Australia

The information that can be useful for your travel.

Cities Australia  
Country information country code: AU
continent: Australia, Oceania
capital: Canberra, ACT
languages: English

EU membership: no
NATO membership: no

GSM: 900/1800/3G
GPS: 27 00 S, 133 00 E
electricity: 230V/50Hz

currency:
Australian Dollar: AUD
1AUD = 0.751 USD
1AUD = 0.594 EUR

phone code: +61-2

Travel advices and warnings Australia
Tourism


 
Culture The culture of Australia is essentially a Western culture influenced by the unique geography of the Australian continent and by the diverse input of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and various waves of multi-ethnic migration which followed the British colonisation of Australia. [1] The predominance of the English language, the existence of a democratic Westminster system of government, Christianity as the dominant religion and the popularity of sports such as cricket and rugby evidence a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage, but Australia today hosts a great diversity of cultural practices and pursuits.
Language Although Australia has no official language, it is largely monolingual with English being the de facto national language. Australian English has a distinctive accent and vocabulary. According to the 2001 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Chinese (2. 1%), Italian (1. 9%), Vietnamese (1. 7%) and Greek (1. 4%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact. Only about 70 of these languages have survived and all but 30 of these are now endangered. An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50, 000 (0. 25%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 6, 500 deaf people.
Cuisine Australian cuisine has the most diverse range, quality, and inventiveness than many others in the world. However, it took Australia some time to evolve from the scenes of meat pies, Vegemite sandwiches, and sausage rolls to the scene of dishes such as "seared kangaroo fillet with wilted beetroot greens and roasted onions". The culinary art of Australia only luxuriated in the 1990s. But at that time, it was already considered the most adventurous in the world. Each capital city has seen a swarm of new restaurants within the genre 'Modern Australia' cuisine, with inventive chefs at the helm and an audience of willing hedonists at the ready. This culinary reawakening is due to two factors: the wealth of superlative Australian produce, including native food, and the plethora of international cuisine brought to Australia by its immigrants from all over the world.
Climate The climate of Australia varies widely, but by far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid – 40% of the landmass is covered by sand dunes. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varied between tropical rainforests, grasslands, part desert.
Australia's climate is ruled by the dry, sinking air of the subtropical high pressure belt which moves north and south with the seasons. This causes the rainfall pattern over Australia to be strongly seasonal. In many parts of the country, seasonal high and lows can be great with temperatures ranging from above 50 ° Celsius to well below zero. Minimum temperatures are moderated by the lack of mountains and the influence of surrounding oceans.
Costs Many prospective migrants want to know about the cost of living in Australia and whether they will have a better standard of living if they make the move.
This is not an easy question to answer and everyone's situation is different, so you need to be prepared to take some time and do plenty of research on the subject.

Canberra, ACT, Australia

Friday 29, March

From wikipedia about Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast.

For at least 40, 000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians,.
who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. Michael Walsh. 'Overview of indigenous languages of Australia' in Suzane Romaine (ed) Language in Australia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-521-33983-9 After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, where formal possession of the land had been taken on 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm. The population is approximately 22. 6 million, with approximately 60 per cent concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. Approximately 57 per cent of Australia's population live in either Victoria or New South Wales, and approximately 79 per cent live in the eastern states of Australia.

A developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and it holds a position 16 in Global Competitiveness Index 2010–2011 rankings made by World Economic Forum..
Description above from the Wikipedia, licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here.