Australia (aws-TRAIL-yuh), smallest continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It extends some 2,400 mi/3,862 km E-W and nearly 2,000 mi/3,219 km N-S. With the island state of Tasmania to the S, the continent makes up the Commonwealth of Australia (2,967,877 sq mi/7,686,801 sq km; 1991 population 14,827,507; 2004 estimated population 19,913,144); (capital) Canberra.
Geography
There are five continental states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia) as well as the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (an enclave within New South Wales, containing Canberra, the federal capital). Australia’s external territories include Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Australian continent is on the whole exceedingly flat and dry. Less than 20 in/50.8 cm of precipitation falls annually over 70% of the land area. From the narrow coastal plain in the W the land rises abruptly in what, from the sea, appear to be mountain ranges but are actually the escarpments of a rough plateau that occupies the W half of the continent. It is generally 1,000 ft/305 m–2,000 ft/610 m high but several mountain ranges rise to nearly 5,000 ft/1,524 m; there are no permanent rivers or lakes. In the SW corner of the continent there is a small moist and fertile area, but the rest of Western Australia is arid, with large desert areas. The N region fronts partly on the Timor Sea, separating Australia from Indonesia; it also belongs to the plateau, with tropical temperatures and a winter dry season. Its northernmost section, Arnhem Land (principally land owned by Aborigines), faces the Arafura Sea in the N and the huge Gulf of Carpentaria on the E. On the E side of the gulf is the Cape York Peninsula, which is largely covered by rain forest. Off the coast of NE Queensland is the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef. In E Australia are the mountains of the Eastern Highlands, which run down the entire E and SE coasts. The rivers on the E and SE slopes run to the Coral and Tasman seas through narrow but rich coastal plains; the rivers on the W slopes flow either N to the Gulf of Carpentaria or W and SW to the Indian Ocean. The longest of all Australian river systems, the Murray River and its tributaries, drains the S part of the interior basin that lies between the mountains and the great plateau. The rivers of this area are used extensively for irrigation and hydroelectric power. Australia, relatively remote—and long separated—from most of the rest of the world, has many distinctive forms of plant life—notably species of giant eucalyptus—and of animal life, including the kangaroo, the koala bear, the flying opossum, the wallaby, the wombat, the platypus, and the spiny anteater; it also has many unusual birds. Foreign animals, when introduced, have frequently done well. Rabbits, brought over in 1788, have done entirely too well, multiplying until by the mid-19th century they became a distinct menace to sheep raising. In 1907 a 1,000-mi/1,609-km fence (still maintained) was built from the N coast to the S to prevent the rabbits from invading Western Australia.
Population
About 86% of the country lives in urban areas. The population has more than doubled since the end of World War II, spurred by an ambitious postwar immigration program. In the 19th century, Australia enacted strong measures to prevent immigration by non-Europeans. After World War II, immigration from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other countries enhanced Australia’s cultural diversity. In 1973, Australia officially ended discriminatory immigration policies, and substantial Asian immigration followed; by 1988, about 40% of immigration to Australia was from Asia. The total number of Asian immigrants and their children exceeds the total number of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The Aboriginal population has become more urbanized with roughly 66% living in cities. New South Wales and Queensland account for just over half of the Australian Aboriginal population. In Tasmania the Aboriginal population was virtually exterminated in the 19th century. There is no state religion in Australia. The largest denominations are the Roman Catholic 26%, Anglican 26%. Other Christian groups make up 24%, non-Christian 11%, and other 13%. The groups comprising the Aborigines are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia c.40,000 years ago. They spread throughout Australia and apart from contact with Asian seafarers in the N, remained isolated from outside influences until the arrival of the Europeans. There are many places of higher education, but the older universities include the Universities of Sydney (1852), Melbourne (1854), Adelaide (1874), and Queensland (in Brisbane, 1909).
Economy
Most of the rich farmland and good ports are in the E and especially the SE, except for the area around Perth in Western Australia. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide are the leading industrial and commercial cities. Australia is highly industrialized, and manufactured goods account for much of the GDP. The leading manufactures are iron and steel products, cement, transportation equipment, and machinery. Australia’s chief export commodities are metalliferous ores, coal, machinery, wool, meat, and wheat. The leading imports are metals and metal products, petroleum, machinery, and textiles. Most (80%) of country’s international trade is now with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Germany and the U.S. are other leading trade partners. The country is self-sufficient in food, and the raising of sheep and cattle and the production of grain have long been staple occupations. Tropical and subtropical produce—citrus fruits, sugarcane, and tropical fruits—are also important, and there are numerous vineyards and dairy and tobacco farms. Some lumbering is done in the E and SE. Australia has valuable mineral resources, including coal, iron, bauxite, uranium, and gold.
History
From the European perspective, it seems probable that Australia was first sighted in 1601 by a Portuguese, Manuel Godhino de Eredia, and possibly again c.1605–1606 by a Spaniard, Luis Vaez de Torres. It was later visited by the Dutch, who named it New Holland. In 1688 the Englishman William Dampier landed at King Sound on the NW coast. Little interest was aroused, however, until the fertile E coast was observed when Captain James Cook reached Botany Bay in 1770 and sailed N to Cape York, claiming the coast for Great Britain. In 1788 the first British settlement was made—a penal colony on the shores of Port Jackson, where Sydney now stands. By 1829 the whole continent was a British dependency. Exploration, begun before the first settlement was founded, was continued by such men as Matthew Flinders (1798), Count Paul Strzelecki (1839), Ludwig Leichhardt (1848), and John McDouall Stuart (first to cross the continent, 1862). Australia was initially used, in part, as a dumping ground for criminals, bankrupts, and other undesirables from the British Isles. Sheep raising was introduced early, and before the mid-19th century wheat was being exported in large quantities to England. A gold strike in Victoria in 1851 brought a rush to that region. Other strikes were made later in the century in Western Australia. With minerals, sheep, and grain forming the base of the economy, Australia developed rapidly. By the mid-19th century systematic, permanent colonization had completely replaced the old penal settlements. Confederation of the separate Australian colonies did not come until a constitution, drafted in 1897–1898, was approved by the British Parliament and was put into operation in 1901; under its terms the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania, all of which by then had been granted self-government, were federated. Australia fought on the side of Great Britain in both world wars. Darwin, Port Jackson, and Newcastle were bombed or shelled by the Japanese in World War II. The Allied victory in the battle of the Coral Sea (1942) probably averted a full-scale attack on Australia. After the war Australia became increasingly active in world affairs, particularly in defense and development projects with its Asian neighbors; it furnished troops to aid the U.S. war effort in South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Australia has had substantial immigration from Asia since the 1970s, and economic ties with Asia and the Pacific Rim have become overwhelmingly important. The Australian economy was faltering in a severe recession in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but in 2004 its per capita GDP is on par with the four dominant West European economies.
Government
Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the UN, the Colombo Plan, and the ANZUS Pact. The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in a governor general (representing the Britsh sovereign), currently Major General (Retired) Michael Jeffery and a cabinet, presided over by the prime minister, which represents the party, or a coalition, holding a majority in the lower house of Parliament. The Parliament consists of two houses. The distribution of federal and state powers is roughly like that in the U.S. From its early years the federal government has been noted for its liberal legislation, such as woman suffrage (1902), old-age pensions (1909), and maternity allowances (1912). There are four main political parties: Liberal, Labor, National, and Democratic. In 1987, Robert Hawke won a third term as prime minister against a coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, the first time a Labor government won three successive elections. In 1991, Hawke lost a vote of confidence in Parliament and was succeeded by Paul Keating, who had been treasurer. Since 1996 John Winston Howard has been Prime Minister.
