Australia is the sixth largest country in the world by total area, but only ranks around 54th in terms of its population. The population is highly urbanised, with the majority living in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. About 30% of Australia’s population was born outside the country. The countries contributing the most to this total are the UK, India, China, the Philippines, New Zealand and Vietnam.
Australia was colonised by the British from 1788 onwards. It was granted partial independence from the UK in 1901 and full independence in 1942, although the British monarch is still the head of state. The country has maintained a federal democratic system of government since 1901, with two main political parties and compulsory voting. The federal government is based in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory, an area on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, the two most populous states.
Australia has a troubled history with the indigenous Australians, which include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who represent about 3.2% of the population. In recent years there have been various moves towards reconciliation between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations, but major differences remain in areas such as health, education and economic prospects.
Australia has an advanced mixed economy dominated by services but much of its recent growth can be attributed to the extraction and export of minerals. For example, Australia is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and bauxite, the second largest producer of gold, manganese and lead, the third largest producer of zinc, cobalt and lead and the fourth largest producer of coal. Commodities make up two-thirds of the value of Australia’s exports so the economy tends to do well when commodity prices are high and badly when they are low.
With large coal (and also natural gas) reserves, Australia has historically relied heavily on fossil fuels for power generation but it also has abundant sunshine and wind (and lots of empty space) if it can reconfigure its national grid to make use of these resources.
