ausgove&econo

GOVERNMENT

Form of Government
Federal parliamentary democracy

Head of State
Governor-general, representing the British monarch, appointed by the monarch in consultation with the prime minister

Head of Government
Prime minister, appointed by the governor-general

Legislature
Bicameral legislature
    House of Representatives
    148 members
    Senate
    76 senators

Voting Qualifications
Universal and compulsory suffrage for all citizens age 18 and older (that means you have to vote or you're in big trouble!)

Highest Court
High Court of Australia

Armed Services
Army, Navy, Air Force
57,800 troops; voluntary enlistment

Political Divisions
Six states and two territories

EDUCATION

Major Universities and Colleges
University of Melbourne
    Melbourne
Australian National University
    Canberra
University of Sydney
    Sydney
University of New South Wales
    Sydney
University of Adelaide
    Adelaide

ECONOMY

Gross Domestic Product
$392.5 billion (1996)

Chief Economic Products
Agriculture
Wheat and other grains, wool, beef, vegetables, fruits, cotton, sugarcane
Forestry
Eucalyptus, maple, walnut, rosewood, Monterey pine
Fishing
Shellfish, including scallops, shrimp, spring and green rock lobsters, oysters, and abalone; marine fishes, including orange roughy, sharks and rays, skipjack tuna, mullet, southern bluefin tuna, and royal escolar
Mining
Coal, bauxite, alumina, iron ore, gold, silver, diamonds, petroleum, natural gas, zinc, copper, manganese, titanium, nickel, tin, lead, uranium, zircon, tungsten
Manufacturing
Metals and metal products, food products, transportation equipment, machinery, chemicals and chemical products, textiles and clothing, wood and paper products, printed materials

Employment Breakdown
    68% Services
    26% Industry
    6% Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Major Exports
Metal ores, coal, gold, nonferrous metals, meat and meat products, textile fibers, petroleum and petroleum products, cereals

Major Imports
Road vehicles and other transportation equipment, machinery, office equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles

Major Trading Partners
Japan, United States, New Zealand, Great Britain, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, China

Currency
Australian dollar
Exchange Rate
A$1.56 = U.S.$1 (2000)

BRIEF HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA

The Aborigines were the first inhabitants of Australia. Most anthropologists believe they migrated to the continent at least 40,000 years ago, and that most of the continent was occupied 30,000 years ago. Although Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Arab sea farers may have landed in northern Australia well before AD 1500, Australia was essentially unknown in the West until the 17th century.

Early European Exploration Although Australia was not known to the Western world, it did exist in late medieval European logic and mythology: A great Southland, or Terra Australis, was thought necessary to balance the weight of the northern landmasses of Europe and Asia. Terra Australis often appeared on early European maps as a large, globe-shaped mass in about its correct location, although no actual discoveries were recorded by Europeans until much later. Indeed, the European exploration of Australia took more than three centuries to complete; thus, what is often considered the oldest continent, geologically, was the last to be discovered and colonized by Europeans.

Portuguese and Spanish Sailings In the 15th century Portugal's systematic drive southward along the west coast of Africa, seeking trade with India, rekindled European interest in finding the as yet undiscovered Terra Australis. Portuguese mariners may have charted the east coast of the continent in as early as the 16th century, but they preferred to concentrate on India, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Australia remained undiscovered by the West for other reasons as well. One was that the continent's location was off the Oceanic-island trading corridor of the Indian and South Pacific oceans. In addition, the winds in the southern hemisphere tend to veer northward in the direction of the equator west of Australia, whereas east of the continent the strong head winds discourage sailing into them.
In the 16th and early 17th centuries, Spain, having established its empire in South and Central America, began a series of expeditions from Peru into the South Pacific. Encouraged by the discovery of the Solomon Islands (northeast of Australia) by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1567, Spanish New World officials launched several expeditions in hopes of finding gold. After the failure of these voyages to find either precious minerals or significant new landmasses, Spain abandoned its interest in Terra Australis after 1605.