Mini Guide To Australia

If you’re looking for a great tourist spot try Australia. Australia is the name of both a country and a continent. Australia and the continental USA are similar in size, each covers roughly 3 million square miles. Population centers, such as Melbourne or Sydney are generally along the coasts. Sydney’s population is 4.2 million. Only much smaller villages and towns are inland where the climate is dry. Canberra is the capital and is a short distance inland.

Natives of Australia are the Aboriginal tribes. Captain Cook from Great Britain claimed the land for Great Britain in 1770. A colony, mainly convicted criminals, was established in New South Wales in 1788. Australia attracted large numbers of immigrants when gold was discovered in 1851, not far from Bathurst, New South Wales, by Edward Hargraves.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the Seven wonders of the world. It is off the far northern coast. The reef is world renown for hundreds of plant species. While it is a diver’s paradise, those in the water do need to watch for the Great White Sharks.

Australia maintains close ties to Great Britain and is known internationally as a Commonwealth. Australia’s federal powers have some similarity to the United States. One difference is the lack or a bill of rights. The territories of Australia have more significant power than individual States of the USA.

“Australians” refers to the residents there. The population of Australia is right around 20 million. It is growing at a rate of 1.1% each year. The ethnicity of the population is European 92 per cent, Asian 6 per cent, Aboriginal 2 per cent. Twenty-seven per cent of the population identify themselves as Roman Catholic. The average male lives until 78 and females live to 83. A literacy rate of 85% is surprisingly low to many people.

As a separate continent Australians have often felt forgotten. Airline and ship transportation have made it a hot tourist spot.