A country occupying the continent of Australia, Tasmania, and many small islands (Norfolk, Christmas, Cocos (Keeling), and others). Area - about 7.7 million km². Capital - Canberra (330,000), part of a special administrative unit - the Australian Capital Territory. Major cities: Sydney (about 4 million), Melbourne (3.4 million), Brisbane (1.7 million), Perth (1.4 million), Adelaide (1.1 million). Australia is a federal state, administratively divided into 6 states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania) and 2 territories (Northern and Australian Capital), which have their own parliaments and governments and enjoy significant autonomy. Population - 20.1 million (2004), mainly descendants of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, as well as immigrants from other countries. Indigenous people (Aborigines) - about 380,000. About 250,000 people from the former USSR live in Australia, including 80,000 Russians, over 40,000 Ukrainians, over 20,000 Armenians, and over 40,000 from the Baltic states. The official language is English. Religion: over 70% profess Christianity. Currency - Australian dollar = 100 cents.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR on October 10, 1942).
National holiday - January 26 - Australia Day.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy; a federal state (internally referred to as the Commonwealth of Australia) within the British Commonwealth. The head of state is the Queen of the United Kingdom, represented by a Governor-General, appointed on the recommendation of the Australian government (since August 2003 - M. Jeffery). The constitution of 1901 (with subsequent amendments) is in effect. The highest legislative body is the federal parliament, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives plays the main role in carrying out the legislative functions of parliament. The last general elections were held in October 2004, during which the entire composition of the House of Representatives and half of the senators were re-elected (the House of Representatives consists of 150 members elected for a 3-year term). The ruling coalition of the Liberal Party (founded in 1944, leader - J. Howard) and the National Party (founded in 1916, leader - M. Vale) led by J. Howard won.
The upper house of parliament is the Senate; it consists of 76 senators (12 senators from each state and 2 from the territories), elected for a term of 6 years. Half of them are re-elected every 3 years.
The executive power is exercised by the government formed from representatives of the parliamentary majority party or coalition. Major government decisions are made by the cabinet of ministers. The current coalition government (Liberal and National parties) is headed by Prime Minister J. Howard (since March 1996).
The first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil were the Dutch W. Janszoon (1606) and A. Tasman (1642). In 1770, the Australian continent was explored by English navigator J. Cook. In 1788, English captain A. Phillip, arriving in the Sydney Harbour area with 11 ships carrying convicts, founded the first settlement (January 26 is celebrated as a national holiday). Initially, Australia served as a penal colony for criminals from Great Britain. The discovery of gold in 1881 led to an increase in the flow of immigrants to Australia. In 1901, the 6 colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, which received dominion status. In 1931, under the Statute of Westminster, Australia gained full independence from the metropolis. In the first half of the 20th century, Australia primarily oriented itself towards Great Britain and other Commonwealth countries. In the post-war years, the United States took a special place in Canberra's foreign policy. American military facilities are located in Australia. In 1951, Australia became a member of the ANZUS mutual defense treaty.
Australia pays special attention to contacts with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, developing integration processes there, primarily in the economic sphere. It takes an active position on a number of major international issues. Great importance is attached to efforts in disarmament, including the limitation of nuclear weapons, the prohibition of nuclear tests, and the resolution of regional conflicts. It was one of the initiators of the Treaty of Rarotonga establishing a nuclear-free zone in the southern Pacific. It participates in UN peacekeeping operations.
Australia is a member of the UN (since 1945), OECD (since 1971), APEC, and other international organizations.
Australia is a highly developed industrial-agrarian country. It ranks 12th among OECD members in key statistical indicators, including the standard of living.
GDP in 2004 amounted to 758 billion Australian dollars. The mining and agricultural sectors play a key role in the economy, significantly oriented towards external markets.
Australia has significant reserves of energy and mineral resources (iron, uranium, manganese ores, coal, oil, natural gas, bauxite, diamonds, and others).
The chemical, electrical engineering, metallurgical industries, and automobile manufacturing are well-developed. It ranks among the top in the world for electricity production per capita.
Livestock farming holds a leading position in the highly developed agricultural sector (5% of the active population is employed in it) (over 20 million head of cattle and more than 120 million sheep). Australia is the largest producer and supplier of high-quality wool in the world, as well as one of the leading exporters of meat and dairy products, wheat, and sugar.
The foreign trade turnover in 2004 amounted to over 310 billion Australian dollars (exports - 143 billion, imports - 167 billion Australian dollars). The import consists mainly of machinery and equipment, services, consumer goods, and chemical products. About 40% of Australia's export volume consists of raw materials and energy resources, 30% - agricultural products, and about 20% - manufactured goods.
Major trading partners: Japan, USA, China, EU countries, ASEAN, New Zealand, South Korea.
Mandatory education is provided for children aged 6 to 15. There are public and private schools (over 70% of children are educated in public schools), as well as 26 universities, 33 colleges, and 2 university colleges.
Mass media are widely developed. Australia ranks among the leading countries in the world in terms of the number of periodicals per capita. Major daily newspapers: "Daily Telegraph-Mirror," "Courier-Mail," "Sydney Morning Herald," "West Australian," "The Age"; Sunday newspapers: "Sang Herald," "Sunday Mail," "Sunday Times," "Sunday Telegraph." The cooperative association of daily newspapers is "Australian Associated Press" (AAP). The government broadcasting service ABC is "Australian Broadcasting Corporation" (ABC), commercial services include "Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters," "Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations."