Australian Statistics

Statistics relating to Australia's geography, population, economy, and government.

Australia is big and sparsely populated country and continent. Australians enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. Australians are predominately people of European decent, with a growing Asian population. Aboriginals make up less than one percent of the total. The country is democratic and stable. Governance extends to 6 mainland states: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia. Tasmania is the only island state and there are 2 territories on the mainland: Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Australia has a number of dependent areas including: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Macquarie Island, and Heard and McDonald islands. It also asserts territorial claim in Antarctica. Australia consists of plains and a number of mountain ranges, the biggest is the Great Dividing Range, the fifth longest mountain chain on Earth. Flora and fauna in Australia is unique and unusual. The country has one of the longest coastlines in the world, and is home to the biggest reef system on the planet, The Great Barrier Reef.

	Overview		UN World Ranking
Name:	Australia
Area	7,741,220 sq km	6
Population	21,766,711	55
Largest City	Sydney (4.429 million)
Capital City	Canberra (384,000)

	Geography		UN World Ranking
Location	Oceania
Area	7,741,220 sq km	6
Coastline	25,760 km	7
Climate Zones	Tropical: north Sub-tropical: north east Desert or arid: centre. Mediterranean: south-west Temperate: south-east Sub-alpine: south east
Landscape	Plains, mountain ranges.
Elevation extremes	Mt Kosciuszko - 2,229m Lake Eyre - 15m
Natural hazards	Cyclones along the coast; Severe droughts Severe forest fires Volcanic activity on Heard & McDonald Islands
Natural resources	natural gas, petroleum iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, bauxite, coal, uranium, tungsten, nickel, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds,

	Population		UN World Ranking
Population	21,766,711	55
Density per sq km	2.6 persons per sq km
Growth rate	1.148%	101
Birth rate	12.33 births/1,000	159
Infant mortality rate	4.61 deaths/1,000 births	190
Life expectancy	81.81 years male: 79.4 years female: 84.35 years	9
Gender population	1 male/female
Literacy rate	99%
Ethnicity	white 92% Asian 7% Aboriginal 1%
Religion	Christian 63.8%, {Catholic 25.8%, Anglican 18.7% Uniting Church 5.7%, Presbyterian Reformed 3%, Eastern Orthodox 2.7%, other Christian 7.9%} Buddhist 2.1%, Muslim 1.7%, other 2.4%, unspecified 11.3%, none 18.7%
Languages	English 78.5%, Chinese 2.5%, Italian 1.6%, Greek 1.3%, Arabic 1.2%, Vietnamese 1%, other 8.2%, unspecified 5.7%

	Economy		UN World Ranking
GDP (PPP) total	$889.6 billion	18
GDP (PPP) per capita	$41,300	17
Unemployment	5.1%	47
Public debt	22.4% of GDP	108
External debt	$1.169 trillion	14
Inflation rate	2.9%	82
Exports	$210.7 billion	21
Imports	$200.4 billion	21
Industries	mining, industrial equipment, transportationt, food processing, chemicals, steel
Agriculture	wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry

	Government		UN World Ranking
Government type	democracy
Capital	Canberra
Independence	1 January 1901
Legal system	English common law
Admin divisions	6 states: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania 2 territories: Northern Territory Australian Capital Territory,
Dependant areas	Norfolk Island, Heard & McDonald Islands, Macquarie Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Ashmore & Cartier Islands