Australia, officially called the Commonwealth of
Australia, the country comprises of six states and two territories.
The capital of Australia is Canberra, and the largest
city is Sydney. Popular metropolitan cities include Melbourne, Perth,
Brisbane and Adelaide.
Australia is amongst one of the most popular study
destinations for international students. International students prefer to
study in Australia because of the cultural diversity, friendly natives and
quality of education.
Australia has one of the world's highest living
standards, with living expenses and tuition fees considerably affordable
than other Western countries.
The QS Best Student Cities has consistently ranked seven
Australian cities amongst the top Best Student Cities in the world, which
includes Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold
Coast.
Australia is home to more than 1100 higher
education institutions, offering over 22,000 courses,
including 43 universities, several hundred colleges, TAFEs and
private colleges, with seven Australian universities ranking in the top 100
universities across the globe (according to QS World University Ranking
2021).
Geography
The smallest island continent, Australia, is the 6th
largest country, area wise.
The Country is surrounded by the Pacific and the Indian
Ocean, separated from Asia by Arafura and Timor seas.
Australia is a vast country with diverse landscapes from
beaches, rainforests, mountains, reefs, deserts, lakes, rivers, tropical
islands to snow-capped mountains. Australia comprises over 500 national
parks and over 2,700 conservation areas, from wildlife sanctuaries to
aboriginal reserves along with human-made icons like the Sydney Opera House
and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Australia has the world's largest coral reef. Great
Barrier Reef, which lies on the northeast coast, and Mount Augustus, claimed
to be the monolith, is also in Australia.
Climate
Australia is an arid continent, 2/3rd of the region
receives heavy rainfall of an average of 20 inches. Around 1/3rd of landmass
receives an average of 10 inches of rainfall.
Australian Climate is influenced by ocean currents,
Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Nino Southern Oscillation.
Australia has moderate summers and winters.
Summers are from December to February and the maximum
temperature rises to 38 ºC
Natural Resources
The Australian mining industry has a vital impact on the
nation's economy.
Queensland and New South Wales are known for its massive
coal mining operations.
Economically significant mineral reserves including iron
ore, nickel, bauxite, diamond, gold are found in Western Australia.
Australia has the world's low-cost uranium reserve found
in Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
Economy
Australia has a mixed market economy with the GDP of the
Australian Dollar as 1.334 trillion (2020).
It is the 2nd wealthiest nation in terms of wealth per
head.
The service sector dominates the Australian economy,
employing close to 80% of the labor force.
Australia has not witnessed a recession in over 25 years.
Some of the top-performing Australian organizations
include Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, Woolworths, BHP Billiton, Caltex,
Macquarie Group, Westpac, National Australia Bank Wesfarmers.
Demography
Australia's average population density is 3.4 people per square km, and
according to census 2021, the nation has a total population of 25,742,300.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),
the Australian population increased by 3.8 million (17.9 %) in the
past decade.
The steady population growth over the past several years
has been a key contributor to the Australian economy's growth in recent
years.
Australia States & Provinces
Australia is a federation of 6 states and 2 territories and most of
the Australian cities lies in coastal regions: