|
Most
people harbour a particular image of Australia, such as the
Opera House or Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. Yet these
famous icons do scant justice to the richness of Australia's
natural treasures and its cultural diversity. Australia offers
a wealth of travel experiences, from the drama of the outback
and the spectacle of the Great Barrier Reef to the cosmopolitanism
of Sydney and arguably the best beaches in the world. Australia
is an enormous country, and visitors expecting to see an opera
in Sydney one night and meet Crocodile Dundee the next will
have to re-think their grasp of geography. It is this sheer
vastness, and the friction between the ancient land steeped
in Aboriginal lore and the New World culture being heaped
upon it, which gives Australia much of its character.
|
|
Full
country name: Commonwealth of Australia
Area: 7,682,300 sq km
Population: 18,600,000 (growth rate 1.4%)
Capital city: Canberra (pop: 311,000)
People: 94% European descent, 4% Asian, 1.5%
Aboriginal Languages: English, Aboriginal languages
(plus Italian, Greek and numerous other European and Asian
languages)
Religion: 75% Christian, 1% Muslim, 1% Buddhist, 0.5%
Jewish
Government: Independent member of the British Commonwealth
GDP:
US$555 billion
GDP per head: US$29,652
Annual growth: 4.5%
Inflation:1.6%
Major products/industries: Minerals, oil, coal, gold,
wool, cereals, meat.
Major trading partners: Japan, ASEAN, South Korea, US
and the EU.
|