Interesting Facts about Australia

1. World's smallest continent.

2. Sixth-largest country.
3. The only continent without glaciers.
4. Conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia
5. Conventional short form: Australia
6. Australia's capital city is Canberra
7. Australia population growth rate: 1.11%
8. Australia highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m
9. Australia lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m
10.About 6% of Australia's land is arable.
11.Murray River is the Longest River in Australia
12.Australia birth rate is 12 births/1,000 population
13.Australia infant mortality rate is 4 deaths/1,000 live births
14.Australia fertility rate is 1.77 children born/woman
15.Australia climate:generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east;
tropical in north.
16.Australia ethnic groups:white 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%
17.It is the 6th largest country in the world, occupying an entire continent of
some 7.6 million square kilometres.
18.It has the world's 3rd largest ocean territory, spanning three oceans and
covering around 12 million square kilometres.
19.Vegetation covers nearly 7 million square kilometres or 91 percent of
Australia.
20.The largest Greek population in the world beside Athens in Greece can be
found in Melbourne Victoria.
21.Most of Australia's exotic flora and fauna cannot be found anywhere else in
the world.
22.The Indigenous 'Dream Time' is the foundation for tens of thousands of years
of spiritual aboriginal art, traditions, legends, myths, folklore and culture.
23.The only nation-continent of 20 million people in the world.
24.The wattle was adopted as the national floral emblem in 1912.
25.The first Australian Friendly Society with the motto of 'Advance Australia' was
the Australian Natives' Association (ANA) formed in Victoria in 1871.
26.More than 80 percent of Australians live within 100 kilometres of the coast
making Australia one of the world's most urbanised coastal dwelling
populations.
27.Over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in Australia including
45 Indigenous languages. The most common non-English spoken languages
are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin.
28.The world's highest proportion of migrant settlers in a developed nation with
over 25% of Australians born in another country.
29.Today's Australia is very multicultural with Indigenous peoples and migrants
from some 200 countries.
30.Australia's first small step to a fully multicultural Australia was the result of
immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean after 1945.

31.It contains an amazing ecosystem with unique flora and fauna including
pristine rainforest, ancient rock formations and beautiful beaches.
32.The first Australian of the Year award was awarded to Professor Macfarlane
Burnet who had won the Nobel Prize in the same year of 1960 for his
groundbreaking physiology research.
33.Debate continues today on the calls to change the Australian flag because of
the prominence of the British Union Jack, which does not reflect
contemporary Australian society.
34.It has 16 world heritage listed sites including historic townships, cities and
landscapes.
35.While 1988 was named a 'Year of Mourning' for Aboriginals, it was also
regarded as a celebration of survival where the Aboriginal community staged
a 5 kilometre march for "Freedom, Justice and Hope" in Sydney.
36.Australia used to be a beer-drinking nation but its quaffing plunged to a 65year low in 2010-2011 with only 4.23 litres consumed per person.
37.Aboriginal leader, Lowitja O'Donoghue, a recipient of the Order of Australia in
1976 and Australian of the Year in 1984 delivered the first milestone national
Australia Day address on 26 January 2000.
38.It is believe that the Aboriginal game of Mangrook inspired the rules for
Australian Football, while invented in Sydney became popular in Victoria.
39.Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote
in 1902.
40.The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia
at over 34,000 square kilometres is the world's largest cattle station. It is
even larger than Belgium.
41.It has the highest rate of gambling in the world with over 80 percent of
Australian adults engaging in gambling of some kind and 20 percent of the
pokie machines in the world are found in Australia.
42.Australia Day today is a celebration of diversity and tolerance in Australian
society, embracing all ethnic backgrounds, racial differences and political
viewpoints.
43.Kangaroo meat can be purchased from the supermarket, butcher and
available on restaurant menus as a leaner and healthier alternative to beef or
lamb with a 1-2 percent fat content.
44.Surprisingly Australia is the most obese country in the world as of 2012 with
a 26 percent obesity rate despite being a sport loving nation.
45.Approximately 1.35 trillion bottles of wine are produced by Australia.
46.The hold of the old White Australia Policy was broken by Gough Whitlam's
Labor Government which adopted a broader approach to citizenship and
opening migration to Asia and the Middle East.
47.Australian TV networks love cooking shows, airing one after another upon
viewership success of My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef.
48.Canberra was selected as the capital because Sydney and Melbourne could
not stop arguing which city should be the capital of Australia.
49.Australians refer to English people as Pome, which is actually the acronym for
Prisoners of Mother England.
50.Ugg boots or as local call them 'very ugly boots' are an Australian design
where a sheepskin has been turned inside out and made into a boot.

51.Melbourne topped 140 rivals to be crowned the world's most liveable city 2
years in a row since 2011.
52.The only place in the world where you can still find the lung fish which is a
living fossil from the Triassic period 350 million years ago.
53.The sports capital of the world has 70 percent of its total population
participating at least once a week in a particular recreational activity or sport.
54.Despite having a convict colony history, Australia's homicide rate is 1.2 per
100,000 population compared to the 6.3 per 100,000 in the United States.
55.80 percent of Australians believe Australia has a strong culture and identity
characterised by being down to earth, mateship, honesty, sports and
multiculturalism based on research organised by the Australia Day Council of
NSW in 2008.
56.Australia is the only continent that does not have an active volcano on it.
57.After Athens, the second-most Greek populated area in the world is
Melbourne.
58.In 1964, the world's first official surfing championship was held in Sydney.
59.In 1993, the city of Melbourne also founded the world's first gay and lesbian
radio station. This radio station was known as Joy Radio.
60.Australia has over 700 different species of reptiles.
61.The World's largest reptile, the Saltwater Crocodile, is found in the northern
coastal regions of Australia. Its average size is around 20 feet.
62.There are about 1,500 species of spiders found in Australia. Owing to this, on
an average, a person living in Australia ends up swallowing 3 spiders every
year!
63.Australia also boasts of the most venomous snakes in the world.
64.The Australian Eucalyptus is the fastest growing tree in the world.
65.The Kangaroo, the Emu, the Koala bear, and the Kookaburra, are animal
species that are found only in Australia.
66.There are also around 6,000 different species of flies in Australia.
67.The Tasmanian Devil is more than just a fictional cartoon character. It is the
largest carnivorous marsupial in the world, and can be found only in Australia.
68.Australian deserts also boast of the largest herd of wild camels.
69.There are 1500 species of Australian spiders.
70.If you read about our spiders you might not like this: the average person
swallows three spiders a year.
71.We have over 6000 species of flies, about 4000 species of ants, and there are
about 350 species of termites in Australia.
72.The combined mass of all termites in the world is more than ten times the
mass of all people.
73.Termites are also called white ants, but they're not ants, in fact not even
closely related to ants.
74.Australia has the world's largest population of wild camels with one hump.
75.The Tasmanian Devil does exist, and it has the jaw strength of a crocodile.
76.Sharks are immune to all known diseases.
77.There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, and only some 20 million
people.
78.No part of Australia is more than 1000 km from the ocean and a beach. (The
point in the world that's the furthest from any ocean would be in China.)

79.Australia has the world's largest cattle station (ranch). At 30,028 km2 it is
almost the same size as Belgium.
80.Population density in Australia is usually calculated in km2 per person, not
people per km2.
81.Australians have 380,000 m2 per person available. Yet well over 90% are
cramming into our coastal cities. (Don't ask me why, I sure prefer it here in
the Outback.)
82.We call Australian's from Queensland "banana benders", and people from
Western Australia "sandgropers".
83.Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.
84.The Great Barrier Reef has a mailbox. You can ferry out there and send a
postcard, stamped with the only Great Barrier Reef stamp.
85.The Australian Alps, or Snowy Mountains as they are also known, receive
more snow than Switzerland.
86.Melbourne has the second largest Greek population in the world, after
Athens.
87.Imagine the fully welded rails of the Ghan train track weren't restrained
properly: on a hot Outback desert day they would expand at 200km/hour and
at the Darwin end they'd stick out 1.1 km into the ocean.
88.Star gazing: under ideal viewing conditions, like in the Australian Outback,
the naked eye can detect about 5,780 stars.
89.The Sydney Opera House roof weighs more than 161,000 tons.
90.The Great Barrier Reef is the largest organic construction on earth.
91.Termite mounds are the tallest non-human constructions on earth.
92.As of 2012, Australia has an estimated population of over 22 million people.
93.Australia is the world's 6th largest country by area.
94.Due to its large size and isolation from the rest of the world, Australia is
sometimes known as the island continent.
95.The largest cities in Australia are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and
Adelaide.
96.A desert area known as the outback covers much of the land.
97.The name Australia comes from the Latin word australis, meaning
southern.
98.It is estimated the humans have lived in Australia for around 45000 years.
99.The indigenous people of Australia are Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders.
100.
The highest mountain on mainland Australia is Mt Kosciuszko, standing
2228m (7310ft) above sea level.
101.
The world's largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef, is found off the
north-eastern coast of Australia.
102.
Australia has a range of different landscapes, including urban areas,
mountain ranges, deserts and rain forests.
103.
Australia is home to a variety of unique animals, including the koala,
kangaroo, emu, kookaburra and platypus.
104.
Although they usually keep to themselves, there are a range of
dangerous snakes in Australia, such as the Brown Snake, Tiger Snake and
Taipan.
105.
Australia has over 750 different reptile species, more than any other
country in the world.

106.
Australia is a relatively wealthy country with a high life expectancy.
107.
Australia hosted the 1956 (Melbourne) and 2000 (Sydney) Summer
Olympics.
108.
For more information, check out maps of Australia or take a closer look
at the Australian flag.
109.
In 1838 it was declared illegal to swim at public beaches during the
day! This law was enforced until 1902.
110.
Until 1984, Australia's National anthem was "God save the
Queen/King."
111.
Australia day - January 26, Australia day, is the anniversary of ships
arriving in Sydney carrying a load of Convicts.
112.
In 2007, it was estimated that 22 per cent of living Australians had a
Convict ancestor.
113.
Police force - Australia's first police force was a band of 12 of the most
well behaved Convicts.
114.
The Wombat deposits square poos on logs, rocks and even upright
sticks that it uses tomark its territory.
115.
Over 90% of Australia is dry, flat and arid. Almost three-quarters of the
land cannot support agriculture in any form.
116.
A baby kangaroo at the time of its birth measures 2 centimetres.
117.
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian
coat of arms for that reason.
118.
A monotreme is a animal that lays eggs and suckles its young. The
world's only monotremes are the platypus and the echidna.
119.
The male platypus has a poisonous spine that can kill a dog and inflict
immense pain on a human.
120.
Lung fish - Queensland is home to lung fish, a living fossil from the
Triassic period 350 million years ago.
121.
People: 92% Caucasian descent, 7% Asian descent, 1% Aboriginal
descent
122.
Post World War II - From 1945 through 1996, nearly 5.5 million
immigrants settled in Australia.
123.
Four out of 10 Australians are migrants or the first-generation children
of migrants.
124.
Rod Laver is the only male tennis player to win the grand slam and he
did it twice.
125.
The day of the Melbourne Cup (a horse race) is a public holiday in
Melbourne.
126.
The last Australian state to receive Convicts. It has been said most of
them now work in parliament or business.
127.
Australia's expenditure on arts products ranks among the highest in
developed countries.
128.
Employment of Australians - 80% service sector 14% manufacturing
5% rural.
129.
2.3 percent of Australia's GDP is derived from agriculture.
130.
15 percent of Australia's GDP is derived from mining.
131.
.02 percent of the Australian land mass is used by mines. More land is
occupied by pubs.

132.
It is estimated that 50% of Australians aged 14-19 are active users of
Cannabis.
133.
The iconic Opera House was opened in 1973 and was designed by
Danish architect Jorn Utzon
134.
Perth: the biggest city in Western Australia with lovely Fremantle
nearby
135.
Australia is as wide as the distance between London to Moscow.
136.
The biggest property in Australia is bigger than Belgium.
137.
In 1856, stonemasons took action to ensure a standard of 8-hour
working days, which then became recognised worldwide.
138.
Australia has the highest electricity prices in the world.
139.
Saudi Arabia imports camels from Australia (mostly for meat
production).
140.
Qantas once powered an interstate flight with cooking oil.
141.
Australia was one of the founding members of the United Nations.
142.
The Australian Alps receive more snowfall than Switzerland.
143.
A kangaroo is only one centimetre long when it is born.
144.
63% of Australians are overweight.
145.
In Australia, it is illegal to walk on the right-hand side of a footpath.
146.
The average Aussie drinks 96 litres of beer per year.
147.
The worlds oldest fossil, which is about 3.4 billion years old, was found
in Australia.
148.
Australia was the second country to give women the vote.