60 Amazing Facts About Australia | Amazing Facts 4U
Land & Geography
- Australia was originally called New Holland.
- Australia is the biggest island and the smallest continent in the world. It has an estimated population of over 23 million people.
- Amazingly the population density in Australia is generally calculated in square kilometers per person, not people per square kilometer as it is in other countries. The figure is about three people per square kilometer. The world average is about 45 per square kilometer.
- It has the world’s 3rd largest ocean territory, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometers.
- With an average of 330 meters, Australia is the lowest continent in the world.
- Amazingly Australia is the only continent without an active volcano.
- Amazingly in Australia, there are more kangaroos than people.
- Tasmania in Australia has the cleanest air in the inhabited world.
- Melbourne topped 140 rivals to be crowned the world’s most liveable city 2 years in a row.
- There’s a river in Australia called the “Never Never River.”
- It has 16 world heritage listed sites including historic townships, cities, and landscapes.
- The amazing fact is that Australia has over 750 different reptile species, more than any other country in the world.
- The only place in the world where you can still find the lungfish which is a living fossil from the period 350 million years ago in Australia.
- 6 out of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the World are found in Australia.
- The Australian Fierce Snake found around Haddon’s corner is the most poisonous snake in the world. One bite is enough to kill about 100 people! The amazing Fact is that it has never killed anyone probably because it lives in an isolated region.
- There are about 350 species of termites, 1,500 species of spider, 6,000 species of flies, and 4,000 species of ants in Australia.
- The Sydney Funnel-web spider is considered the deadliest spider in the world.
- The stonefish is the most poisonous fish in the world and lives mainly above the tropic of Capricorn off the coast of Australia.
- The Box Jellyfish is considered the world’s most venomous marine creature and has killed more people in Australia than stonefish, sharks, and crocodiles combined.
History
- Australia has been home to aborigines for about 40,000 years.
- It is estimated that at the time of British settlement there were about 300,000 Aboriginal people who spoke around 250 languages.
- British settlers aboard the 11 ships of the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson on the 26th January 1788 (now Australia Day). The total number of convicts transported to Australia was about 162,000; they were transported in 806 ships. Transportation of British convicts to Australia ended in 1868.
- An amazing fact is that a pioneer named Thomas Austin brought 24 rabbits from England to his property in Australia for hunting in the 1800s had multiplied in number to over 2 million in ten years. In 61 years its population grew to 400 million! It was the fastest spread ever recorded of any mammal anywhere in the world.
Places / Architecture
- The Sydney Harbor Bridge was opened in 1932 and is the widest steel arch bridge in the world.
- The design for the Sydney Opera House was chosen after the Government conducted a competition in the late 1950s which was won by Danish Architect Jorn Utzon. Unfortunately, in 1966 he resigned from the project because of disagreements. The building was completed in 1973. John Utzon died in 2008 without ever returning to Sydney to see in person the amazing Opera House he designed.
- The amazing fact is that if you visited a new beach in Australia every day, it would take you around 27 years to visit them all! It has about 10000 beaches.
- The amazing great barrier reef is the largest living structure in the World, it’s length being 2600 km.
- The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia at over 34,000 square km. It is 8 times bigger than the biggest ranch in Texas, USA and It is even larger than Belgium.
- United States architect Walter Burley Griffin won the competition in 1912 to design Australia’s capital city of Canberra. Australia’s new parliament house in Canberra is one of the largest buildings in the southern hemisphere. It has 4500 rooms and floor space is approx. 250,000 sq. Mtrs.
- Amazingly the longest section of straight railway track in the world at 478 km crosses The Nullarbor Plain ( South Australia to Western Australia).
- The longest straight section of road in the World at 146 km is also on the Nullarbor Plains.
- The longest fence in the world known as The Dingo Fence, Wild Dog Fence, or Border Fence depending on which state you are in was put up to protect sheep from wild dogs and rabbits. It stretches for 5,400 kilometers long starting at Jimbour in Queensland and continuing on to the Great Australian Bight in South Australia. It is twice as long as the Great wall of China.
- It is amazing that Lake Hillier in Australia is a bright pink color and scientists aren’t sure why.
- Amazingly one of the many mysteries of Australia is the Marree Man, an enormous depiction of an Indigenous man carved in the desert. The drawing is over 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) long ever since it was noticed a decade ago. No one knows who is responsible for the drawing, or how and why they put so much effort.
People Customs & Culture
- More than 80 percent of Australians live within 100 kilometers of the coast making Australia one of the world’s most urbanized coastal dwelling populations.
- Australians refer to English people as Pome, which is actually the acronym for Prisoners of Mother England.
- Over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in Australia including 45 Indigenous languages. The most common non-English spoken languages are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.
- Australia has the world’s highest proportion of migrants in a developed nation with over 25% born in another country.
- It has the highest rate of gambling in the world with over 80 percent of Australian adults engaging in gambling of some kind. Australia has twenty percent of the poker machines in the world.
- The largest Greek population in the world besides Athens in Greece can be found in Melbourne Victoria.
- Despite having a convict colony history, Australia’s homicide rate is 1.2 per 100,000 population compared to the 6.3 per 100,000 in the United States.
- In cities, you will find the majority of the population participating at least once a week in a particular recreational activity or sport.
- Alcohol was banned in the capital until 1967.
- The world’s longest mail run is about 1450 km between Cairns & Cape York. Postman actually flies the distance.
- It is illegal for children to buy cigarettes but if they smoke it isn’t illegal.
- Australia is the most obese country in the world with a 26 percent obesity rate.
- Ugg boots are an Australian design where a sheepskin has been turned inside out and made into a boot.
Politics/ Legal
- Australia had a government shutdown in 1975. The Queen of England amazingly fired everyone in Parliament!
- The Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt amazingly disappeared while going for a swim at Cheviot Beach Victoria on the 17th December 1967. His disappearance has remained a mystery. He was never seen again.
- Bob Hawkes’ was a Guinea book record holder for drinking 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Amazing that he later became prime minister of Australia.
- Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1902.
- The amazing fact is that Canberra was selected as the capital because Sydney and Melbourne could not stop arguing which city should be the capital of Australia. Finally, Canberra was built in the middle of Sydney & Melbourne.
- The Kangaroo and the Emu were chosen to feature on the Australian Coat of Arms because they are incapable of walking backward and therefore symbolize a nation moving forward.
- In 1838 law was passed banning swimming at public beaches during the daytime. Law was in force until 1902.
- In Australia, it is illegal to walk on the right-hand side of the footpath.
Economy & Corporates
- The amazing fact is that Australia is a major exporter of camels. There are an estimated 750,000 wild camels roaming in Australia.
- Australia has 75 million sheep, kept for both meat and wool, and almost all of them are in the southeast of the continent. This is about 3.25 sheep per person.
- 70% of the world’s wool comes from Australia. Sheep use almost half the continent for grazing.
Sport
- Australia beat American Samoa 31-0. This is the largest victory in International Football Match.
- The world’s longest golf course, measuring unbelievable 850 miles long is located in Australia.
If you want more insightful thoughts, go and subscribe to our blog: www.informativequotes.com
