The flightless, nomadic emu is the largest native bird and the second largest in the world. It accelerates in short bursts to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour and may surpass 6 1/2 feet (2 meters) in height. It is found almost anywhere in inland Australia. Having laid from 7 to 20 green eggs on the ground, the larger female emu wanders off, leaving the male with nest duties of hatching and tending the chicks.
The lyrebird is unique to Australia and is one of the largest songbirds in the world. It can reproduce the sounds of more than 20 other songbirds. Similar in appearance to the peacock, the lyrebid can grow to more than 3 feet (0.9 meter) in length. Rarely seen by humans, it is native to eastern Australia. It is famous for its tail-twirling courtship display, as well as for its incomparable mimicry.
Other native species are mound-building birds, nesting in hot anthills, and the black swan, the symbol of Western Australia. Also peculiar to the continent are honeyeaters, bowerbirds, nocturnal frogmouths, and kingfishers. Singularly Australian birdcalls come from the kookaburra, or laughing jackass–a raucous, throaty, mocking peal of laughter–and the bellbird, which has ringing, tinkling tones. A survey by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, founded in 1901, reported that the ten most commonly sighted Australian birds were the Australian magpie, willie wagtail, Australian magpie-lark, welcome swallow, black-faced cuckoo-shrike, galah, white-faced heron, laughing kookaburra, Australian kestrel, and common starling.
The drab, brown plains of inland Australia are brightened by the brilliant plumage of 55 species of parrots, one sixth of the world total. The gaudily colored rosellas take their name from Rose Hill, the Sydney locality where they were first observed. There are small grass-eating parakeets, tree-dwelling lorikeets, and budgerigars, but the aristocracy must be the cockatoos–among them the galahs (sometimes in flocks of a thousand), the screeching sulphur-crested white cockatoos, gang-gangs, and the glossy black cockatoo. The illegal smuggling of parrots out of Australia remains a problem.
Many seabirds and waders are migratory, even reaching Asia and New Zealand. The muttonbird, or short-tailed shearwater, follows a 19,000-mile (31,000-kilometer) figure-eight loop between Japan and Bass Strait, managing to summer in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Sea animals.
Australia’s tropical coral reefs teem with fish, but the scarcity of rivers in an arid continent limits its freshwater fishes to only 150 species, including the carnivorous barramundi (giant perch). Commercial trawlers fish for barricuda, gemfish, or hake, tuna, and Australian salmon in the deeper, colder waters off the southern coasts, nominally inside the 200-nautical-mile Australian Fishing Zone adopted in 1979. Australia’s last whaling station, at Albany, Western Australia, was closed in 1978. The Whale Protection Act of 1980 outlawed whaling in all Australian waters.
Whales still migrate along the Australian coast, where they are sometimes stranded, between Antarctica and their tropical breeding grounds. Two suborders are seen in these waters–the baleen whales, which filter water and plankton through a whalebone screen, and toothed whales, which chew their food. The baleen species are the southern right whale, formerly the prime target of whalers; the blue whale, largest of known mammals, averaging 95 feet (29 meters) but reaching 130 feet (40 meters); and the humpback whale. Toothed species include killer whales, which hunt in packs of 40 or more, preying on dolphins, seals, penguins, and other whales; and sperm whales, which in the 19th century were hunted almost to extinction for their oil and spermaceti.
Thirteen species of dolphins frolic off the Australian coast. The spinner dolphin leaps almost vertically above the waves while rotating at high speed. From 1790 to 1850, an industry that hunted fur seals for their oil and skins operated from the islands of Bass Strait.
The major scavengers in Australian waters today are sharks. They shred and swallow marine carrion indiscriminately and voraciously, but they also attack living creatures. Sharks differ from most other marine species in that their skeletons are cartilage, not bone. Lacking a swim bladder, they must swim ceaselessly to circulate water through the gills and maintain their height above the bottom. That is why sharks quickly drown if snared in nets strung across swimming beaches, just below the surface. Since the installation of such nets in Sydney Harbour in 1937, there has not been a single fatality from shark attacks. An average of less than one shark fatality per year has been reported in all Australian waters over the past 150 years. Attacks occur almost only in summer where water temperatures exceed 72o F (22o C).
Of Australia’s 90 species of shark, the only dangerous man-eaters are the bronze whaler and grey whaler–with which the grey nurse shark is often confused–the tiger shark, the blue pointer (which prefers surfboards and small craft to swimmers), and the most dangerous of them all, variously known as the white pointer, great white shark, or white death. It may be 40 feet (12 meters) long and displays up to 200 replaceable teeth. Other common sharks are the thresher, hammerhead, checkerboard, and paisley-patterned wobbegong. The Australian coast is also plagued by the blue-ringed octopus, which delivers a fatal bite, the box jellyfish, whose trailing tentacles carry venomous cells, the poisonous geographer cone, the well-camouflaged stonefish, and assorted stingrays.
Nature parks
Representative slices of Australia’s natural environment can be seen in more 2,000 national parks and other conservation reserves. These protected areas contain over 154,400 square miles (399,000 square kilometers) and cover 5 percent of the total land area, compared with 8.6 percent of total land area in the United States going to parks, and about 4 percent worldwide. Except in federal territories, they were established and remain controlled by state governments. Australia was one of the first countries to create national parks and nature reserves. Kings Park in Perth dates from 1872 and Sydney’s Royal National Park from 1879. Yet most of the significant natural and cultural sites have been identified, inventoried, and protected systematically only since 1970. National parks are intended primarily for public recreation.
Other reserves are dedicated to protecting such significant or endangered features as prehistoric rock art, sacred or ceremonial aboriginal sites, wilderness areas, marine and terrestrial habitats, and sites of historic or scientific interest. Australia has five major zoos: Taronga Park, Sydney; Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens; Adelaide Zoo; Perth Zoo; and the Western Plains Zoo, an open-range park at Dubbo, New South Wales. Native fauna parks include the Cleland National Park, South Australia; Sir Colin Mackenzie Zoological Park, Victoria; and the Currumbin Sanctuary, Queensland, where friendly perching parrots almost envelop visitors.
Australia Fact Summary
Official Name. Commonwealth of Australia.
Capital. Canberra.
Coat of Arms. A shield, bearing the coats of arms of the 6 states of Australia, flanked by a kangaroo on the left and an emu on the right. The background is filled in with golden wattle blossoms. A 7-pointed star above the shield represents the states and territories. Granted in 1912. National Emblems. Kangaroo, emu, and golden wattle.
Motto. Advance Australia.
Anthem. ‘Advance Australia Fair’.
NATURAL FEATURES
Border. Coast–17,365 miles (27,945 kilometers).
Natural Regions. Great Western Plateau, Central-Eastern Lowlands, Eastern Highlands (Great Dividing Range), Australian Alps.
Major Ranges. Australian Alps, Flinders Ranges, Great Western Tiers, Blue Mountains. Notable Peaks. Mount Kosciusko, 7,310 feet (2,228 meters); Mount Wellington, 4,167 feet (1,270 meters).
Major Rivers. Murray, Darling, Murrumbidgee.
Major Lakes. Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens, Lake Gairdner.
Major Islands. Tasmania, Melville.
Climate. Central and southern Queensland are subtropical; north and central New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania are warm temperate; Northern Australia has a wet season from November to March. Most rain falls during winter.
PEOPLE
Population (1996 estimate). 18,287,000; 6.2 persons per square mile (2.4 persons per square kilometer); 85 percent urban, 15 percent rural (1995 estimate).
Vital Statistics (rate per 1,000 population). Births–14.1; deaths–6.9; marriages–6.0. Life Expectancy (at birth). Males–75.4 years; females–81.1 years.
Official Language. English.
Ethnic Groups. European, aboriginal, Asian.
Major Religions. Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity.
MAJOR CITIES (1995 estimate)
Sydney (3,772,700). Capital of New South Wales; oil refining; mercantile port; transport equipment; foods and beverages; fabricated metals; printing; chemicals; Opera House; Anzac Memorial; St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral (see Sydney, Australia).
Melbourne (3,218,100). Capital of Victoria; metal processing; engineering; textile and clothing manufacture; food processing; papermaking; building materials; chemicals; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Flinders Street Railway Station; Treasury Gardens (see Melbourne, Australia).
Brisbane (1,489,100). Capital and port of Queensland; engineering; food processing; shipbuilding; lumber; rubber goods; automobiles; cement; fertilizer; petroleum refining; University of Queensland; Parliament House (see Brisbane, Australia).
Perth (1,262,600). Capital of Western Australia; banking and insurance center; paint; furniture; sheet metal; cement; rubber; tractors; fertilizer; paper; automobiles; nickel and petroleum refining; Kings Park; Perry Lakes Stadium; Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie gold mines (see Perth, Australia).
Adelaide (1,081,000). Capital of South Australia; automobile parts; machinery; textiles; chemicals; transportation hub; Adelaide Festival of Arts; St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral; State War Memorial (see Adelaide, Australia).
Newcastle (466,000). Industrial and shipping center; coal; iron and steel; textiles; wood fiber; electrical equipment; zircon mining; fertilizers; University of Newcastle; College of Advanced Education; War Memorial Cultural Centre.
Canberra-Queanbeyan (331,800). Capital of Australia; light industry; tourist trade; National Library of Australia; Australian National Gallery; Mount Stromlo Observatory; Church of St. John the Baptist; Australian War Memorial (see Canberra, Australia).
Gold Coast-Tweed (326,900). Resort area includes such famous resorts as Surfers Paradise, Currumbin, Mermaid Beach, and Broadbeach; surfing; swimming; fishing; wildlife reserves.
Wollongong (253,600). Commercial, railway, and educational center; fishing; coal processing; steel manufacturing; copper refining; brick making; food processing; St. Michael’s Cathedral.
Hobart (194,700). Capital of Tasmania; industrial, trade, and communications hub; textiles; chemicals; cement; confectionery; paper pulp; metal products; fruit and jam processing; Wrest Point Casino; St. George’s Church; Theatre Royal; Anglesea Barracks (see Hobart, Australia).
ECONOMY
Chief Agricultural Products. Crops–wheat, sugarcane, cotton, barley, grapes, potatoes, apples, bananas, oats, tomatoes, oranges, rice, sorghum. Livestock–sheep, cattle, pigs, poultry.
Chief Mined Products. Iron ore, bauxite, zinc, lead, copper, tin, gold, diamonds, coal, petroleum, natural gas.
Chief Manufactured Products. Cement, pig iron, textile floor coverings, woven cotton and woolen cloth, beer, electric motors, refrigerators, motor vehicles.
Foreign Trade. Imports, 52%; exports, 48%.
Chief Imports. Machinery, basic manufactures, paper and paper products, nonferrous metals, transport equipment, chemicals, mineral fuels and lubricants, food and live animals. Chief Exports. Metal ores and metal scrap, textile fibers, cereals, meat, mineral fuels and lubricants, petroleum, natural gas, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals.
Chief Trading Partners. United States, Japan, Germany, New Zealand.
Monetary Unit. 1 Australian dollar = 100 cents.
EDUCATION
Public Schools. The governments of the Australian states and the Northern Territory administer and fund the majority of primary, secondary, and technical education. They also have special responsibilities for educational and assistance programs for aboriginal people. Compulsory School Age. Attendance is compulsory from ages 6 to 15 (16 years in Tasmania).
Literacy. 99.5 percent of population.
Leading Universities. Australian National University; University of Melbourne; University of Adelaide; University of Tasmania; Murdoch University, Perth; Griffith University, Brisbane; University of New South Wales; Macquarie University, Sydney; Latrobe University, Melbourne.
Notable Libraries. National Library of Australia; Parliamentary Library; State Library of New South Wales; State Library of Victoria.
Notable Museums and Art Galleries. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, Darwin; Royal Botanic Gardens and Australian Museum, Sydney; National Maritime Museum, Sydney; Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; Ballarat Art Gallery; National Gallery of Victoria; Art Gallery of New South Wales.
GOVERNMENT
Form of Government. Federal parliamentary state.
Constitution. Took effect Jan. 1, 1901.
Sovereign. British monarch represented by governor-general.
Governor-General. Appointed by British monarch on advice of local government ministers; acts on advice of Federal Executive Council.
Prime Minister. Leader of majority party in Parliament; term, as long as party retains majority.
Cabinet. Selected by prime minister from House of Representatives.
Parliament. Senate and House of Representatives; annual sessions. Senate–76 members, elected by universal suffrage; term, 6 years. House of Representatives–148 elected members; term, 3 years.
Judiciary. High Court of Australia–chief justice and 6 other justices; term, life, with retirement at age 70. Federal Court, Family Court, state courts, industrial tribunals.
Political Divisions. 6 states–New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia; 2 territories–Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory. Voting Qualification. Age 18.