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Australia |
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| Background: |
Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was
able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its
agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution
to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include
pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management
and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.
A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed
by the British monarch to a republic, was defeated in 1999. |
| Location: |
Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
|
| Geographic
coordinates: |
27 00 S, 133 00 E |
| Map
references: |
Oceania
|
| Area: |
total: 7,686,850 sq km
water: 68,920 sq km
note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island
land:
7,617,930 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states |
| Land
boundaries: |
0 km |
| Coastline: |
25,760 km |
| Maritime
claims: |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
continental shelf:
200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Climate: |
generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in
north |
| Terrain: |
mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m
highest point:
Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m |
| Natural
resources: |
bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel,
tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum
|
| Land
use: |
arable land: 6.88%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 93.09% (1998 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
24,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
cyclones along the coast; severe droughts; forest fires |
| Environment
- current issues: |
soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization,
and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to the use of poor
quality water; desertification; clearing for agricultural purposes threatens
the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species; the Great
Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the
world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist
site; limited natural fresh water resources |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
| Geography
- note: |
world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country; population concentrated
along the eastern and southeastern coasts; regular, tropical, invigorating,
sea breeze known as "the Doctor" occurs along the west coast in the
summer
|
| Population: |
19,731,984 (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 20.2% (male 2,045,783; female 1,949,864)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 6,680,531; female 6,553,141)
65
years and over: 12.7% (male 1,099,275; female 1,403,390) (2003 est.)
|
| Median
age: |
total: 36 years
male: 35.2 years
female:
36.8 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.93% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
12.55 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
7.31 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
4.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population:
0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 4.83 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 5.23 deaths/1,000
live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 80.13 years
male: 77.27 years
female: 83.13 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.76 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Australian(s)
adjective: Australian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1% |
| Religions: |
Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 24.3%, non-Christian
11%, other 12.6% |
| Languages: |
English, native languages |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total
population: 100%
male: 100%
female: 100%
(1980 est.)
|
| Economy
- overview: |
Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a
per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies.
Rising output in the domestic economy has been offsetting the global
slump, and business and consumer confidence remains robust. Australia's
emphasis on reforms is another key factor behind the economy's strength.
The stagnant economic conditions in major export partners and the impact
of the worst drought in 100 years cast a shadow over prospects for 2003.
|
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $528 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
3.6% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $27,000 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 3%
industry: 26%
services:
71% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 25.4% (1994) |
| Distribution
of family income - Gini index: |
35.2 (1994) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
2.8% (2002 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
9.2 million (December 2001) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (1997 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
6.3% (2002) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $86.8 billion
expenditures: $84.1
billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.) |
| Industries: |
mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals,
steel |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4.3% (2002 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
198.2 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 90.8%
hydro: 8.3%
other:
0.9% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
184.33 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
731,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
796,500 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
523,400 bbl/day (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
530,800 bbl/day (2001) |
| Oil
- proved reserves: |
3.664 billion bbl (January 2002 est.) |
| Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
2.407 trillion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry |
| Exports: |
$66.3 billion (2002 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport
equipment |
| Exports
- partners: |
developing countries 45.6%, Japan 19.7%, ASEAN 13.3%, EU 11.7%, US 9.7%
(2001 est.) |
| Imports: |
$68 billion (2002 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication
equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products |
| Imports
- partners: |
developing countries 31.7%, EU 21.6%, US 18.9%, ASEAN 14.8%, Japan 13.0%
(2001 est.) |
| Debt
- external: |
$176.8 billion (2001 est.) |
| Economic
aid - donor: |
ODA, $894 million (FY99/00) |
| Currency: |
Australian dollar (AUD) |
| Currency
code: |
AUD |
| Exchange
rates: |
Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248
(2000), 1.55 (1999), 1.5918 (1998) |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 July - 30 June
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