Australia

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)
Governor-General: Quentin Bryce (2008)
Prime Minister: Julia Gillard (2010)
Area: 7,5 mil. sq km
Population: 21,5 mil.
Capital: Canberra, 350.000
Largest cities: Sydney, 4,2mil; Melbourne, 3,6mil; Brisbane, 1,5mil; Perth, 1,3; Adelaide, 1 mil.
Monetary unit: Australian dollar / 100 cents

Geography
The continent of Australia, with the island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (2,228 m). The western half of the continent is occupied by a desert plateau. The Great Barrier Reef, extending about 2,000 km, lies along the northeast coast. The island of Tasmania  67,800 sq km is off the southeast coast.
Government
Democracy. Symbolic executive power is vested in the British monarch, who is represented throughout Australia by the governor-general.
History
The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there at least 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. There may have been between a half million to a million Aborigines at the time of European settlement; but today about 350,000 live in Australia.
Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships sighted Australia in the 17th century; the Dutch landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606. In 1616 the territory became known as New Holland. The British arrived in 1688, but it was not until Captain James Cook's voyage in 1770 that Great Britain claimed possession of the vast island, calling it New South Wales. A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson (what is now Sydney) in 1788, and about 161,000 transported English convicts were settled there until the system was suspended in 1839.
Free settlers and former prisoners established six colonies: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859). Various gold rushes attracted settlers, as did the mining of other minerals. Sheep farming and grain soon grew into important economic enterprises. The six colonies became states and in 1901 federated into the Commonwealth of Australia with a constitution that incorporated British parliamentary and U.S. federal traditions.

Economy
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are the leading industrial and commercial cities.
Australia is highly industrialized. Main industries include mining, machinery, food processing, , chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, motor vehicles and many more.
Australia has valuable mineral resources, including coal, iron, bauxite, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, natural gas, and petroleum; the country is an important producer of opals and diamonds.
The country is self-sufficient in food, and the raising of sheep and cattle and the production of grain have long been staple occupations.
Tropical and subtropical produce—citrus fruits, sugarcane, and tropical fruits—are also important, and there are numerous vineyards and dairy and tobacco farms.

National symbol: Kangaroo

Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The country called Australia occupies the whole of this continent. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world. Many people also call Australia the "lucky country".