Australia at a Glance

I. Brief historical timeline

• Australia has been inhabited by the ancestors of Indigenous Australians as early as 40,000 to 60,000 years ago.
• In 1606 the Dutch became the first Europeans to ever set foot in Australia, which they originally named New Holland, they however did not make any attempt to colonise the continent.
• In 1770 the British set foot in the eastern coast of Australia and named it New South Wales.
• In 1788, in search of new territories after losing its North American colonies, the British started colonising the whole continent.
• In 1802 Matthew Flinders successfully circumnavigated the whole Australia for the first time.  He was the first person to call the continent Australia, from the Latin phrase Tierra Australis meaning Southern Land.
• In 1848 the transport of convicts to the continent ended.
• In 1851 gold was first discovered in Australia attracting many migrants from North America, Europe and China, and led to a period of great economic prosperity in the continent.
• In January 1901 Australia became a nation when the self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australian formed the Commonwealth of Australia.
• In 1911, the Australian Capital Territory was created to serve as the location of the capital of Australia, and the Northern Territory was transferred from the control of South Australia to the new federal government of the Commonwealth of Australia.
• In 1945 Australia became one of the founding members of the United Nations

II. Geography

Australia is divided into 6 States (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia) and 2 Territories (Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory).  Table below shows each state’s population, area and capital city (from the most populous to the least):

III.  Climate and Environment

A. Temperature

Summer starts from December to February,  Autumn from March to May , Winter from June to August and Spring from September to November.  Below is the comparison of average temperatures (in Celsius) in Australian capital cities (in alphabetical order).

B. Biodiversity

As the only country in the world that spans an entire continent, Australia’s biodiversity is extraordinary.   It is one of only seventeen countries in the world with extraordinarily high level of biodiversity.  These seventeen countries  account for two thirds of the whole planet earth’s biodiversity.

Australia has more species of vascular plants than 94% of countries on Earth, and more non-fish vertebrate animals (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) than 95% of the world’s countries.  It also has more species of mammals than 93% of countries, more birds than 79% of countries, more amphibians than 95% of countries, and more reptiles than any other country on Earth.

Australia is also home to a number of species which occur nowhere else on Earth.  It has more endemic plants than 98% of the world’s countries, and more endemic non-fish vertebrates than any other country on Earth.  Australia has more endemic mammals than any other country, more endemic birds than 99% of the world’s countries, more endemic reptiles by far than any other country, and more endemic amphibians than 97% of the world’s countries.

C. Natural Wonders

There are numerous natural wonders in Australia, such as :

1. The Great Barrier Reef – Born 25 million years ago, it is the only living thing on Earth that is visible from space. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and home to 400 different types of coral and 1,500 species of tropical fish.
2. Uluru – Formerly known as Ayers Rock, it is believed to be around 700 million years old. It’s 348 meters high (taller than the Eiffel Tower) with a circumference of 9.4 kilometers. It’s famed for the different hues or colours that bathe it, particularly at sunrise and sunset.
3. The Twelve Apostles – 45-metre tall limestone structures created by erosion (at a rate of 2 centimetres a year) viewable from the Great Ocean Road, off the Victorian coast, where they continue to erode. Their name notwithstanding, as of current there are only eight left.

Many least popular ones are certainly not less awe-inspiring like the Sea Cliffs found in the Tasman National Park in Tasmania, the extraterrestrial-looking The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, Western Australia, Walls of China in Mungo National Park, New South Wales,  Wilpena Pound found in Flinders Ranges, South Australia, The Grampians in Victoria, Fraser Island off the coast of eastern Queensland, to name a few.

III. Governance

Australia follows the principle of representative democracy wherein officials who make up the government are elected by and are accountable to the Australian people.  There are three (3) levels of government in Australia—the federal government, the state government, and the local government units. 

The federal or national government is known as the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.  It is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with the currently reigning British monarch (presently Queen Elizabeth II) as titular head.  The federal government has three (3) branches:  1) the Bicameral Parliament or Legislature (composed of the Senate and House of Representatives), 2) the Executive, this is where the executive power lies and is headed by the Prime Minister who is the leader of the  majority party in the House of Representatives, and 3) the Judiciary which is composed of the courts and headed by the High Court of Australia (Australia’s Supreme Court).

Each State and Territory has its own parliament that can enact laws and policies that are limited to their respective jurisdiction.  The head of government in a State is called the Premier, in a Territory it’s called the Chief Minister.  Both the Premier and the Chief Minister come from the majority party in their corresponding State or Territory Parliament.

Finally, within a State or Territory, local government units called Council, City, Shire, Town or Region exercise some administrative function such as town planning, recreation, library and waste collection, etc., over their jurisdiction.  Local government units are composed of elected council members and headed by a Mayor or Shire President who is either directly voted by the people or by the elected council members.

IV. Cool tidbits about Australia

• Australia is the only nation continent on earth.
• The 6th largest country in the world in terms of area
• The 9th least densely populated country in the world, given its area of 7,682,300 sq. km and population of 24 million.
• The 12th largest economy in the world and has the 5th highest per capita income in the world
• Ranked 2nd, among all countries in the world, in global Human Development Index in United Nation Development Programme
• Australia has around 10,000 beaches.  You need to visit one new beach everyday for more than 27 years in order to see all of them.
• There are more kangaroos than people in Australia.
• There are 19 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Australia (i.e., places that are considered very important from cultural and/or natural point of view.)
• 80 percent of Australians live within 100 kilometres of the coast making Australia one of the world’s most urbanised coastal dwelling populations.
• Australia is a diverse and multicultural society.  A quarter of Australians (25 %) were born overseas and another 25% have at least one parent born overseas.  Australian migrants come from at least 140 different countries.  More than 3.1 million Australia’s speak a language other than English at home.  Over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in Australia including 45 Indigenous languages.
• Australian cities like Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth are perennially in the Economic Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Top 10 Most Liveable cities in the world year after year.