Australia is an island almost the same size as the United States or Canada. Eighteen million people live there, mainly in the big cities along the coasts. From 1950 to 1990, Australia's population more than doubled. Forty percent of the growth came from immigration. One out of every five Australians was born overseas.

The country's population density - six people per square mile - is one of the lowest in the world. Eighty-eight percent of the population lives in cities and towns. Three-quarters of the urban residents are concentrated in the eight cities that serve as capitals for the six states, the nation, and the Northern Territory.

People of European origin make up 95% of the population, Asians 4%, and Aborigines 1.5%. There is a high proportion of young people compared with other countries, partly due to the high birthrate after World War II and partly due to the high number of immigrants.

Language

English is the language of Australia, and Australians are capable of speaking it just as properly as it is spoken in the Queen's court of London. But Australia also has a rich slang all its own. Here are some examples:

Australia has a 98% literacy rate. In areas with a high percentage of Aborigines, courses in school are taught in both the Aboriginal language and English.

Daily Life

Australians live a lifestyle that is basically British yet adapted to the hot climate. Clothing and furniture are much the same as in Britain, but they live in large Victorian houses with verandas. The way towns are laid out and how people use their spare time are uniquely Australian.

Life in big cities like Sydney or Melbourne is similar to that found in any big city in the world. But because of Australia's large expanse of land, families live in the outback. The farms called stations, are huge and may be several hundreds of miles apart from each other. They have to be big because grass is scarce and animals need a lot of space to graze. Farmers often use motorbikes, trucks, and even helicopters rather than horses to herd their livestock.

Australia's health system is open to everyone. A famous part of the medical service is the Royal Flying Doctor Service, established in 1927, which allows doctors to fly in small planes to visit patients. A radio service allows people in remote areas to seek medical advice. Each homestead has a medicine chest with each item in its contents carefully numbered. When someone is ill, the family radios the doctor who can tell them which numbered medicine to use.

In the outback, going to school is often replace by Schools of the Air. This is an idea unique to Australia. There are 12 Schools of the Air broadcasting to children too far from ordinary schools to attend. On average there are 100 pupils aged four to twelve being taught by each school. Schools of the Air is a form of distance learning where the teacher talks over the radio to a "class" of four or five children, each in their own schoolroom on their station. The radio sets are two-way, so children can press the "transmit" key and talk to their teacher.

Australians have many favorite foods. The Anzac biscuit (cookie) is named for the Australian/New Zealand Army Corps. Click here (http://www.anzac.com/nzld/misc/anzbis.htm) to check out some great recipes, and to learn the history of this crisp, tasty treat.

Vegemite, a concentrated yeast extract, is a staple in the Australian's diet, and one of the world's richest known sources of vitamin B. Click here (http://www.ozchannel.com/vegemite/vegemite.html) to learn all you've ever wanted to know and more about this famous Kraft product.

Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world. To alert people to the danger, there was a big advertising campaign based around the Slip Slop Slap motto: slip on a shirt, slop on some suncream, and slap on a hat.

Coober Pedy in South Australia is a warren of underground dwellings. To avoid the extreme heat and cold, the first opal miners made homes by tunneling into the soft rock. There is even an underground hotel. It is from these "burrows" that the township gets its name, from the Aboriginal kupa pitti meaning, "white man in a hole."

Government and Economy

The Commonwealth of Australia was formally established on January 1, 1901. The federal government, based in Canberra, is located in the Australian Capital Territory. Each state and territory has its own government and legal systems. The head of government in a state is the premier and in a territory is the chief minister. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, and is represented in Australia by the governor-general.

Unique to Australia is its compulsory voting at age 18. People who do not vote can be fined.

Industry employs about 30% of the Australian workforce. The highest paid jobs for males are in the mining industry; for females, in community services (health, education, etc.). Tourism provides about 40,000 jobs.

Because of Australia's diverse climate and soil conditions, there is a vast range of crops in the country, yet only 2% of the land available for crops are cultivated. Wheat is a major exported crop. It is a large exporter of beef and veal.

Sheep outnumber people 10:1. Australia produces about 30% of the world's total wool supply, more than any other country in the world.

More than 84% of Australians belong to a religious denomination. The majority is Christian, either Protestant or Roman Catholic, reflecting the early settlers who arrived from Europe in the late 18^th and 19^th centuries. With the increasing number of immigrants from Southeast Asia, other religions, such as Islam and Buddhism, are now growing rapidly. Synagogues in Sydney and Melbourne attest to a strong Jewish presence.

Before any European influence, the Aboriginal people maintained a strong system of beliefs and worship. Everything they do has a religious significance. They believe in the Spirit Ancestors, mythical beings that told the first people how to live.

According to Aborigines, the Rainbow Snake created the world during the Dreamtime, a time when things had no form. The Rainbow Snake gave birth to all the creatures that inhabit the world today. Aborigines often meet to hold a "corroboree", a ceremony where songs and dances are used in celebrations. During these gatherings, the men paint their bodies with white paint made from soil and crushed rocks.

Aborigines say "The earth is our mother, the sky is our church".  They have a social closeness with the landscape. Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a sacred site, believed to be where everything began.

ART AND MUSIC

When discussing the art and music of Australia, people generally refer to that of the Aborigines. Aboriginal people use the natural surfaces of rock for much of their art. The figures are drawn with charcoal from burnt wood and colored with white chalk and red and yellow ochre. Ochre is clay colored by iron ore. The designs are often handed down from generation to generation. Many of the shapes have important meanings related to traditional lifestyles. Click here (http://www.envirolink.org/oneworld/gallery/abo/intro.html) to read a brief history of Aboriginal art, and to see an exhibition of Aboriginal art.

The didgeridoo, a long wooden pipe the size of a small tree trunk, is an important Aboriginal musical instrument. Click here (http://www.aboriginal-art.com) to learn more about Aboriginal art, music, life and culture.

HISTORY

Aborigines - The First Australians

The aboriginal people of Australia have one of the longest continuous cultures in existence. Today there are about 238,600 Aborigines, compared with an estimated 750,000 when Europeans arrived in 1788. From the beginning they were nomads, small bands of people moving across the land.

About 500 Aboriginal groups, each with a distinct language, established themselves in Australia. They survived by hunting and gathering. Many still live in the bush or in the Australian desert, although more than 60% live in urban areas.

Boomerangs are important hunting weapons for the Aborigines. They use returning boomerangs to drive game into nets, and nonreturning ones to kill it. Nonreturning boomerangs are longer and straighter. To find out more about boomerangs, click here. (http://www.vcnet.com/abosteves/booms.html)

There were many to set foot on Australian shores before Captain Cook did so in 1770. Though he wasn't the first European to land on the Australian coast, he did chart the eastern coast and claim it for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.

Until the 1600s, foreign influences had little impact on Aboriginal culture. In the 17^th century expanding trade in Asia led European powers to take a great interest in the South Pacific. Many believed in a "great south land." The Dutch navigator Willem Jansz is credited, in 1606, with being the first explorer to reach Australia, although he thought it to be an unknown area of New Guinea.

Until America won its independence, convicts from Britain were sent to North America. After Captain Cook's report on his exploration of Australia, Lord Sydney, Home Secretary, decided the new colony of Australia would be an ideal place to transport the convicts because they would be 12,000 miles away.

The first fleet of 750 convicts arrived in what was to be called Sydney in 1788. They were sent to work in Australia instead of going to prison in England. Convicts usually served seven years. When they were freed, or emancipated, many stayed in the colony. There they had a chance to become prosperous. Transportation of convicts ended in 1868. To learn more about what life was like for these early settlers, click here. (http://www.portarthur.org.au/)

In the early 1800s, European settlers began taking over lands that for thousands of years had been the recognized territory of Aboriginal groups. Some Aborigines resisted the more powerful newcomers, but eventually they were killed or forced onto lands in remote areas set aside for them.

Life for early settlers was difficult until they learned how to cultivate the land. The early wealth of Australia came from wool. The discovery of gold brought vast numbers of people from all over the world to Australia.