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| Overview | People | Geography | Economy | Government | Communications | Transport | Military | Map |
| Country | Australia |
| Flag |  |
| Capital | name: Canberra geographic coordinates: 35 17 S, 149 13 E time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in October; ends last Sunday in March note: Australia is divided into three time zones |
| Population | 21,262,641 (July 2009 est.) |
| GMT | +8/10 |
| Location | Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean see map |
| Area | total: 7,686,850 sq km land: 7,617,930 sq km water: 68,920 sq km note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island |
| Ethnic groups | white 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1% |
| Religions | Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census) |
| Languages | English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census) |
| Government type | federal parliamentary democracy |
| National holiday | Australia Day, 26 January (1788); ANZAC Day (commemorated as the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915) |
| Constitution | 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901 |
| Legal system | based on English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| Background | Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990s, a performance due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s. Long-term concerns include climate-change issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and more frequent droughts, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. |
| Internet country code | .au |
