Australia Travellers Guide:

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Facts & Figures

Total Area:7,686,850 sq km                            Land Borders: Island State
Population: 20,264,082                               
Life Expectancy: 80.5 years                            HIV % Total Poulation: 0.1% (2003 est)
Ethnic Groups: Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%
Languages:English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)
President:Prime Minister John HOWARD         GDP - Per Capita: $31,900

. History

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 pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.