Australia is a country, continent, and island in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a developed country with high living standards and one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It has a population of 24 million people. It covers an area of 7,617,930 square kilometers (2,941,300 sq mi). Its capital city is Canberra. Other major cities are Sydney and Melbourne.
Australia is one of the countries that has a diverse ecosystem. The country includes many different parts such as the dry and arid inland, temperate coast, tropical north and south.
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Fun Facts about Australia
1 Melbourne has the largest population of Greeks in the world second only to Greece, of course.
2 It is the only continent that does not have any active volcano.
3 Lake Hiller located in WA appears to be pink. Nobody really knows the reason but scientists have speculate that the color comes from the bacteria living in the salt crusts.
4 Melbourne was originally named Batmania after it was explored by John Batman. A year later after the settlement was called Batmania, it was renamed to its current name–Melbourne–after British Prime Minister William Lamb, Second Viscount of Melbourne.
5 Aboriginal people only make up 1.5% of the entire population. Much of the decline of the population was attributed to the fact that it used to be legal to hunt down and kill Aboriginal people.
6 Australia has 20 million people but did you know that it has more than 100 million sheep? That’s around 5 sheep for one person. In fact, Australia has the largest cattle ranch in the world at 30,028 square kilometers which is the size of the country of Belgium.
7 Australia is the only place on earth that has marsupials (animals that have specialized reproductive pouches) such as kangaroos, platypus, wombat and echidna. However, it is interesting to note that their ancestors came from South America but were isolated when the continents shifted.
8 In 1828, a survey revealed that half of the population in New South Wales were convicts. Moreover, 40% of the English-speaking population in the late 1800s descended from convicts. Today, about 22% of Australians have at least one convict ancestor.
9 It is the only country and continent that has a 5,500-kilometer fence to keep the native dogs – Dingo – away from the livestock. This dingo fence is considered as the longest fence in the world.
10 Australia was a colony first founded by English convicts. And eventually it was a large prison colony that used rum as its main currency.
11. Australia is a rich country in terms of its natural resources and culture. Thanks to its past, it remains to be one of the most widely diverse country in the world. With over 200 different languages as well as dialects spoken in this country, it is really easy to get along with the locals.
12. Australia was the first country to have TV broadcasting.
13.The Australian Outback is the most well-known part of Australia to people outside of Australia. It is a large dry and arid region which covers most of the interior part of the country.
14, Australia has over 300 species of birds and plenty more other interesting animals such as kangaroos and koalas.
15. Australia is bordered by Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea on one side and the Tasman Sea on all other sides.
16. The country covers a land area of 7,692,024 square kilometers (3,966,149 sq mi) or 9.6% of the Earth’s total land area.
17. There are more than 250 different climate zones across Australia which range from tropical to desert to temperate and alpine areas.
18. The population of Australia is about 23 million people
19. Australia is the smallest continent and the largest island.
20. Australia is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area.
Video: 10 Best Places to Visit in Australia
Located between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Australia is the world’s largest island and its smallest continent. There’s room to move in the Land Down Under, and with so many sights to discover and enjoy, there’s a great incentive to go on a walkabout adventure.
Whether exploring the traditional lifestyle of the nation’s Aboriginal people, relaxing on a sun-kissed beach or reveling the night away in a city hot spot, Australia has something special to offer every visitor. Here’s a look at the best places to visit in Australia:
Summary of Australian Facts
Australia is one of the wealthiest countries with a high GDP per capita. Australians enjoy a high level of life satisfaction and they also have a very low poverty rate with less than 2% in poverty.
Australia is one of my favorite cities and hopefully everyone can visit during their lifetime.
Hi I’m Jay. I grew up in Seattle, Washington and live in Los Angeles, California. I have travelled to 23 countries so far and planning to go explore more countries soon! My Favorite trips so far have been to Israel, Japan, Rome, Iceland and Australia. I started this site to share my love of travel with everyone and build a community of like-minded, free thinking, free exploring people.
