Australia

Commonwealth of Australia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Advance Australia Fair" Royal anthem: God Save the King[N 1]
Capital	Canberra 35°18′29″S 149°07′28″E / 35.30806°S 149.12444°E / -35.30806; 149.12444
Largest city	Sydney
Official languages	None at federal level
Common languages	English[N 2]
Demonym(s)	Australian Aussie (colloquial)[2][3]
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Charles III
• Governor-General	Sam Mostyn
• Prime Minister	Anthony Albanese
• Deputy Prime Minister	Richard Marles
• Chief Justice	Stephen Gageler
• Senate President	Sue Lines
• House Speaker	Milton Dick
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• Federation, Constitution	1 January 1901
• Statute of Westminster Adoption Act	9 October 1942 (with effect from 3 September 1939)
• Australia Act	3 March 1986
Area
• Total	7,692,024 km2 (2,969,907 sq mi) (6th)
• Water (%)	0.76
Population
• 2024 estimate	27,727,500[4] (51st)
• 2016 census	23,401,892[5]
• Density	3.6/km2 (9.3/sq mi) (236th)
GDP (PPP)	2017 estimate
• Total	US$1.24 trillion[6] (19th)
• Per capita	US$49,882[6] (17th)
GDP (nominal)	2017 estimate
• Total	US$1.39 trillion[6] (13th)
• Per capita	US$56,135[6] (10th)
Gini (2012)	33.6[7] medium · 19th
HDI (2015)	0.939[8] very high · 2nd
Currency	Australian dollar (AUD)
Time zone	UTC+8 to +10.5 (various[N 3])
• Summer (DST)	UTC+8 to +11.5 (various[N 3])
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+61
ISO 3166 code	AU
Internet TLD	.au

Australia (officially called the Commonwealth of Australia) is a country and sovereign state located in the southern hemisphere, in Oceania. Its capital city is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. It is mostly desert country.

Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world by land area, and is part of the Oceanic and Australasian regions. Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and other islands on the Australian tectonic plate are together called Australasia, which is one of the world's great ecozones. When other Pacific islands are included with Australasia, it is called Oceania.

27 million^[9] people live in Australia, and about 85% of them live near the east coast.^[10] The country is divided up into six states and two territories, and more than half of Australia's population lives in and around the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The first people to live in the country were the Indigenous Australians: many of them died from smallpox during colonisation.

Australia is known for its mining (coal, iron, gold, diamonds and crystals). It produces wool, and is the world's largest producer of bauxite.^[11] Its emblem is a flower called the golden wattle.

Australia is also known for its animals. The national symbols of Australia are the kangaroo and the golden wattle. Scientifically, perhaps even more important are its two monotreme mammals: the platypus and the echidna.

1. ↑ "It's an Honour - Symbols - Australian National Anthem". Gov.Au. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
2. ↑ See entry in the Macquarie Dictionary.
3. ↑ Collins English Dictionary. Bishopbriggs, Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2009. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-00-786171-2.
4. ↑ "Population clock". Australian Bureau of Statistics website. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 1 July 2017. The population estimate shown is automatically calculated daily at 00:00 UTC and is based on data obtained from the population clock on the date shown in the citation.
5. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Australia". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} "Australia". International Monetary Fund. October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
7. ↑ "OECD Economic Surveys: Norway 2012". Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
8. ↑ "2016 Human Development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
9. ↑ Statistics, c=AU; o=Commonwealth of Australia; ou=Australian Bureau of. "Australian Bureau of Statistics web site". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-09-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. ↑ "How centralised is Australia's population?". 9 September 2014.
11. ↑ "Alcola World Alumina Australia" (PDF). MAMS.RMIT.edu.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2004. Retrieved December 11, 2014.