.[198] Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age—perhaps 4000 years ago—and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets, contributing to the demise of thylacines on the mainland.[199] Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries.[200]

Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts.[201] Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, and wombat, and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra.[201] Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world.[202] The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE.[203] Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement,[204] including the Australian megafauna; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them the thylacine.[205][206]

Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan, fungal and plant species.[207] All these factors have led to Australia's having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world.[208] The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for the protection of threatened species.[209] Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems;[210][211] 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention,[212] and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established.[213] Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on the 2018 Environmental Performance Index.[214] There are more than 1,800 animals and plants on Australia's threatened species list, including more than 500 animals.[215]

Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat, in South Australia, that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland/grassland was once home to an abundance of life.[216][217]

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Australia and Politics of Australia
 
Charles III,
King of Australia
 
David Hurley,
Governor-General of Australia
 
Anthony Albanese,
Prime Minister of Australia

Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.[218] The country has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its constitution, which is one of the world's oldest, since Federation in 1901. It is also one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and state and territorial governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United Kingdom (a fused executive, constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline) and the United States (federalism, a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), along with distinctive indigenous features.[219][220]

The federal government is separated into three branches:[221]

Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by the governor-general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level, who by convention act on the advice of his ministers.[223][224] Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Federal Executive Council. The governor-general, however, does have reserve powers which, in some situations, may be exercised outside the prime minister's request. These powers are held by convention and their scope is unclear. The most notable exercise of these powers was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.[225]

 
Parliament House, Canberra

In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory).[226] The House of Representatives (the lower house) has 151 members elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of population,[227] with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats.[228] Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, whose terms are not fixed but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.[226]

Australia's electoral system uses preferential voting for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT which, along with the Senate and most state upper houses, combine it with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every jurisdiction,[229] as is enrolment.[230] The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases where no party has majority support, the Governor-General has the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and, if necessary, dismiss one that has lost the confidence of Parliament.[231] Due to the relatively unique position of Australia operating as a Westminster parliamentary democracy with an elected upper house, the system has sometimes been referred to as having a "Washminster mutation",[232] or as a semi-parliamentary system.[233]

There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the states: the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition, which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party.[234][235] The Liberal National Party and the Country Liberal Party are merged state branches in Queensland and the Northern Territory that function as separate parties at a federal level.[236] Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered centre-right and the Labor Party is considered centre-left.[237] Independent members and several minor parties have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses. The Australian Greens are often considered the "third force" in politics, being the third largest party by both vote and membership.[238][239]

The most recent federal election was held on 21 May 2022 and resulted in the Australian Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, being elected to government.[240]

States and territories

Main article: States and territories of Australia
 
A map of Australia's states and territories

Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (Qld), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (Tas), Victoria (Vic) and Western Australia (WA)—and three mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the Northern Territory (NT), and the Jervis Bay Territory (JBT). The ACT and NT are mostly self-governing, except that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to modify or repeal any legislation passed by the territory parliaments.[241]

Under the constitution, the states essentially have plenary legislative power to legislate on any subject, whereas the Commonwealth (federal) Parliament may legislate only within the subject areas enumerated under section 51. For example, state parliaments have the power to legislate with respect to education, criminal law and state police, health, transport, and local government, but the Commonwealth Parliament does not have any specific power to legislate in these areas.[242] However, Commonwealth laws prevail over state laws to the extent of the inconsistency.[243]

Each state and major mainland territory has its own parliament—unicameral in the Northern Territory, the ACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states. The states are sovereign entities, although subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution. The lower houses are known as the Legislative Assembly (the House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania); the upper houses are known as the Legislative Council. The head of the government in each state is the Premier and in each territory the Chief Minister. The King is represented in each state by a governor. In the Commonwealth, the King's representative is the governor-general.[244]

The Commonwealth Parliament also directly administers the external territories of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the claimed region of Australian Antarctic Territory, as well as the internal Jervis Bay Territory, a naval base and sea port for the national capital in land that was formerly part of New South Wales.[222] The external territory of Norfolk Island previously exercised considerable autonomy under the Norfolk Island Act 1979 through its own legislative assembly and an Administrator to represent the monarch.[245] In 2015, the Commonwealth Parliament abolished self-government, integrating Norfolk Island into the Australian tax and welfare systems and replacing its legislative assembly with a council.[246] Macquarie Island is part of Tasmania,[247] and Lord Howe Island of New South Wales.[248]

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Australia
 
Diplomatic missions of Australia

Over recent decades, Australia's foreign relations have been driven by a focus on relationships within the Asia-Pacific region and a continued close association with the United States through the ANZUS pact and its status as a major non-NATO ally of that country.[249] A regional power, Australia is a member of regional and cultural groupings including the Pacific Islands Forum, the Pacific Community and the Commonwealth of Nations, and is a participant in the ASEAN+6 mechanism and the East Asia Summit.

Australia is a member of several defence, intelligence and security groupings including the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand; the ANZUS alliance with the United States and New Zealand; the AUKUS security treaty with the United States and United Kingdom; the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the United States, India and Japan; the Five Power Defence Arrangements with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore; and the Reciprocal Access defence and security agreement with Japan.

 
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with American President Joe Biden in Kantei, Tokyo, 2022

Australia has pursued the cause of international trade liberalisation.[250] It led the formation of the Cairns Group and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation,[251][252] and is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).[253][254] In recent decades, Australia has entered into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership multilateral free trade agreements as well as bilateral free trade agreements with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.[255]

Australia maintains a deeply integrated relationship with neighbouring New Zealand, with free mobility of citizens between the two countries under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement and free trade under the Closer Economic Relations agreement.[256] The most favourably viewed countries by the Australian people in 2021 include New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and South Korea.[257] A founding member country of the United Nations, Australia is strongly committed to multilateralism,[258] and maintains an international aid program under which some 60 countries receive assistance.[259] Australia ranked fourth in the Center for Global Development's 2021 Commitment to Development Index.[260]

Military

Main articles: Australian Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, and Royal Australian Air Force
 
HMAS Canberra, a Canberra class landing helicopter dock, and HMAS Arunta, an Anzac-class frigate, sailing in formation

Australia's armed forces—the Australian Defence Force (ADF)—comprise the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in total numbering 81,214 personnel (including 57,982 regulars and 23,232 reservists) as of November 2015. The titular role of Commander-in-Chief is vested in the Governor-General, who appoints a Chief of the Defence Force from one of the armed services on the advice of the government.[261] In a diarchy, the Chief of the Defence Force serves as co-chairman of the Defence Committee, conjointly with the Secretary of Defence, in the command and control of the Australian Defence Organisation.[262]

In the 2016–2017 budget, defence spending comprised 2% of GDP, representing the world's 12th largest defence budget.[263] Australia has been involved in United Nations and regional peacekeeping, disaster relief, as well as armed conflicts from the First World War onwards.

Human rights

See also: Human rights in Australia and LGBT rights in Australia

Legal and social rights in Australia are regarded as among the most developed in the world.[35] Attitudes towards LGBT people are generally positive within Australia, and same-sex marriage has been legal in the nation since 2017.[264][265] Australia has had anti-discrimination laws regarding disability since 1992.[266]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Australia
Further information: Economic history of Australia and Tourism in Australia
 
The central business district of Sydney is the financial centre of Australia.

Australia's high-income mixed-market economy is rich in natural resources.[267] It is the world's fourteenth-largest by nominal terms, and the 18th-largest by PPP. As of 2021, it has the second-highest amount of wealth per adult, after Luxembourg,[268] and has the thirteenth-highest financial assets per capita.[269] Australia has a labour force of some 13.5 million, with an unemployment rate of 3.5% as of June 2022.[270] According to the Australian Council of Social Service, the poverty rate of Australia exceeds 13.6% of the population, encompassing 3.2 million. It also estimated that there were 774,000 (17.7%) children under the age of 15 living in relative poverty.[271][272] The Australian dollar is the national currency, which is also shared with three Island states in the Pacific: Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu.[273]

Australian government debt, about $963 billion, exceeds 45.1% of the country's total GDP, and is the world's eighth-highest.[274] Australia had the second-highest level of household debt in the world in 2020, after Switzerland.[275] Its house prices are among the highest in the world, especially in the large urban areas.[276] The large service sector accounts for about 71.2% of total GDP, followed by the industrial sector (25.3%), while the agriculture sector is by far the smallest, making up only 3.6% of total GDP.[277] Australia is the world's 21st-largest exporter and 24th-largest importer.[278][279] China is Australia's largest trading partner by a wide margin, accounting for roughly 40% of the country's exports and 17.6% of its imports.[280] Other major export markets include Japan, the United States, and South Korea.[281]

Australia has high levels of competitiveness and economic freedom, and was ranked fifth in the Human Development Index in 2021.[282] As of 2022, it is ranked twelfth in the Index of Economic Freedom and nineteenth in the Global Competitiveness Report.[283][284] It attracted 9.5 million international tourists in 2019,[285] and was ranked thirteenth among the countries of Asia-Pacific in 2019 for inbound tourism.[286] The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Australia seventh-highest in the world out of 117 countries.[287] Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $45.7 billion.[286]

Energy

Main articles: Energy policy of Australia and Renewable energy in Australia

In 2003, Australia's energy sources were coal (58.4%), hydropower (19.1%), natural gas (13.5%), liquid/gas fossil fuel-switching plants (5.4%), oil (2.9%), and other renewable resources like wind power, solar energy, and bioenergy (0.7%).[288] During the 21st century, Australia has been trending to generate more energy using renewable resources and less energy using fossil fuels. In 2020, Australia used coal for 62% of all energy (3.6% increase compared to 2013), wind power for 9.9% (9.5% increase), natural gas for 9.9% (3.6% decrease), solar power for 9.9% (9.8% increase), hydropower for 6.4% (12.7% decrease), bioenergy for 1.4% (1.2% increase), and other sources like oil and waste coal mine gas for 0.5%.[289][290]

In August 2009, Australia's government set a goal to achieve 20% of all energy in the country from renewable sources by 2020.[291] They achieved this goal, as renewable resources accounted for 27.7% of Australia's energy in 2020.[289]

Science and technology

In 2019, Australia spent A$35.6 billion on research and development, allocating about 1.79% of GDP.[292] A recent study by Accenture for the Tech Council shows that the Australian tech sector combined contributes $167 billion a year to the economy and employs 861,000 people.[293] The country's most recognized and important sector of this type is mining,[294] where Australia continues to have the highest penetration of technologies, especially drones, autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles and mine management software.[295] In addition, recent startup ecosystems in Sydney and Melbourne are already valued at $34 billion combined.[296] Australia ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index 2023.[297]

With only 0.3% of the world's population, Australia contributed 4.1% of the world's published research in 2020, making it one of the top 10 research contributors in the world.[298][299] CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, contributes 10% of all research in the country, while the rest is carried out by universities.[299] Its most notable contributions include the invention of atomic absorption spectroscopy,[300] the essential components of Wi-Fi technology,[301] and the development of the first commercially successful polymer banknote.[302]

Australia is a key player in supporting space exploration. Facilities such as the Square Kilometre Array and Australia Telescope Compact Array radio telescopes, telescopes such as the Siding Spring Observatory, and ground stations such as the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex are of great assistance in deep space exploration missions, primarily by NASA.[303]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Australia
For a more comprehensive list, see List of cities in Australia by population.

Australia has an average population density of 3.5 persons per square kilometre of total land area, which makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The population is heavily concentrated on the east coast, and in particular in the south-eastern region between South East Queensland to the north-east and Adelaide to the south-west.[304]

Australia is highly urbanised, with 67% of the population living in the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (metropolitan areas of the state and mainland territorial capital cities) in 2018.[305] Metropolitan areas with more than one million inhabitants are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.[306]

In common with many other developed countries, Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2018 the average age of the Australian population was 38.8 years.[307] In 2015, 2.15% of the Australian population lived overseas, one of the lowest proportions worldwide.[308]

 
Largest populated areas in Australia
Rank Name State Pop. Rank Name State Pop.
1 Sydney NSW 5,259,764 11 Geelong Vic 289,400
2 Melbourne Vic 4,976,157 12 Hobart Tas 251,047
3 Brisbane Qld 2,568,927 13 Townsville Qld 181,665
4 Perth WA 2,192,229 14 Cairns Qld 155,638
5 Adelaide SA 1,402,393 15 Darwin NT 148,801
6 Gold Coast–Tweed Heads Qld/NSW 706,673 16 Toowoomba Qld 143,994
7 Newcastle–Maitland NSW 509,894 17 Ballarat Vic 111,702
8 Canberra–Queanbeyan ACT/NSW 482,250 18 Bendigo Vic 102,899
9 Sunshine Coast Qld 355,631 19 Albury-Wodonga NSW/Vic 97,676
10 Wollongong NSW 305,880 20 Launceston Tas 93,332

Ancestry and immigration

Main article: Immigration to Australia
 
Australian residents by country of birth, 2021 census

Between 1788 and the Second World War, the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles (principally England, Ireland and Scotland), although there was significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century. In the decades immediately following the Second World War, Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe, with many more immigrants arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe than in previous decades. Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism,[310] and there has been a large and continuing wave of immigration from across the world, with Asia being the largest source of immigrants in the 21st century.[311]

Today, Australia has the world's eighth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 30% of the population, the highest proportion among major Western nations.[312][313] 160,323 permanent immigrants were admitted to Australia in 2018–2019 (excluding refugees),[311] whilst there was a net population gain of 239,600 people from all permanent and temporary immigration in that year.[314] The majority of immigrants are skilled,[311] but the immigration program includes categories for family members and refugees.[314] In 2020, the largest foreign-born populations were those born in England (3.8%), India (2.8%), Mainland China (2.5%), New Zealand (2.2%), the Philippines (1.2%) and Vietnam (1.1%).[315]

The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race, but asks each Australian resident to nominate up to two ancestries each census.[316] These ancestry responses are classified into broad standardised ancestry groups.[317] At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses within each standardised group as a proportion of the total population was as follows:[318] 57.2% European (including 46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European), 33.8% Oceanian,[N 9] 17.4% Asian (including 6.5% Southern and Central Asian, 6.4% North-East Asian, and 4.5% South-East Asian), 3.2% North African and Middle Eastern, 1.4% Peoples of the Americas, and 1.3% Sub-Saharan African. At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated individual ancestries as a proportion of the total population were:[5]

At the 2021 census, 3.8% of the Australian population identified as being Indigenous—Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.[N 12][320]

Language

Main article: Languages of Australia

Although English is not the official language of Australia in law, it is the de facto official and national language.[321][322] Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[323] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.[324] General Australian serves as the standard dialect.[325]

At the 2021 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home were Mandarin (2.7%), Arabic (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.3%), Cantonese (1.2%) and Punjabi (0.9%).[31]

Over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.[326] The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) for 2018–19 found that more than 120 Indigenous language varieties were in use or being revived, although 70 of those in use were endangered.[327] The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians.[328] NILS and the Australian Bureau of Statistics use different classifications for Indigenous Australian languages.[329]

The Australian sign language known as Auslan was used at home by 16,242 people at the time of the 2021 census.[330]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Australia
 
Australia is secular and hosts a diversity of religions. St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, Australia's largest religious denomination.

Australia has no state religion; Section 116 of the Australian Constitution prohibits the federal government from making any law to establish any religion, impose any religious observance, or prohibit the free exercise of any religion.[331]

At the 2021 Census, 38.9% of the population identified as having "no religion",[5] up from 15.5% in 2001.[332] The largest religion is Christianity (43.9% of the population).[5] The largest Christian denominations are the Roman Catholic Church (20% of the population) and the Anglican Church of Australia (9.8%). Multicultural immigration since the Second World War has led to the growth of non-Christian religions, the largest of which are Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%), Buddhism (2.4%), Sikhism (0.8%), and Judaism (0.4%).[5]

In 2021, just under 8,000 people declared an affiliation with traditional Aboriginal religions.[5] In Australian Aboriginal mythology and the animist framework developed in Aboriginal Australia, the Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings formed The Creation. The Dreaming established the laws and structures of society and the ceremonies performed to ensure continuity of life and land.[333]

Health

See also: Health care in Australia

Australia's life expectancy of 83 years (81 years for males and 85 years for females),[334] is the fifth-highest in the world. It has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world,[335] while cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, responsible for 7.8% of the total mortality and disease. Ranked second in preventable causes is hypertension at 7.6%, with obesity third at 7.5%.[336][337] Australia ranked 35th in the world in 2012 for its proportion of obese women[338] and near the top of developed nations for its proportion of obese adults;[339] 63% of its adult population is either overweight or obese.[340]

Australia spent around 9.91% of its total GDP to health care in 2021.[341] It introduced universal health care in 1975.[342] Known as Medicare, it is now nominally funded by an income tax surcharge known as the Medicare levy, currently at 2%.[343] The states manage hospitals and attached outpatient services, while the Commonwealth funds the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (subsidising the costs of medicines) and general practice.[342]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Australia had one of the most restrictive quarantine policies, resulting in one of the lowest death rates worldwide.[344]

Education

Main article: Education in Australia
 
Five Australian universities rank in the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings, including the Australian National University (19th).[345]

School attendance, or registration for home schooling,[346] is compulsory throughout Australia. Education is the responsibility of the individual states and territories[347] so the rules vary between states, but in general children are required to attend school from the age of about 5 until about 16.[348][349] In some states (Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales), children aged 16–17 are required to either attend school or participate in vocational training, such as an apprenticeship.[350][351][352][353]

Australia has an adult literacy rate that was estimated to be 99% in 2003.[354] However, a 2011–2012 report for the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Tasmania has a literacy and numeracy rate of only 50%.[355]

Australia has 37 government-funded universities and three private universities, as well as a number of other specialist institutions that provide approved courses at the higher education level.[356] The OECD places Australia among the most expensive nations to attend university.[357] There is a state-based system of vocational training, known as TAFE, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople.[358] About 58% of Australians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications[359] and the tertiary graduation rate of 49% is the highest among OECD countries. 30.9% of Australia's population has attained a higher education qualification, which is among the highest percentages in the world.[360][361][362]

Australia has the highest ratio of international students per head of population in the world by a large margin, with 812,000 international students enrolled in the nation's universities and vocational institutions in 2019.[363][364] Accordingly, in 2019, international students represented on average 26.7% of the student bodies of Australian universities. International education therefore represents one of the country's largest exports and has a pronounced influence on the country's demographics, with a significant proportion of international students remaining in Australia after graduation on various skill and employment visas.[365] Education is Australia's third-largest export, after iron ore and coal, and contributed over $28 billion to the economy in 2016–17.[299]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Australia
 
The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the first building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.[366]

The country is home to a diversity of cultures, a result of its history of immigration.[367] Prior to 1850, Australia was dominated by Indigenous cultures.[368][369] Since then, Australian culture has primarily been a Western culture, strongly influenced by Anglo-Celtic settlers.[370][371] Other influences include Australian Aboriginal culture, the traditions brought to the country by waves of immigration from around the world,[372] and the culture of the United States.[373] The cultural divergence and evolution that has occurred over the centuries since European settlement has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture.[374][375]

Arts

Main articles: Australian art, Australian literature, Theatre of Australia, and Dance in Australia
 
Sidney Nolan's Snake mural (1970), held at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, is inspired by the Aboriginal creation myth of the Rainbow Serpent, as well as desert flowers in bloom after a drought.[376]

Australia has over 100,000 Aboriginal rock art sites,[377] and traditional designs, patterns and stories infuse contemporary Indigenous Australian art, "the last great art movement of the 20th century" according to critic Robert Hughes;[378] its exponents include Emily Kame Kngwarreye.[379] Early colonial artists showed a fascination with the unfamiliar land.[380] The impressionistic works of Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and other members of the 19th-century Heidelberg School—the first "distinctively Australian" movement in Western art—gave expression to nationalist sentiments in the lead-up to Federation.[380] While the school remained influential into the 1900s, modernists such as Margaret Preston, and, later, Sidney Nolan, explored new artistic trends.[380] The landscape remained central to the work of Aboriginal watercolourist Albert Namatjira,[381] as well as Fred Williams, Brett Whiteley and other post-war artists whose works, eclectic in style yet uniquely Australian, moved between the figurative and the abstract.[380][382]

Australian literature grew slowly in the decades following European settlement though Indigenous oral traditions, many of which have since been recorded in writing, are much older.[383] In the 19th-century, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson captured the experience of the bush using a distinctive Australian vocabulary.[384] Their works are still popular; Paterson's bush poem "Waltzing Matilda" (1895) is regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem.[385] Miles Franklin is the namesake of Australia's most prestigious literary prize, awarded annually to the best novel about Australian life.[386] Its first recipient, Patrick White, went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973.[387] Australian Booker Prize winners include Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally and Richard Flanagan.[388] Australian public intellectuals have also written seminal works in their respective fields, including feminist Germaine Greer and philosopher Peter Singer.[389]

Many of Australia's performing arts companies receive funding through the federal government's Australia Council.[390] There is a symphony orchestra in each state,[391] and a national opera company, Opera Australia,[392] well known for its famous soprano Joan Sutherland.[393] At the beginning of the 20th century, Nellie Melba was one of the world's leading opera singers.[394] Ballet and dance are represented by The Australian Ballet and various state companies. Each state has a publicly funded theatre company.[395]

Media

Main articles: Cinema of Australia, Television in Australia, Media of Australia, and Music of Australia
 
Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature-length narrative film

The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature-length narrative film, spurred a boom in Australian cinema during the silent film era.[396] After World War I, Hollywood monopolised the industry,[397] and by the 1960s Australian film production had effectively ceased.[398] With the benefit of government support, the Australian New Wave of the 1970s brought provocative and successful films, many exploring themes of national identity, such as Wake in Fright and Gallipoli,[399] while Crocodile Dundee and the Ozploitation movement's Mad Max series became international blockbusters.[400] In a film market flooded with foreign content, Australian films delivered a 7.7% share of the local box office in 2015.[401] The AACTAs are Australia's premier film and television awards, and notable Academy Award winners from Australia include Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger.[402]

Australia has two public broadcasters (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service), three commercial television networks, several pay-TV services,[403] and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Each major city has at least one daily newspaper,[403] and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.[403] In 2020, Reporters Without Borders placed Australia 25th on a list of 180 countries ranked by press freedom, behind New Zealand (8th) but ahead of the United Kingdom (33rd) and United States (44th).[404] This relatively low ranking is primarily because of the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia;[405] most print media are under the control of News Corporation and Nine Entertainment Co.[406]

Cuisine

Main article: Australian cuisine
 
The meringue-based pavlova is generally eaten at Christmas time.

Most Indigenous Australian groups subsisted on a simple hunter-gatherer diet of native fauna and flora, otherwise called bush tucker.[407] The first settlers introduced British and Irish cuisine to the continent.[408][409] This influence is seen in the enduring popularity of several British dishes such as fish and chips, and in quintessential Australian dishes such as the Australian meat pie, which is related to the British steak pie. Post-war immigration transformed Australian cuisine. For instance, Southern European migrants helped to build a thriving Australian coffee culture which gave rise to Australian coffee drinks such as the flat white,[410] while East Asian migration led to dishes such as the Cantonese-influenced dim sim and Chiko Roll,[411] as well as a distinct Australian Chinese cuisine. Sausage sizzles, pavlovas, lamingtons, meat pies, Vegemite and Anzac biscuits are regarded as iconic Australian foods.[412]

Australia is a leading exporter and consumer of wine.[413] Australian wine is produced mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country.[414] The nation also ranks highly in beer consumption,[415] with each state and territory hosting numerous breweries. Australia is also known for its cafe and coffee culture in urban centres.[416]

Sport and recreation

Main article: Sport in Australia
 
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is strongly associated with the history and development of cricket and Australian rules football, Australia's two most popular spectator sports.[417]

Cricket and football are the predominant sports in Australia during the summer and winter months, respectively. Australia is unique in that it has professional leagues for four football codes. Originating in Melbourne in the 1850s, Australian rules football is the most popular code in all states except New South Wales and Queensland, where rugby league holds sway, followed by rugby union.[418] Soccer, while ranked fourth in popularity and resources, has the highest overall participation rates.[419] Cricket is popular across all borders and has been regarded by many Australians as the national sport. The Australian national cricket team competed against England in the first Test match (1877) and the first One Day International (1971), and against New Zealand in the first Twenty20 International (2004), winning all three games. It has also participated in every edition of the Cricket World Cup, winning the tournament a record six times.[420]

Australia is one of five nations to have participated in every Summer Olympics of the modern era,[421] and has hosted the Games twice: 1956 in Melbourne and 2000 in Sydney.[422] It is also set to host the 2032 Games in Brisbane.[423] Australia has also participated in every Commonwealth Games,[424] hosting the event in 1938, 1962, 1982, 2006 and 2018.[425] As well as being a regular FIFA World Cup participant, Australia has won the OFC Nations Cup four times and the AFC Asian Cup once—the only country to have won championships in two different FIFA confederations.[426]

Other major international events held in Australia include the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. The annual Melbourne Cup horse race and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race also attract intense interest.[427] Australia is also notable for water-based sports, such as swimming and surfing.[428] The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia, and the volunteer lifesaver is one of the country's icons.[429] Snow sports take place primarily in the Australian Alps and Tasmania.[430]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Australia's royal anthem is "God Save the King", played in the presence of members of the royal family when they are in Australia. In other contexts, the national anthem of Australia, "Advance Australia Fair", is played.[1]
  2. ^ Sydney is the largest city based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs). These represent labour markets and the functional area of Australian capital cities.[2] Melbourne is larger based on ABS Significant Urban Areas (SUAs). These represent Urban Centres, or groups of contiguous Urban Centres, that contain a population of 10,000 persons or more.[3]
  3. ^ English does not have de jure status.[4]
  4. ^ The religion question is optional in the Australian census.
  5. ^ a b There are minor variations from three basic time zones; see Time in Australia.
  6. ^ The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in "A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Sir Richard Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name "Austrialia del Espíritu Santo" (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit)[43][44][45] for an island in Vanuatu.[46] The Dutch adjectival form australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south.[47]
  7. ^ For instance, the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis
  8. ^ Australia describes the body of water south of its mainland as the Southern Ocean, rather than the Indian Ocean as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). In 2000, a vote of IHO member nations defined the term "Southern Ocean" as applying only to the waters between Antarctica and 60° south latitude.[141]
  9. ^ Includes those who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry have at least partial Anglo-Celtic European ancestry.[319]
  10. ^ The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry have at least partial Anglo-Celtic European ancestry.[319]
  11. ^ Those who nominated their ancestry as "Australian Aboriginal". Does not include Torres Strait Islanders. This relates to nomination of ancestry and is distinct from persons who identify as Indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) which is a separate question.
  12. ^ Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.

References

  1. ^ . Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
    . Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
    (PDF). Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia (29th ed.). 2005 [2002]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
  2. ^ "Regional population". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  3. ^ Turnbull, Tiffanie (17 April 2023). "Melbourne overtakes Sydney as Australia's biggest city". BBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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australia, this, article, about, country, continent, continent, other, uses, disambiguation, confused, with, australasia, austrasia, austria, officially, commonwealth, sovereign, country, comprising, mainland, continent, island, tasmania, numerous, smaller, is. This article is about the country For the continent see Australia continent For other uses see Australia disambiguation Not to be confused with Australasia Austrasia or Austria Australia officially the Commonwealth of Australia 16 is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands 17 Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world s sixth largest country Australia is the oldest 18 flattest 19 and driest inhabited continent 20 21 with the least fertile soils 22 23 It is a megadiverse country and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates with deserts in the centre tropical rainforests in the north east tropical savannas in the north and mountain ranges in the south east Commonwealth of AustraliaFlag Coat of armsAnthem Advance Australia Fair N 1 source source track track track Commonwealth of Australia Australian territorial claim in AntarcticaCapitalCanberra35 18 29 S 149 07 28 E 35 30806 S 149 12444 E 35 30806 149 12444Largest citySydney metropolitan Melbourne urban N 2 Official languagesNone at the federal levelNational languageEnglish N 3 Religion 2021 5 43 9 Christianity38 9 no religion10 0 other7 2 unanswered N 4 Demonym s Australian Aussie colloquial 6 7 GovernmentFederal parliamentary constitutional monarchy MonarchCharles III Governor GeneralDavid Hurley Prime MinisterAnthony AlbaneseLegislatureParliament Upper houseSenate Lower houseHouse of RepresentativesIndependence from the United Kingdom Federation and Constitution1 January 1901 Statute of Westminster Adoption Act9 October 1942 with effectfrom 3 September 1939 Australia Act3 March 1986Area Total7 692 024 8 km2 2 969 907 sq mi 6th Water 1 79 2015 9 Population 2023 estimate26 910 600 10 53rd 2021 census25 890 773 11 Density3 5 km2 9 1 sq mi 192nd GDP PPP 2023 estimate Total 1 719 trillion 12 20th Per capita 64 674 12 23rd GDP nominal 2023 estimate Total 1 688 trillion 12 14th Per capita 63 487 12 10th Gini 2018 32 5 13 mediumHDI 2021 0 951 14 very high 5thCurrencyAustralian dollar AUD Time zoneUTC 8 9 5 10 various N 5 Summer DST UTC 8 9 5 10 10 5 11 various N 5 Date formatdd mm yyyy 15 Driving sideleftCalling code 61ISO 3166 codeAUInternet TLD auThe ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia 50 000 to 65 000 years ago during the last glacial period 24 25 26 Arriving by sea they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world 27 Australia s written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia in 1606 In 1770 the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales The European population grew in subsequent decades and by the end of the 1850s gold rush most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self governing British colonies were established Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 28 This began a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 and culminating in the Australia Act 1986 28 Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories Australia s population of nearly 27 million 10 is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard 29 Canberra is the nation s capital while its most populous cities are Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth and Adelaide 30 It is ethnically diverse and multicultural the product of large scale immigration with almost half of the population having at least one parent born overseas 31 Australia s abundant natural resources and well developed international trade relations are crucial to the country s economy which generates its income from various sources including services mining exports banking manufacturing agriculture and international education 32 33 34 Australia ranks highly for quality of life health education economic freedom civil liberties and political rights 35 Australia has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally 36 37 Australia is a regional power and has the world s thirteenth highest military expenditure 38 It is a member of international groupings including the United Nations the G20 the OECD the World Trade Organization Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation the Pacific Islands Forum the Pacific Community the Commonwealth of Nations and the defence security organisations ANZUS AUKUS and the Five Eyes It is a major non NATO ally of the United States 39 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Indigenous peoples 2 2 European exploration and colonisation 2 3 Colonial expansion 2 4 Federation to the World Wars 2 5 Post war and contemporary eras 3 Geography 3 1 General characteristics 3 2 Geology 3 3 Climate 3 4 Biodiversity 4 Government and politics 4 1 States and territories 4 2 Foreign relations 4 3 Military 4 4 Human rights 5 Economy 5 1 Energy 5 2 Science and technology 6 Demographics 6 1 Ancestry and immigration 6 2 Language 6 3 Religion 6 4 Health 6 5 Education 7 Culture 7 1 Arts 7 2 Media 7 3 Cuisine 7 4 Sport and recreation 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Sources 12 Bibliography 13 Further reading 14 External linksEtymologyMain article Name of Australia The name Australia pronounced e ˈ s t r eɪ l i e in Australian English 40 is derived from the Latin Terra Australis southern land a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times 41 Several sixteenth century cartographers used the word Australia on maps but not to identify modern Australia 42 When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century the name Terra Australis was naturally applied to the new territories N 6 Until the early 19th century Australia was best known as New Holland a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 as Nieuw Holland and subsequently anglicised Terra Australis still saw occasional usage such as in scientific texts N 7 The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders who said it was more agreeable to the ear and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth 48 The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817 when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst 49 In December 1817 Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted 50 In 1824 the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name 51 The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office 52 Colloquial names for Australia include Oz and the Land Down Under usually shortened to just Down Under Other epithets include the Great Southern Land the Lucky Country the Sunburnt Country and the Wide Brown Land The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar s 1908 poem My Country 53 HistoryMain article History of Australia For a chronological guide see Timeline of Australian history Indigenous peoples Main articles Prehistory of Australia and Indigenous Australians nbsp Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western AustraliaIndigenous Australians comprise two broad groups the Aboriginal peoples of the Australian mainland and surrounding islands including Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islanders who are a distinct Melanesian people Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50 000 to 65 000 years ago 24 54 55 25 with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia 56 It is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians 57 58 The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is recognised as the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia 59 The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains which have been dated to around 41 000 years ago 60 61 Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth 62 At the time of first European contact Aboriginal Australians were complex hunter gatherers with diverse economies and societies and about 250 different language groups 63 64 Recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750 000 could have been sustained 65 66 Aboriginal Australians have an oral culture with spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime 67 The Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands around 4000 years ago 68 Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas 69 The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically for trade by Makassan fishermen from what is now Indonesia 70 European exploration and colonisation Main articles European maritime exploration of Australia European land exploration of Australia and History of Australia 1788 1850 nbsp Landing of James Cook at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770 to claim Australia s east coast for Great BritainThe first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent are attributed to the Dutch 71 The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon 72 He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606 and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York 73 Later that year Spanish explorer Luis Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated the Torres Strait Islands 74 The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century and although no attempt at settlement was made 73 a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or as in the case of the Batavia in 1629 marooned for mutiny and murder thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit the continent 75 In 1770 Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain 76 Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783 the British Government sent a fleet of ships the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove Port Jackson on 26 January 1788 77 78 a date which later became Australia s national day Most early convicts were transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to free settlers non convict immigrants While the majority of convicts settled into colonial society once emancipated convict rebellions and uprisings were also staged but invariably suppressed under martial law The 1808 Rum Rebellion the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia instigated a two year period of military rule 79 The following decade social and economic reforms initiated by Governor Lachlan Macquarie saw New South Wales transition from a penal colony to a civil society 80 81 The indigenous population declined for 150 years following settlement mainly due to infectious disease 82 Thousands more died as a result of frontier conflict with settlers 83 Colonial expansion Main articles History of Australia 1788 1850 and History of Australia 1851 1900 nbsp Tasmania s Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage listed Australian Convict Sites The British continued to push into other areas of the continent in the early 19th century initially along the coast In 1803 a settlement was established in Van Diemen s Land present day Tasmania 84 and in 1813 Gregory Blaxland William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney opening the interior to European settlement 85 The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound modern day Albany 86 The Swan River Colony present day Perth was established in 1829 evolving into the largest Australian colony by area Western Australia 87 In accordance with population growth separate colonies were carved from New South Wales Tasmania in 1825 South Australia in 1836 New Zealand in 1841 Victoria in 1851 and Queensland in 1859 88 South Australia was founded as a free province it was never a penal colony 89 Western Australia was also founded free but later accepted transported convicts the last of which arrived in 1868 decades after transportation had ceased to the other colonies 90 In 1823 a Legislative Council nominated by the governor of New South Wales was established together with a new Supreme Court thus limiting the powers of colonial governors 91 Between 1855 and 1890 the six colonies individually gained responsible government thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire 92 The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters notably foreign affairs 93 and defence 94 South Australia became the first electorate in the world to grant men and women equal political rights equally franchising all adults to vote and run for parliament from 1895 95 In the mid 19th century explorers such as Burke and Wills went further inland to determine its agricultural potential and answer scientific questions 96 A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China North America and continental Europe 97 as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees 98 From the 1850s a number of colonists such as William Wentworth John Dunmore Lang and Sir Henry Parkes began to articulate ideas for an association or union of the Australian colonies 99 From 1886 Australian colonial governments began introducing policies resulting in the removal of many Aboriginal children from their families and communities referred to as the Stolen Generations 100 Federation to the World Wars Main article History of Australia 1901 1945 See also Federation of Australia Military history of Australia during World War I and Military history of Australia during World War II nbsp The Big Picture a painting by Tom Roberts depicts the opening of the first Australian Parliament in 1901 On 1 January 1901 federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning constitutional conventions and referendums resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation and the entering into force of the Australian Constitution 101 After the 1907 Imperial Conference Australia and several other self governing British settler colonies were given the status of self governing dominions within the British Empire 102 103 Australia was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920 104 and subsequently of the United Nations in 1945 105 Britain s Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom Australia adopted it in 1942 106 but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during World War II 107 108 The Federal Capital Territory later renamed the Australian Capital Territory was formed in 1911 as the location for the future federal capital of Canberra Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927 while Canberra was being constructed 109 The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the federal parliament in 1911 110 Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883 111 in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea formerly German New Guinea in 1920 The two were unified as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975 112 113 114 nbsp The 1942 Bombing of Darwin the first of over 100 Japanese air raids on Australia during World War IIIn 1914 Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front 115 Of about 416 000 who served about 60 000 were killed and another 152 000 were wounded 116 Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps ANZACs at Gallipoli in 1915 as the nation s baptism of fire its first major military action 117 118 with the anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove commemorated each year on Anzac Day 119 From 1939 to 1945 Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War Australia s armed forces fought in the Pacific European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres 120 121 The shock of Britain s defeat in Asia in 1942 followed soon after by the bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia s principal ally and security partner 122 Since 1951 Australia has been a formal military ally of the United States under the ANZUS treaty 123 Post war and contemporary eras Main article History of Australia 1945 present nbsp Postwar migrants from Europe arriving in Australia in 1954In the decades following World War II Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards leisure time and suburban development 124 125 Using the slogan populate or perish the nation encouraged a large wave of immigration from across Europe with such immigrants referred to as New Australians 126 A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972 127 During this time tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia 128 and a bitter splitting of the Labor Party in 1955 129 As a result of a 1967 referendum the Federal Government received a mandate to implement policies to benefit Aboriginal people and all Indigenous Australians were included in the Census 130 Traditional ownership of land native title was recognised in law for the first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland No 2 that the legal doctrine of terra nullius land belonging to no one did not apply to Australia at the time of European settlement 131 Following the final abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973 132 Australia s demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non European immigration mostly from Asia 133 134 The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations 135 While the Australia Act 1986 severed the remaining vestigial constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom 136 a 1999 referendum resulted in 55 of voters rejecting a proposal to abolish the Monarchy of Australia and become a republic 137 Following the September 11 attacks on the United States Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and the Iraq War from 2003 to 2009 138 The nation s trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century with China becoming the nation s largest trading partner by a large margin 139 During the COVID 19 pandemic which commenced in Australia in 2020 several of Australia s largest cities were locked down for extended periods of time and free movement across state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow the spread of the SARS CoV 2 virus 140 GeographyMain articles Geography of Australia and Environment of Australia See also Environmental issues in Australia General characteristics nbsp Topographic map of Australia Dark green represents the lowest elevation and dark brown the highest Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans N 8 Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand The world s smallest continent 142 and sixth largest country by total area 143 Australia owing to its size and isolation is often dubbed the island continent 144 and is sometimes considered the world s largest island 145 Australia has 34 218 km 21 262 mi of coastline excluding all offshore islands 146 and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8 148 250 square kilometres 3 146 060 sq mi This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory 147 Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9 and 44 South and longitudes 112 and 154 East 148 Australia s size gives it a wide variety of landscapes with tropical rainforests in the north east mountain ranges in the south east south west and east and desert in the centre 149 The desert or semi arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land 150 Australia is the driest inhabited continent its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm 151 The population density is 3 4 inhabitants per square kilometre although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south eastern coastline The population density exceeds 19 500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne 152 In 2021 Australia had 10 of the global permanent meadows and pastureland 153 nbsp Fitzroy Island one of the 600 islands within the main archipelago of the Great Barrier ReefThe Great Barrier Reef the world s largest coral reef 154 lies a short distance off the north east coast and extends for over 2 000 km 1 200 mi Mount Augustus claimed to be the world s largest monolith 155 is located in Western Australia At 2 228 m 7 310 ft Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland Even taller are Mawson Peak at 2 745 m 9 006 ft on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island and in the Australian Antarctic Territory Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies at 3 492 m 11 457 ft and 3 355 m 11 007 ft respectively 156 Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland New South Wales and much of Victoria The name is not strictly accurate because parts of the range consist of low hills and the highlands are typically no more than 1 600 m 5 200 ft in height 157 The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland 157 158 These include the western plains of New South Wales and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland 159 160 161 162 The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula 148 nbsp Uluru in the semi arid region of Central AustraliaThe landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country with their tropical climate include forest woodland wetland grassland rainforest and desert 163 164 165 At the north west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley and below that the Pilbara The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts 166 167 168 At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru also known as Ayers Rock the famous sandstone monolith and the inland Simpson Tirari and Sturt Stony Gibson Great Sandy Tanami and Great Victoria deserts with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast 169 170 171 172 The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between the interior deserts and Mediterranean climate Southwest Australia 171 173 Geology Main article Geology of Australia nbsp Basic geological regions of Australia by ageLying on the Indo Australian Plate the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history 174 175 The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning over 3 8 billion years of the Earth s history The Pilbara Craton is one of only two pristine Archaean 3 6 2 7 Ga billion years ago crusts identified on the Earth 176 Having been part of all major supercontinents the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in the Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous 177 When the last glacial period ended in about 10 000 BC rising sea levels formed Bass Strait separating Tasmania from the mainland Then between about 8 000 and 6 500 BC the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea separating New Guinea the Aru Islands and the mainland of Australia 178 The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at the rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year 179 The Australian mainland s continental crust excluding the thinned margins has an average thickness of 38 km with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km 180 Australia s geology can be divided into several main sections showcasing that the continent grew from west to east the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west Proterozoic fold belts in the centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east 181 The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes 182 but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and southeastern South Australia Volcanism also occurs in the island of New Guinea considered geologically as part of the Australian continent and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands 183 Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake 184 Climate Main article Climate of Australia nbsp Koppen climate types of Australia 185 The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Nino Southern Oscillation which is correlated with periodic drought and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia 186 187 These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical predominantly summer rainfall monsoon 151 The south west corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate 188 The south east ranges from oceanic Tasmania and coastal Victoria to humid subtropical upper half of New South Wales with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates The interior is arid to semi arid 151 Driven by climate change average temperatures have risen more than 1 C since 1960 Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires 2019 was Australia s warmest recorded year 189 and the 2019 2020 bushfire season was the country s worst on record 190 Australia s greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world 191 Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought 192 193 Throughout much of the continent major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought flushing out inland river systems overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in the early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought 194 Biodiversity See also Fauna of Australia Flora of Australia and Fungi of Australia nbsp The koala and the eucalyptus form an iconic Australian pair Although most of Australia is semi arid or desert the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests Fungi typify that diversity an estimated 250 000 species of which only 5 have been described occur in Australia 195 Because of the continent s great age extremely variable weather patterns and long term geographic isolation much of Australia s biota is unique About 85 of flowering plants 84 of mammals more than 45 of birds and 89 of in shore temperate zone fish are endemic 196 Australia has at least 755 species of reptile more than any other country in the world 197 Besides Antarctica Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks and later in the 18th century by European settlers They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species 198 Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age perhaps 4000 years ago and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets contributing to the demise of thylacines on the mainland 199 Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries 200 Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts 201 Among well known Australian animals are the monotremes the platypus and echidna a host of marsupials including the kangaroo koala and wombat and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra 201 Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world 202 The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE 203 Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement 204 including the Australian megafauna others have disappeared since European settlement among them the thylacine 205 206 Many of Australia s ecoregions and the species within those regions are threatened by human activities and introduced animal chromistan fungal and plant species 207 All these factors have led to Australia s having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world 208 The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for the protection of threatened species 209 Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia s Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems 210 211 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention 212 and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established 213 Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on the 2018 Environmental Performance Index 214 There are more than 1 800 animals and plants on Australia s threatened species list including more than 500 animals 215 Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat in South Australia that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland grassland was once home to an abundance of life 216 217 Government and politicsMain articles Government of Australia and Politics of Australia nbsp Charles III King of Australia nbsp David Hurley Governor General of Australia nbsp Anthony Albanese Prime Minister of Australia Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy 218 The country has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its constitution which is one of the world s oldest since Federation in 1901 It is also one of the world s oldest federations in which power is divided between the federal and state and territorial governments The Australian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United Kingdom a fused executive constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline and the United States federalism a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house along with distinctive indigenous features 219 220 The federal government is separated into three branches 221 Legislature the bicameral Parliament comprising the monarch represented by the governor general the Senate and the House of Representatives Executive the Federal Executive Council which in practice gives legal effect to the decisions of the cabinet comprising the prime minister and other ministers of state appointed by the governor general on the advice of Parliament 222 Judiciary the High Court of Australia and other federal courts whose judges are appointed by the governor general on advice of ParliamentCharles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by the governor general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level who by convention act on the advice of his ministers 223 224 Thus in practice the governor general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Federal Executive Council The governor general however does have reserve powers which in some situations may be exercised outside the prime minister s request These powers are held by convention and their scope is unclear The most notable exercise of these powers was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975 225 nbsp Parliament House CanberraIn the Senate the upper house there are 76 senators twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory 226 The House of Representatives the lower house has 151 members elected from single member electoral divisions commonly known as electorates or seats allocated to states on the basis of population 227 with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats 228 Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years simultaneously senators have overlapping six year terms except for those from the territories whose terms are not fixed but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution 226 Australia s electoral system uses preferential voting for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT which along with the Senate and most state upper houses combine it with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every jurisdiction 229 as is enrolment 230 The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister In cases where no party has majority support the Governor General has the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and if necessary dismiss one that has lost the confidence of Parliament 231 Due to the relatively unique position of Australia operating as a Westminster parliamentary democracy with an elected upper house the system has sometimes been referred to as having a Washminster mutation 232 or as a semi parliamentary system 233 There are two major political groups that usually form government federally and in the states the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner the National Party 234 235 The Liberal National Party and the Country Liberal Party are merged state branches in Queensland and the Northern Territory that function as separate parties at a federal level 236 Within Australian political culture the Coalition is considered centre right and the Labor Party is considered centre left 237 Independent members and several minor parties have achieved representation in Australian parliaments mostly in upper houses The Australian Greens are often considered the third force in politics being the third largest party by both vote and membership 238 239 The most recent federal election was held on 21 May 2022 and resulted in the Australian Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese being elected to government 240 States and territories Main article States and territories of Australia nbsp A map of Australia s states and territoriesAustralia has six states New South Wales NSW Queensland Qld South Australia SA Tasmania Tas Victoria Vic and Western Australia WA and three mainland territories the Australian Capital Territory ACT the Northern Territory NT and the Jervis Bay Territory JBT The ACT and NT are mostly self governing except that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to modify or repeal any legislation passed by the territory parliaments 241 Under the constitution the states essentially have plenary legislative power to legislate on any subject whereas the Commonwealth federal Parliament may legislate only within the subject areas enumerated under section 51 For example state parliaments have the power to legislate with respect to education criminal law and state police health transport and local government but the Commonwealth Parliament does not have any specific power to legislate in these areas 242 However Commonwealth laws prevail over state laws to the extent of the inconsistency 243 Each state and major mainland territory has its own parliament unicameral in the Northern Territory the ACT and Queensland and bicameral in the other states The states are sovereign entities although subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution The lower houses are known as the Legislative Assembly the House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania the upper houses are known as the Legislative Council The head of the government in each state is the Premier and in each territory the Chief Minister The King is represented in each state by a governor In the Commonwealth the King s representative is the governor general 244 The Commonwealth Parliament also directly administers the external territories of Ashmore and Cartier Islands Christmas Island the Cocos Keeling Islands the Coral Sea Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the claimed region of Australian Antarctic Territory as well as the internal Jervis Bay Territory a naval base and sea port for the national capital in land that was formerly part of New South Wales 222 The external territory of Norfolk Island previously exercised considerable autonomy under the Norfolk Island Act 1979 through its own legislative assembly and an Administrator to represent the monarch 245 In 2015 the Commonwealth Parliament abolished self government integrating Norfolk Island into the Australian tax and welfare systems and replacing its legislative assembly with a council 246 Macquarie Island is part of Tasmania 247 and Lord Howe Island of New South Wales 248 Foreign relations Main article Foreign relations of Australia nbsp Diplomatic missions of AustraliaOver recent decades Australia s foreign relations have been driven by a focus on relationships within the Asia Pacific region and a continued close association with the United States through the ANZUS pact and its status as a major non NATO ally of that country 249 A regional power Australia is a member of regional and cultural groupings including the Pacific Islands Forum the Pacific Community and the Commonwealth of Nations and is a participant in the ASEAN 6 mechanism and the East Asia Summit Australia is a member of several defence intelligence and security groupings including the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the United States United Kingdom Canada and New Zealand the ANZUS alliance with the United States and New Zealand the AUKUS security treaty with the United States and United Kingdom the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the United States India and Japan the Five Power Defence Arrangements with New Zealand the United Kingdom Malaysia and Singapore and the Reciprocal Access defence and security agreement with Japan nbsp Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with American President Joe Biden in Kantei Tokyo 2022Australia has pursued the cause of international trade liberalisation 250 It led the formation of the Cairns Group and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 251 252 and is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development OECD and the World Trade Organization WTO 253 254 In recent decades Australia has entered into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership multilateral free trade agreements as well as bilateral free trade agreements with the United States China Japan South Korea Indonesia the United Kingdom and New Zealand 255 Australia maintains a deeply integrated relationship with neighbouring New Zealand with free mobility of citizens between the two countries under the Trans Tasman Travel Arrangement and free trade under the Closer Economic Relations agreement 256 The most favourably viewed countries by the Australian people in 2021 include New Zealand the United Kingdom Japan Germany Taiwan Thailand the United States and South Korea 257 A founding member country of the United Nations Australia is strongly committed to multilateralism 258 and maintains an international aid program under which some 60 countries receive assistance 259 Australia ranked fourth in the Center for Global Development s 2021 Commitment to Development Index 260 Military Main articles Australian Defence Force Royal Australian Navy Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force nbsp HMAS Canberra a Canberra class landing helicopter dock and HMAS Arunta an Anzac class frigate sailing in formationAustralia s armed forces the Australian Defence Force ADF comprise the Royal Australian Navy RAN the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force RAAF in total numbering 81 214 personnel including 57 982 regulars and 23 232 reservists as of November 2015 update The titular role of Commander in Chief is vested in the Governor General who appoints a Chief of the Defence Force from one of the armed services on the advice of the government 261 In a diarchy the Chief of the Defence Force serves as co chairman of the Defence Committee conjointly with the Secretary of Defence in the command and control of the Australian Defence Organisation 262 In the 2016 2017 budget defence spending comprised 2 of GDP representing the world s 12th largest defence budget 263 Australia has been involved in United Nations and regional peacekeeping disaster relief as well as armed conflicts from the First World War onwards Human rights See also Human rights in Australia and LGBT rights in Australia Legal and social rights in Australia are regarded as among the most developed in the world 35 Attitudes towards LGBT people are generally positive within Australia and same sex marriage has been legal in the nation since 2017 264 265 Australia has had anti discrimination laws regarding disability since 1992 266 EconomyMain article Economy of Australia Further information Economic history of Australia and Tourism in Australia nbsp The central business district of Sydney is the financial centre of Australia Australia s high income mixed market economy is rich in natural resources 267 It is the world s fourteenth largest by nominal terms and the 18th largest by PPP As of 2021 update it has the second highest amount of wealth per adult after Luxembourg 268 and has the thirteenth highest financial assets per capita 269 Australia has a labour force of some 13 5 million with an unemployment rate of 3 5 as of June 2022 270 According to the Australian Council of Social Service the poverty rate of Australia exceeds 13 6 of the population encompassing 3 2 million It also estimated that there were 774 000 17 7 children under the age of 15 living in relative poverty 271 272 The Australian dollar is the national currency which is also shared with three Island states in the Pacific Kiribati Nauru and Tuvalu 273 Australian government debt about 963 billion exceeds 45 1 of the country s total GDP and is the world s eighth highest 274 Australia had the second highest level of household debt in the world in 2020 after Switzerland 275 Its house prices are among the highest in the world especially in the large urban areas 276 The large service sector accounts for about 71 2 of total GDP followed by the industrial sector 25 3 while the agriculture sector is by far the smallest making up only 3 6 of total GDP 277 Australia is the world s 21st largest exporter and 24th largest importer 278 279 China is Australia s largest trading partner by a wide margin accounting for roughly 40 of the country s exports and 17 6 of its imports 280 Other major export markets include Japan the United States and South Korea 281 Australia has high levels of competitiveness and economic freedom and was ranked fifth in the Human Development Index in 2021 282 As of 2022 update it is ranked twelfth in the Index of Economic Freedom and nineteenth in the Global Competitiveness Report 283 284 It attracted 9 5 million international tourists in 2019 285 and was ranked thirteenth among the countries of Asia Pacific in 2019 for inbound tourism 286 The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Australia seventh highest in the world out of 117 countries 287 Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to 45 7 billion 286 Energy Main articles Energy policy of Australia and Renewable energy in Australia In 2003 Australia s energy sources were coal 58 4 hydropower 19 1 natural gas 13 5 liquid gas fossil fuel switching plants 5 4 oil 2 9 and other renewable resources like wind power solar energy and bioenergy 0 7 288 During the 21st century Australia has been trending to generate more energy using renewable resources and less energy using fossil fuels In 2020 Australia used coal for 62 of all energy 3 6 increase compared to 2013 wind power for 9 9 9 5 increase natural gas for 9 9 3 6 decrease solar power for 9 9 9 8 increase hydropower for 6 4 12 7 decrease bioenergy for 1 4 1 2 increase and other sources like oil and waste coal mine gas for 0 5 289 290 In August 2009 Australia s government set a goal to achieve 20 of all energy in the country from renewable sources by 2020 291 They achieved this goal as renewable resources accounted for 27 7 of Australia s energy in 2020 289 Science and technology In 2019 Australia spent A 35 6 billion on research and development allocating about 1 79 of GDP 292 A recent study by Accenture for the Tech Council shows that the Australian tech sector combined contributes 167 billion a year to the economy and employs 861 000 people 293 The country s most recognized and important sector of this type is mining 294 where Australia continues to have the highest penetration of technologies especially drones autonomous and remote controlled vehicles and mine management software 295 In addition recent startup ecosystems in Sydney and Melbourne are already valued at 34 billion combined 296 Australia ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index 2023 297 With only 0 3 of the world s population Australia contributed 4 1 of the world s published research in 2020 making it one of the top 10 research contributors in the world 298 299 CSIRO Australia s national science agency contributes 10 of all research in the country while the rest is carried out by universities 299 Its most notable contributions include the invention of atomic absorption spectroscopy 300 the essential components of Wi Fi technology 301 and the development of the first commercially successful polymer banknote 302 Australia is a key player in supporting space exploration Facilities such as the Square Kilometre Array and Australia Telescope Compact Array radio telescopes telescopes such as the Siding Spring Observatory and ground stations such as the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex are of great assistance in deep space exploration missions primarily by NASA 303 DemographicsMain article Demographics of Australia For a more comprehensive list see List of cities in Australia by population Australia has an average population density of 3 5 persons per square kilometre of total land area which makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world The population is heavily concentrated on the east coast and in particular in the south eastern region between South East Queensland to the north east and Adelaide to the south west 304 Australia is highly urbanised with 67 of the population living in the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas metropolitan areas of the state and mainland territorial capital cities in 2018 305 Metropolitan areas with more than one million inhabitants are Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth and Adelaide 306 In common with many other developed countries Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population with more retirees and fewer people of working age In 2018 the average age of the Australian population was 38 8 years 307 In 2015 2 15 of the Australian population lived overseas one of the lowest proportions worldwide 308 vte Largest populated areas in Australia 2021 data from Australian Bureau of Statistics 309 Rank Name State Pop Rank Name State Pop 1 Sydney NSW 5 259 764 11 Geelong Vic 289 4002 Melbourne Vic 4 976 157 12 Hobart Tas 251 0473 Brisbane Qld 2 568 927 13 Townsville Qld 181 6654 Perth WA 2 192 229 14 Cairns Qld 155 6385 Adelaide SA 1 402 393 15 Darwin NT 148 8016 Gold Coast Tweed Heads Qld NSW 706 673 16 Toowoomba Qld 143 9947 Newcastle Maitland NSW 509 894 17 Ballarat Vic 111 7028 Canberra Queanbeyan ACT NSW 482 250 18 Bendigo Vic 102 8999 Sunshine Coast Qld 355 631 19 Albury Wodonga NSW Vic 97 67610 Wollongong NSW 305 880 20 Launceston Tas 93 332 Ancestry and immigration Main article Immigration to Australia nbsp Australian residents by country of birth 2021 censusBetween 1788 and the Second World War the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles principally England Ireland and Scotland although there was significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century In the decades immediately following the Second World War Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe with many more immigrants arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe than in previous decades Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973 Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism 310 and there has been a large and continuing wave of immigration from across the world with Asia being the largest source of immigrants in the 21st century 311 Today Australia has the world s eighth largest immigrant population with immigrants accounting for 30 of the population the highest proportion among major Western nations 312 313 160 323 permanent immigrants were admitted to Australia in 2018 2019 excluding refugees 311 whilst there was a net population gain of 239 600 people from all permanent and temporary immigration in that year 314 The majority of immigrants are skilled 311 but the immigration program includes categories for family members and refugees 314 In 2020 the largest foreign born populations were those born in England 3 8 India 2 8 Mainland China 2 5 New Zealand 2 2 the Philippines 1 2 and Vietnam 1 1 315 The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race but asks each Australian resident to nominate up to two ancestries each census 316 These ancestry responses are classified into broad standardised ancestry groups 317 At the 2021 census the number of ancestry responses within each standardised group as a proportion of the total population was as follows 318 57 2 European including 46 North West European and 11 2 Southern and Eastern European 33 8 Oceanian N 9 17 4 Asian including 6 5 Southern and Central Asian 6 4 North East Asian and 4 5 South East Asian 3 2 North African and Middle Eastern 1 4 Peoples of the Americas and 1 3 Sub Saharan African At the 2021 census the most commonly nominated individual ancestries as a proportion of the total population were 5 English 33 Australian 29 9 N 10 Irish 9 5 Scottish 8 6 Chinese 5 5 Italian 4 4 German 4 Indian 3 1 Aboriginal 2 9 N 11 Greek 1 7 Filipino 1 6 Dutch 1 5 Vietnamese 1 3 Lebanese 1 At the 2021 census 3 8 of the Australian population identified as being Indigenous Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders N 12 320 Language Main article Languages of Australia Although English is not the official language of Australia in law it is the de facto official and national language 321 322 Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon 323 and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling 324 General Australian serves as the standard dialect 325 At the 2021 census English was the only language spoken in the home for 72 of the population The next most common languages spoken at home were Mandarin 2 7 Arabic 1 4 Vietnamese 1 3 Cantonese 1 2 and Punjabi 0 9 31 Over 250 Australian Aboriginal languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact 326 The National Indigenous Languages Survey NILS for 2018 19 found that more than 120 Indigenous language varieties were in use or being revived although 70 of those in use were endangered 327 The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76 978 Indigenous Australians 328 NILS and the Australian Bureau of Statistics use different classifications for Indigenous Australian languages 329 The Australian sign language known as Auslan was used at home by 16 242 people at the time of the 2021 census 330 Religion Main article Religion in Australia nbsp Australia is secular and hosts a diversity of religions St Mary s Cathedral in Sydney belongs to the Roman Catholic Church Australia s largest religious denomination Australia has no state religion Section 116 of the Australian Constitution prohibits the federal government from making any law to establish any religion impose any religious observance or prohibit the free exercise of any religion 331 At the 2021 Census 38 9 of the population identified as having no religion 5 up from 15 5 in 2001 332 The largest religion is Christianity 43 9 of the population 5 The largest Christian denominations are the Roman Catholic Church 20 of the population and the Anglican Church of Australia 9 8 Multicultural immigration since the Second World War has led to the growth of non Christian religions the largest of which are Islam 3 2 Hinduism 2 7 Buddhism 2 4 Sikhism 0 8 and Judaism 0 4 5 In 2021 just under 8 000 people declared an affiliation with traditional Aboriginal religions 5 In Australian Aboriginal mythology and the animist framework developed in Aboriginal Australia the Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings formed The Creation The Dreaming established the laws and structures of society and the ceremonies performed to ensure continuity of life and land 333 Health See also Health care in Australia Australia s life expectancy of 83 years 81 years for males and 85 years for females 334 is the fifth highest in the world It has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world 335 while cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease responsible for 7 8 of the total mortality and disease Ranked second in preventable causes is hypertension at 7 6 with obesity third at 7 5 336 337 Australia ranked 35th in the world in 2012 for its proportion of obese women 338 and near the top of developed nations for its proportion of obese adults 339 63 of its adult population is either overweight or obese 340 Australia spent around 9 91 of its total GDP to health care in 2021 341 It introduced universal health care in 1975 342 Known as Medicare it is now nominally funded by an income tax surcharge known as the Medicare levy currently at 2 343 The states manage hospitals and attached outpatient services while the Commonwealth funds the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidising the costs of medicines and general practice 342 During the COVID 19 pandemic Australia had one of the most restrictive quarantine policies resulting in one of the lowest death rates worldwide 344 Education Main article Education in Australia nbsp Five Australian universities rank in the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings including the Australian National University 19th 345 School attendance or registration for home schooling 346 is compulsory throughout Australia Education is the responsibility of the individual states and territories 347 so the rules vary between states but in general children are required to attend school from the age of about 5 until about 16 348 349 In some states Western Australia Northern Territory and New South Wales children aged 16 17 are required to either attend school or participate in vocational training such as an apprenticeship 350 351 352 353 Australia has an adult literacy rate that was estimated to be 99 in 2003 354 However a 2011 2012 report for the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Tasmania has a literacy and numeracy rate of only 50 355 Australia has 37 government funded universities and three private universities as well as a number of other specialist institutions that provide approved courses at the higher education level 356 The OECD places Australia among the most expensive nations to attend university 357 There is a state based system of vocational training known as TAFE and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople 358 About 58 of Australians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications 359 and the tertiary graduation rate of 49 is the highest among OECD countries 30 9 of Australia s population has attained a higher education qualification which is among the highest percentages in the world 360 361 362 Australia has the highest ratio of international students per head of population in the world by a large margin with 812 000 international students enrolled in the nation s universities and vocational institutions in 2019 363 364 Accordingly in 2019 international students represented on average 26 7 of the student bodies of Australian universities International education therefore represents one of the country s largest exports and has a pronounced influence on the country s demographics with a significant proportion of international students remaining in Australia after graduation on various skill and employment visas 365 Education is Australia s third largest export after iron ore and coal and contributed over 28 billion to the economy in 2016 17 299 CultureMain article Culture of Australia nbsp The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the first building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 366 The country is home to a diversity of cultures a result of its history of immigration 367 Prior to 1850 Australia was dominated by Indigenous cultures 368 369 Since then Australian culture has primarily been a Western culture strongly influenced by Anglo Celtic settlers 370 371 Other influences include Australian Aboriginal culture the traditions brought to the country by waves of immigration from around the world 372 and the culture of the United States 373 The cultural divergence and evolution that has occurred over the centuries since European settlement has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture 374 375 Arts Main articles Australian art Australian literature Theatre of Australia and Dance in Australia nbsp Sidney Nolan s Snake mural 1970 held at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart Tasmania is inspired by the Aboriginal creation myth of the Rainbow Serpent as well as desert flowers in bloom after a drought 376 Australia has over 100 000 Aboriginal rock art sites 377 and traditional designs patterns and stories infuse contemporary Indigenous Australian art the last great art movement of the 20th century according to critic Robert Hughes 378 its exponents include Emily Kame Kngwarreye 379 Early colonial artists showed a fascination with the unfamiliar land 380 The impressionistic works of Arthur Streeton Tom Roberts and other members of the 19th century Heidelberg School the first distinctively Australian movement in Western art gave expression to nationalist sentiments in the lead up to Federation 380 While the school remained influential into the 1900s modernists such as Margaret Preston and later Sidney Nolan explored new artistic trends 380 The landscape remained central to the work of Aboriginal watercolourist Albert Namatjira 381 as well as Fred Williams Brett Whiteley and other post war artists whose works eclectic in style yet uniquely Australian moved between the figurative and the abstract 380 382 Australian literature grew slowly in the decades following European settlement though Indigenous oral traditions many of which have since been recorded in writing are much older 383 In the 19th century Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson captured the experience of the bush using a distinctive Australian vocabulary 384 Their works are still popular Paterson s bush poem Waltzing Matilda 1895 is regarded as Australia s unofficial national anthem 385 Miles Franklin is the namesake of Australia s most prestigious literary prize awarded annually to the best novel about Australian life 386 Its first recipient Patrick White went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973 387 Australian Booker Prize winners include Peter Carey Thomas Keneally and Richard Flanagan 388 Australian public intellectuals have also written seminal works in their respective fields including feminist Germaine Greer and philosopher Peter Singer 389 Many of Australia s performing arts companies receive funding through the federal government s Australia Council 390 There is a symphony orchestra in each state 391 and a national opera company Opera Australia 392 well known for its famous soprano Joan Sutherland 393 At the beginning of the 20th century Nellie Melba was one of the world s leading opera singers 394 Ballet and dance are represented by The Australian Ballet and various state companies Each state has a publicly funded theatre company 395 Media Main articles Cinema of Australia Television in Australia Media of Australia and Music of Australia nbsp Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang 1906 the world s first feature length narrative filmThe Story of the Kelly Gang 1906 the world s first feature length narrative film spurred a boom in Australian cinema during the silent film era 396 After World War I Hollywood monopolised the industry 397 and by the 1960s Australian film production had effectively ceased 398 With the benefit of government support the Australian New Wave of the 1970s brought provocative and successful films many exploring themes of national identity such as Wake in Fright and Gallipoli 399 while Crocodile Dundee and the Ozploitation movement s Mad Max series became international blockbusters 400 In a film market flooded with foreign content Australian films delivered a 7 7 share of the local box office in 2015 401 The AACTAs are Australia s premier film and television awards and notable Academy Award winners from Australia include Geoffrey Rush Nicole Kidman Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger 402 Australia has two public broadcasters the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service three commercial television networks several pay TV services 403 and numerous public non profit television and radio stations Each major city has at least one daily newspaper 403 and there are two national daily newspapers The Australian and The Australian Financial Review 403 In 2020 Reporters Without Borders placed Australia 25th on a list of 180 countries ranked by press freedom behind New Zealand 8th but ahead of the United Kingdom 33rd and United States 44th 404 This relatively low ranking is primarily because of the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia 405 most print media are under the control of News Corporation and Nine Entertainment Co 406 Cuisine Main article Australian cuisine nbsp The meringue based pavlova is generally eaten at Christmas time Most Indigenous Australian groups subsisted on a simple hunter gatherer diet of native fauna and flora otherwise called bush tucker 407 The first settlers introduced British and Irish cuisine to the continent 408 409 This influence is seen in the enduring popularity of several British dishes such as fish and chips and in quintessential Australian dishes such as the Australian meat pie which is related to the British steak pie Post war immigration transformed Australian cuisine For instance Southern European migrants helped to build a thriving Australian coffee culture which gave rise to Australian coffee drinks such as the flat white 410 while East Asian migration led to dishes such as the Cantonese influenced dim sim and Chiko Roll 411 as well as a distinct Australian Chinese cuisine Sausage sizzles pavlovas lamingtons meat pies Vegemite and Anzac biscuits are regarded as iconic Australian foods 412 Australia is a leading exporter and consumer of wine 413 Australian wine is produced mainly in the southern cooler parts of the country 414 The nation also ranks highly in beer consumption 415 with each state and territory hosting numerous breweries Australia is also known for its cafe and coffee culture in urban centres 416 Sport and recreation Main article Sport in Australia nbsp The Melbourne Cricket Ground is strongly associated with the history and development of cricket and Australian rules football Australia s two most popular spectator sports 417 Cricket and football are the predominant sports in Australia during the summer and winter months respectively Australia is unique in that it has professional leagues for four football codes Originating in Melbourne in the 1850s Australian rules football is the most popular code in all states except New South Wales and Queensland where rugby league holds sway followed by rugby union 418 Soccer while ranked fourth in popularity and resources has the highest overall participation rates 419 Cricket is popular across all borders and has been regarded by many Australians as the national sport The Australian national cricket team competed against England in the first Test match 1877 and the first One Day International 1971 and against New Zealand in the first Twenty20 International 2004 winning all three games It has also participated in every edition of the Cricket World Cup winning the tournament a record six times 420 Australia is one of five nations to have participated in every Summer Olympics of the modern era 421 and has hosted the Games twice 1956 in Melbourne and 2000 in Sydney 422 It is also set to host the 2032 Games in Brisbane 423 Australia has also participated in every Commonwealth Games 424 hosting the event in 1938 1962 1982 2006 and 2018 425 As well as being a regular FIFA World Cup participant Australia has won the OFC Nations Cup four times and the AFC Asian Cup once the only country to have won championships in two different FIFA confederations 426 Other major international events held in Australia include the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix The annual Melbourne Cup horse race and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race also attract intense interest 427 Australia is also notable for water based sports such as swimming and surfing 428 The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia and the volunteer lifesaver is one of the country s icons 429 Snow sports take place primarily in the Australian Alps and Tasmania 430 See also nbsp Australia portal nbsp Oceania portal nbsp Country portalIndex of Australia related articles Outline of AustraliaNotes Australia s royal anthem is God Save the King played in the presence of members of the royal family when they are in Australia In other contexts the national anthem of Australia Advance Australia Fair is played 1 Sydney is the largest city based on Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS Greater Capital City Statistical Areas GCCSAs These represent labour markets and the functional area of Australian capital cities 2 Melbourne is larger based on ABS Significant Urban Areas SUAs These represent Urban Centres or groups of contiguous Urban Centres that contain a population of 10 000 persons or more 3 English does not have de jure status 4 The religion question is optional in the Australian census a b There are minor variations from three basic time zones see Time in Australia The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in A note of Australia del Espiritu Santo written by Sir Richard Hakluyt published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus a corruption of the original Spanish name Austrialia del Espiritu Santo Southern Land of the Holy Spirit 43 44 45 for an island in Vanuatu 46 The Dutch adjectival form australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia Jakarta in 1638 to 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