Australia: Introduction

Total Population: 22,328,800

Natural Increase: 1.7%

Density: 3 Inhabitants/km²

Urban Population: 89.1%

Population of main cities including suburbs: Sydney (4,400,000); Melbourne (3,900,000); Brisbane (1,920,000); Perth (1,600,000); Adelaide (1,170,000); Tweed Heads (550,000).

Ethnic Origins: Australia today is a multicultural nation with more than 170 different nationalities whose diversity is continually growing.

Official Language: The lingua franca of Australia is English. English is also the common language in different sectors such as the legislature, justice, administrative services, work, correspondence.

Other Languages Spoken: In Australia minority groups use more than 200 languages including the Aborigine languages and immigrant languages (Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Lebanese, Vietnamese,Turkish, etc.)

Business Language(s): English

Religion: Anglicans 20%; Catholics 25%; Other Protestant Christians 20%; Buddhists 1.9%; Muslims 1.5%.
A declining majority of people (58% according to certain surveys) say they are Christians. Most Protestant Churches, except the Anglican Church, have merged to form the Uniting Church; the Catholic Church has a large number of believers. There are also non-Christian minorities. 20% of the population say they are non-believers. The Aborigines do not have a religion strictly speaking, their entire culture is based on religion.

Area: 7,741,220 km²

Type of State: Commonwealth of Australia. Federal State of 6 States and 2 Territories based on a parliamentary democracy.

Type of Economy: High-income economy, OECD member.
Services are dominant in the economy; abundant natural resources; greatest number of national parks and natural reserves in the world.

HDI*: 0.937/1

HDI (World Rank): 2/169

Telephone Code:
To Make a Call From Australia, Dial  0011
To Make a Call to Australia, Dial +61

Internet Suffix: .au

Computers: 68.9 per 100 Inhabitants

Telephone Lines: 44.5 per 100 Inhabitants

Internet Users: 72.0 per 100 Inhabitants

Access to Electricity: 100% of the Population