AUSTRALIA

Australia is a founding member of the UN, has been an active participant in UN institutions
for 70 years and is currently the 12th largest contributor to the UN regular budget.

Australia’s Map & Flag

Prime Minister Name: Scott Morrison (since 24 August 2018)

Area
Total: 7, 692, 024 km²
(2, 969, 907 sq mi)
Water: 1.79 (as of 2015)

Capital
Canberra
Largest City: Sydney

Population
2021 estimate: 25, 881, 600
2016 census: 23, 401, 892
Density: 3.4/km² (8.8/sq mi)

Language
Official Language: None at the federal level
National Language: English

Religion
52.1% Christianity
30.1% No Religion
2.6% Islam
2.4% Buddhism
1.9% Hinduism
0.5% Sikhism
0.4% Judaism
0.4% Other

Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national
government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other
Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government is made up of three
branches: the executive (the prime minister, the ministers, and government departments), the
legislative (the Parliament of Australia), and the judicial.
The legislative branch, the federal Parliament, is made up of two chambers: The House of
Representatives (lower house) and Senate (upper house). The House of Representatives has 151
members, each representing an individual electoral district of about 165,000 people. The Senate
has 76 members: twelve from each of the six states and two each from Australia's internal
territories, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The Australian monarch,
currently Queen Elizabeth II, is represented by the governor-general. The Australian Government
in its executive capacity is formed by the party or coalition with a majority in the House of
Representatives, with the prime minister being the parliamentary leader who has the support of a
majority of members in the House of Representatives. The prime minister is formally appointed to
the role by the governor-general.
The government is based in the nation's capital, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The
head offices of all fourteen federal departments lie in Canberra, along with Parliament House and
the High Court. The judicial branch of government, headed by the High Court of Australia, is
independent of the legislative and executive branch, and ensures that government acts according
to the constitution and law. As a founding member of the Commonwealth and a former British
colony before Federation in 1901, Australia's Constitution is influenced heavily by the British
Westminster system of government, as well as the United States Constitution.

Economy
The economy of Australia is a highly developed mixed economy. As of 2021, Australia was the
12th-largest national economy by nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the 18th-largest by
PPP-adjusted GDP, and was the 25th-largest goods exporter and 20th-largest goods importer.
Australia took the record for the longest run of uninterrupted GDP growth in the developed world
with the March 2017 financial quarter. It was the 103rd quarter and the 26th year since the
country had a technical recession (two consecutive quarters of negative growth). As of June 2021,
the country's GDP was estimated at A$1.98 trillion.
The Australian economy is dominated by its service sector, which in 2017 comprised 62.7% of
the GDP and employed 78.8% of the labor force. Australia has the tenth-highest total estimated
value of natural resources, valued at US$19.9 trillion in 2019. At the height of the mining boom
in 2009–10, the total value-added of the mining industry was 8.4% of GDP. Despite the recent
decline in the mining sector, the Australian economy had remained resilient and stable and did not
experience a recession from 1991 until 2020.
The Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney is the 16th-largest stock exchange in the world in
terms of domestic market capitalization and has one of the largest interest rate derivatives markets
in the Asia-Pacific region. Some of Australia's large companies include Commonwealth Bank,
BHP, CSL, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Fortescue Metals Group, Wesfarmers, Macquarie Group,
Woolworths Group, Rio Tinto, and Telstra. The currency of Australia and its territories is the
Australian dollar, which it shares with several Pacific nation states.
Australia's economy is strongly intertwined with the countries of East and Southeast Asia, also
known as ASEAN Plus Three (APT), accounting for about 64% of exports in 2016. China in
particular is Australia's main export and import partner by a wide margin. Australia is a member
of the APEC, G20, OECD and WTO. The country has also entered into free trade agreements
with ASEAN, Canada, Chile, China, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Japan,
Singapore, Thailand and the United States.[47][48][49] The ANZCERTA agreement with New
Zealand has greatly increased integration with the economy of New Zealand and in 2011 there
was a plan to form an Australasian Single Economic Market by 2015.

Major Industries
This are the five world-leading Australian industries: its energy and resources sector; agriculture
and premium food; international tourism; international education; and lastly its financial markets.
The fortunes of these five sectors are in constant flux.

Natural Resources
Australia is a world leader in mining and produces 19 minerals in significant amounts from nearly
400 operating mines. Minerals are produced in all states, the Northern Territory and on Christmas
Island. There is no mining in the Australian Capital Territory apart from quarries used to mine
aggregate and other construction materials.
Minerals are an important part of the Australian economy, accounting for about 7% of gross
domestic product. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the mining industry employs
around 263 000 people directly.
Minerals are Australia's largest export. According to the Bureau of Resources and Energy
Economics, the industry's exports (excluding oil and gas) were worth approximately $165 billion
in 2011-12, accounting for around 52% of total exports (goods and services) and 62% of
merchandise exports. Australian mining companies trade freely in the global marketplace,
exporting goods on a commercial basis around the world with the major markets for Australian
mineral exports being China, Japan, South Korea and India.
Australia is one of the top mineral producers in the world and has a large resource inventory of
most of the world's key minerals commodities. Australia is the world's leading producer of
bauxite, ilmenite, rutile, iron ore and zircon, the second largest producer of alumina, gold, lead,
lithium, manganese ore and zinc, the third largest producer of uranium, the fourth largest producer
of black coal, nickel and silver, and the fifth largest producer of aluminum, cobalt and copper.
Australia also has the largest identified resources of gold, iron ore, lead, nickel, rutile, uranium,
zinc and zircon, and the second largest resources of bauxite, cobalt, copper, ilmenite, niobium,
silver, tantalum and thorium. Australia's lithium and rare earth resources are ranked third,
manganese ore and vanadium are ranked fourth and black coal is ranked fifth in the world.
The subsections on the following pages provide an overview of Australia's resources of bauxite,
coal, copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, rare earth elements and uranium; specifically, their
distribution, reserve and resource amounts, state/territory share, world ranking, resource trends
and resource to production ratio. For industry developments and a more in-depth discussion of
these commodities, and others, please refer to Geoscience Australia's annual publication of
'Australia's Identified Mineral Resources'1.

History
The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia.
Aboriginal Australians first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast
Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and penetrated to all parts of the continent, from the
rainforests in the north, the deserts of the Centre, and the sub-Antarctic islands of Tasmania and
Bass Strait. The artistic, musical and spiritual traditions they established are among the longest
surviving such traditions in human history.
The first Torres Strait Islanders - ethnically and culturally distinct from Aboriginal Australians -
arrived from what is now Papua New Guinea around 2,500 years ago, and settled in the islands of
the Torres Strait and the Cape York Peninsula forming the northern tip of the Australian
landmass.
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was in 1606 by Dutch navigator Willem
Janszoon. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated,
what is now called Torres Strait and associated islands.[1] Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators
explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century and named the continent New
Holland. Macassan trepanners visited Australia's northern coasts after 1720, possibly earlier.
Other European explorers followed until, in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook charted the east coast
of Australia for Great Britain. He returned to London with accounts favoring colonization at
Botany Bay (now in Sydney).
The First Fleet of British ships arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788 to establish a penal colony,
the first colony on the Australian mainland. In the century that followed, the British established
other colonies on the continent, and European explorers ventured into its interior. Indigenous
Australians were greatly weakened and their numbers diminished by introduced diseases and
conflict with the colonists during this period.
Gold rushes and agricultural industries brought prosperity. Autonomous parliamentary
democracies began to be established throughout the six British colonies from the mid-19th
century. The colonies voted by referendum to unite in a federation in 1901, and modern Australia
came into being. Australia fought on the side of Britain in the two world wars and became a long-
standing ally of the United States when threatened by Imperial Japan during World War II. Trade
with Asia increased and a post-war immigration program received more than 6.5 million migrants
from every continent. Supported by immigration of people from almost every country in the
world since the end of World War II, the population increased to more than 25.5 million by 2020,
with 30 per cent of the population born overseas.

Reflection:
Things I learn about Australia is that, for many years Australia has been on the top of the most
popular living destinations list. They’re population reach 25.1 million people living in Australia
today. Their quality of life was astonishing wildlife and the scale of metropolitan areas are
impressive. It also means lower population density, low pollution levels, and up-to-date
infrastructure. When Australia shaped its foreign and economic policy, Europe and the US were
taken as an example. The economic reforms adopted in the 1980s have transformed Australia into
a globally competitive market economy. Economy, education, and health are all at a high level.
The official language of Australia is English and the official currency is the Australian dollar.
Living in a multicultural society where the official language is English can open many
opportunities for those who are willing to learn.
The country offers diverse natural resources that include reserves of natural gas, coal, gold, iron
and many other valuable resources. When it comes to their natural resources; Australia is one of
the top mineral producers in the world and has a large resource inventory of most of the world's
key minerals commodities. It is the world's leading producer of bauxite, ilmenite, rutile, iron ore
and zircon, the second largest producer of alumina, gold, lead, lithium, manganese ore and zinc,
the third largest producer of uranium, the fourth largest producer of black coal, nickel and silver,
and the fifth largest producer of aluminum, cobalt and copper. They also have the largest
identified resources such as: gold, iron ore, lead, nickel, rutile, uranium, zinc and zircon, and the
second largest resources of bauxite, cobalt, copper, ilmenite, niobium, silver, tantalum and
thorium. They also ranked third in lithium and rare earth resources, ranked fourth in manganese
ore and vanadium and ranked fifth in black goal in the world.

Recommendations:
 Embrace and Respect their cultures.
 Value their natural resources.
 More opportunities to learn in their health system, education and economy.
 Explore and learn more about Australia.