Australia

Australia is an island country. The country lies in the southern hemisphere in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The capital city of Australia is Canberra. Its official language is English which is also the principal language of the country. Currency of this country is dollar. Australia is a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Although it is an independent nation, it is a constitutional monarchy, whose formal head is the Monarch of the United Kingdom.

This country occupies almost the whole of the island continent. It lies between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the offshore islands, mainly Tasmania to the south east. It has unique assortment of flora and fauna.

Australia is inhabited by Aboriginal peoples since prehistoric times. A large number of aborigines live in this country and half of them are residents of cities and towns. They participate in the activities of mainstream Australian community. They are living in this country for over 40,000 years. The word boomerang is the invention of these people, which is in fact an instrument for hunting.

Australia was explored by the Dutch from 1606. British colonization began in 1788. The convicts from Britain used to be transported here, the practice that was discontinued in 1868. In 1901, it was declared a commonwealth. The six colonies - New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania - were federated as sovereign states. In 1978, the Norther Territory became self-governing. The Australian Capital Territory became self-governing in 1988.

Today, Australia is a multicultural society. There are large number of immigrants from well over 100 countries of the world. It is one of the most sparcely populated nations but highly unbanised one. Over 85 percent of the population live in cities and towns.

Administrative setup

Australia is a Federation of six state governments. The national governments and the state governments share various powers to govern the country and the states. It has a written constitution which came into force on January 1, 1901 by which the powers of the Australian Parliament were laid down. At that time, colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The six states of this country are - New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. In March 1986, it became totally free from any constitutional link with Britain, however, Queen Elizabeth II formally remained Queen of Australia. Australia day is celebrated on January 26. Extreme territories of Australia are: Norfolk Island, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Cocos or Keeling Island, Kiritimati or Christmas Island, Australian Antarctic Territory, the Heard Island and Mc Donald Islands.