Australia, map of Australia

Brief information about country

Location: is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania and a number of other islands in the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. The neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

Total area: 7.7 million square kilometres

Population: 20,434,176 (July 2007 est.). Ethnic groups: white - 92%, Asian - 7%, aboriginal - 1%.

Capital: Canberra
 
Principal cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth.

Climate: temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Official language: English

The political structure: Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General at Federal level and by the Governors at State level.

International organization participation: not in EU nor in Shengen. Member of UN, UNESCO, WTO.

How to get there: Approximately half of all international travellers arrive first in Australia in Sydney, the largest city, via Kingsford-Smith International Airport. Assuming direct flights to Sydney from various parts of the globe, travellers can expect a 3 hour flight from New Zealand, a 7-11 hour flight from countries in Asia, a 15 hour flight from the west of the United States of America, an 18 hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, a 13-16 hours flight from South America, and up to a 24+ hour flight from western Europe. On account of long journey times from some destinations, many travellers opt to book a stop-over in their flight in order to minimise the impact of jet lag and flight discomfort, commonly Singapore, Dubai, Thailand or Malaysia.

After Sydney, significant numbers of travellers also arrive first in Australia in Melbourne (Tullamarine Airport), Brisbane and Perth. Much smaller numbers arrive at international airports in Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin, the Gold Coast (Coolangatta), Norfolk Island, Newcastle and Broome.

Time zone: Australia is divided into three time zones. If we say about time difference between Moscow and Sydney it will be 8 hours ahead Moscow time.

Currency: Australian dollar (AUD), 1 USD = 1.11 AUD, 10 AUD = 9.01 USD.

Religion:  Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%.

Holidays: Australia Day, 26 January (1788); ANZAC Day (commemorated as the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915).

Reference to web site "Wikipedia"