Commonwealth of Australia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Advance Australia Fair N1
Capital		Canberra 35°18′S, 149°08′E
Largest city		Sydney
Official languages		English (de facto N2)
Demonym		Australian
Government		Parliamentary democracy (federal constitutional monarchy)
-	Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
-	Governor-General	Michael Jeffery
-	Prime Minister	John Howard Kevin Rudd (elect)
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Constitution	1 January 1901
-	Statute of Westminster	11 December 1931 (adopted 9 September 1939)
-	Australia Act	3 March 1986
Area
-	Total	7,741,220 km² (6th) 2,988,888 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1
Population
-	2007 estimate	21,146,382 [1] (53rd)
-	2006 census	19,855,288
-	Density	2.6/km² (224th) 6.7/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	US$718.4 billion (IMF) (17th)
-	Per capita	US$34,359 (IMF) (14th)
GDP (nominal)		2007 estimate
-	Total	US$889.7 billion (AU $1.1 trillion) (15th)
-	Per capita	US$42,553 (DFAT) (16th)
HDI (2006)		0.957 (high) (3rd)
Currency		Australian dollar (AUD)
Time zone		various N3 (UTC+8 to +10.5)
-	Summer (DST)	various N3 (UTC+9 to +11.5)
Internet TLD		.au
Calling code		+61

The Commonwealth of Australia 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 and Pacific Oceans.^N4 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.

The Australian mainland has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by Dutch explorers and merchants starting in the 17th century,^[2] the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation as part of the colony of New South Wales, commencing on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established during the 19th century.

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 remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. The population is 21 million, and is concentrated in the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Etymology

Artists rendition of Port Jackson, the site where Sydney was established, viewed from the South Head. (From A Voyage to Terra Australis.)

The name "Australia" is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning "Southern". Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) dating back to Roman times were commonplace in mediæval geography, but were based on no actual knowledge of the continent. The first use of the word "Australia" in English was in 1625 — the words "A note of Australia del Espiritu Santo, written by Master Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus.^[3] The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used by Dutch officials in Batavia to refer to the newly discovered land to the south in 1638. "Australia" was used in a 1693 translation of Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la Découverte et le Voyage de la Terre Australe, a 1692 French novel by Gabriel de Foigny under the pen name Jacques Sadeur.^[4] Alexander Dalrymple then used it in An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean (1771), to refer to the entire South Pacific region. In 1793, George Shaw and Sir James Smith published Zoology and Botany of New Holland, in which they wrote of "the vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia or New Holland."

The name "Australia" was popularised by the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders, the first recorded person to circumnavigate Australia. Despite its title, which reflected the view of the British Admiralty, Flinders used the word "Australia" in the book, which was widely read and gave the term general currency. Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales subsequently used the word in his dispatches to England, and on 12 December 1817 recommended to the Colonial Office that it be officially adopted^[5]. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as "Australia".

The word "Australia" in Australian English is pronounced /əˈstɹæɪljə, -liːə, -jə/.

History

The legislature: the Commonwealth Parliament, comprising the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Representatives; the Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whose powers are limited to assenting to laws.

The executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor-General as advised by the Executive Councillors); in practice, the councillors are the Prime Minister and Ministers of State.

The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts. The State courts became formally independent from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council when the Australia Act was passed in 1986.

The bicameral Commonwealth Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (the upper house) of 76 senators, and a House of Representatives (the lower house) of 150 members. Members of the lower house are elected from single-member constituencies, commonly known as 'electorates' or 'seats'. Seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to states on the basis of population, with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats. In the Senate, each state is represented by 12 senators, and the territories (the ACT and the NT) by two. Elections for both chambers are held every three years; Senators have overlapping six-year terms, and only half of the seats are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution. The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms government, and its leader becomes Prime Minister.

There are two major political groups that form government: the Australian Labor Party, and the Coalition which is a grouping of two parties, the Liberal Party and minor partner, the National Party. Independent members and several minor parties — including the Greens and the Australian Democrats — have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses. Since the 1996 election, the Liberal/National Coalition led by the Prime Minister, John Howard, has been in power in Canberra. In the 2004 election, the Coalition won control of the Senate - the first time in more than 20 years that a party (or coalition) has done so while in government. With the result of the 2007 election, the Australian Labor Party, upon taking office, will have power in every parliament in the country. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in each state and territory and at the federal level; such enrolment is compulsory in all jurisdictions but South Australia.^[18]

States and territories

Wikimedia Atlas of Australia, holding maps related to Australia.

Australia at WikiMapia

About Australia from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

CIA World Factbook entry on Australia

Governments of Australia Entry Point (Federal, State & Territory)

Australian Government Entry Portal

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Community organisations portal

Cultural Institutions

Tourism Australia

Australia travel guide from Wikitravel

Satellite image of Australia (Google Maps)

Australia at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Countries and territories of Oceania

Australasia Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1 · Norfolk Island Melanesia East Timor 2 · Fiji · Indonesia (Maluku Islands) · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea3 · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau Polynesia American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna 1 Often included in Polynesia · 2 East Timor is often included in Asia 3 New Guinea is often included in Australasia

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