Land use: arable land 6%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 58%; forest and woodland 14%; other 22%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: subject to severe droughts and floods; cyclones along
coast; limited freshwater availability; irrigated soil degradation;
regular, tropical, invigorating, sea breeze known as the doctor occurs
along west coast in summer; desertification
Note: world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country
PEOPLE
Population: 17,288,044 (July 1991), growth rate 1.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 7 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 80 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
Ethnic divisions: Caucasian 95%, Asian 4%, Aboriginal and other
1%
Religion: Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26.0%, other Christian
24.3%
Language: English, native languages
Literacy: 100% (male 100%, female 100%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980 est.)
Labor force: 7,700,000; finance and services 33.8%, public and
community services 22.3%, wholesale and retail trade 20.1%, manufacturing
and industry 16.2%, agriculture 6.1% (1987)
Organized labor: 42% of labor force (1988)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Commonwealth of Australia
Type: federal parliamentary state
Capital: Canberra
Administrative divisions: 6 states and 2 territories*; Australian
Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland,
South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Dependent areas: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island,
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald
Islands, Norfolk Island
Independence: 1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies)
Constitution: 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901
Legal system: based on English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Australia Day (last Monday in January), 29
January 1990
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of an
upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: High Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since February 1952),
represented by Governor General William George HAYDEN (since NA February
1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Robert James Lee HAWKE (since
11 March 1983); Deputy Prime Minister Paul KEATING (since 3 April 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
government--Australian Labor Party, Robert James Lee HAWKE;
opposition--Liberal Party, John HEWSON;
National Party, Timothy FISCHER;
Australian Democratic Party, Janet POWELL
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
Elections:
Senate--last held 11 July 1987 (next to be held by July 1993);
results--Labor 43%, Liberal-National 42%, Australian Democrats 8%,
independents 2%;
seats--(76 total) Labor 32, Liberal-National 34, Australian
Democrats 7, independents 3;
House of Representatives--last held 24 March 1990 (next to be
held by November 1993);
results--Labor 39.7%, Liberal-National 43%, Australian Democrats
and independents 11.1%;
seats--(148 total) Labor 78, Liberal-National 69, independent 1
Communists: 4,000 members (est.)
Other political or pressure groups: Australian Democratic Labor
Party (anti-Communist Labor Party splinter group); Peace and Nuclear
Disarmament Action (Nuclear Disarmament Party splinter group)
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Michael J. COOK; Chancery at
1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202)
797-3000; there are Australian Consulates General in Chicago, Honolulu,
Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Pago Pago (American Samoa), and San
Francisco;
US--Ambassador Melvin F. SEMBLER; Moonah Place, Yarralumla,
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600 (mailing address is APO San
Francisco 96404); telephone 61 (6) 270-5000; there are US Consulates
General in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, and a Consulate in Brisbane
Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant
and a large seven-pointed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant; the
remaining half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in
white with one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed
stars
ECONOMY
Overview: Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist
economy, with a per capita GNP comparable to levels in industrialized
West European countries. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major
exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels.
Of the top 25 exports, 21 are primary products, so that, as happened
during 1983-84, a downturn in world commodity prices can have a big
impact on the economy. The government is pushing for increased exports
of manufactured goods but competition in international markets will be
severe.
GDP: $255.9 billion, per capita $15,000; real growth rate 2.2%
(1990)
partners--Japan 26%, US 11%, NZ 6%, South Korea 4%, Singapore 4%,
UK, Taiwan, Hong Kong
Imports: $42.0 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities--manufactured raw materials, capital equipment,
consumer goods;
partners--US 24%, Japan 19%, UK 6%, FRG 7%, NZ 4% (1990)
External debt: $123.7 billion (September 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate - 1.8% (1990); accounts for
32% of GDP
Electricity: 38,000,000 kW capacity; 150,000 million kWh produced,
8,860 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food
processing, chemicals, steel, motor vehicles
Agriculture: accounts for 5% of GNP and 37% of export revenues;
world's largest exporter of beef and wool, second-largest for mutton,
and among top wheat exporters; major crops--wheat, barley, sugarcane,
fruit; livestock--cattle, sheep, poultry
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $10.4
billion
Currency: Australian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Australian dollar
($A) = 100 cents
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 40,478 km total; 7,970 km 1.600-meter gauge, 16,201 km
1.435-meter standard gauge, 16,307 km 1.067-meter gauge; 183 km dual
gauge; 1,130 km electrified; government owned (except for a few hundred
kilometers of privately owned track) (1985)
Highways: 837,872 km total; 243,750 km paved, 228,396 km gravel,
crushed stone, or stabilized soil surface, 365,726 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 8,368 km; mainly by small, shallow-draft craft
Airports: 747 total, 524 usable; 270 with permanent-surface
runways, 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 17 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
401 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good international and domestic service; 8.7
million telephones; stations--258 AM, 67 FM, 134 TV; submarine cables to
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; domestic satellite service;
satellite stations--4 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 6 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT
earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian
Air Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 4,689,559; 4,090,921 fit for
military service; 135,435 reach military age (17) annually
Defense expenditures: $6.6 billion, 2.2% of GDP (FY90)
