Quick facts

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean

Area: 7.692 million km2

Population: 25.69 million

Urban population: 86.2%

Capital city: Canberra GDP per capita: US $52,905.4

Languages: English 72.7%, Mandarin 2.5%, Arabic 1.4%, Cantonese 1.2%, Vietnamese 1.2%, Italian 1.2%, Greek 1%, other 14.8%, unspecified 6.5%

Religion: Protestant 23.1% (Anglican 13.3%, Uniting Church 3.7%, Presbyterian and Reformed 2.3%, Baptist 1.5%, Pentecostal 1.1%, Lutheran 0.7%, other Protestant 0.5%), Roman Catholic 22.6%, other Christian 4.2%, Muslim 2.6%, Buddhist 2.4%, Orthodox 2.3% (Eastern Orthodox 2.1%, Oriental Orthodox .2%), Hindu 1.9%, other 1.3%, none 30.1%, unspecified 9.6%

Government: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

Legal system: common law system based on the English model

Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)

Climate: generally arid to semi-arid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Natural resources: alumina, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum

Natural hazards: cyclones along the coast; severe droughts; forest fires, volcanism: volcanic activity on Heard and McDonald Islands

Time difference: UTC+10

Internet country code: .au

National holidays: Australia Day (commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of Australian settlers), 26th January (1788); ANZAC Day (commemorates the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25th April (1915)

National symbols: Commonwealth Star (sevenpointed Star of Federation), golden wattle tree (Acacia pycnantha Benth), kangaroo, emu; national colours: green, gold

[Source – FCDO Economics Unit, CIA World Factbook (December 2021)]