About Australia

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Since I am Australian (born and bred in Sydney) I though it only fitting that I should add a little bit about this wonderful land down-under as part of my web site. People frequently as me questions like "What is a Vegemite sandwich"......have a peek at the bottom of the page to find out!

Australia is an independent western democracy, with a population of around 19 million. It is one of the world's most urbanised countries, with 70% of the population living in the ten largest cities. Most of the population is concentrated along the eastern seaboard, and the south eastern corner of the continent.

Australia’s lifestyle reflects its mainly Western origins, but Australia is also a multicultural society which has been enriched by nearly five million settlers from almost 200 nations.

swatting flies in summer is known as ' the great Aussie salute"

This graphic shows the clothing typically worn by aussies living

in rural areas - although stringing corks from your akubra hat

isn't done all that often these days" It was probably something

done more by stockmen as they moved from place to place.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people totalled 265 378 at the last

census, nearly 1.5 per cent of the population. Two thirds of the indigenous

people live in towns and cities. Many others live in rural and remote areas,

and some still have a broadly traditional way of life.

Australia is the only nation to occupy an entire continent. Its land mass

of nearly 7.7 million km2 is the flattest and (after Antarctica) driest of continents,

yet it has extremes of climate and topography. There are rainforests and vast

plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile

croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country

lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36 735km.

Isolation of the Australian island-continent for 55 million years created a sanctuary for the flora and fauna. Marsupials were saved from competition with more highly developed mammals. Birds unique to Australia also survived, and distinctive trees and plants developed. Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, platypus and spiny anteater. Of more than 700 bird species listed in Australia, 400 - including the large, flightless emu - are found nowhere else.

Australia has 20 000 species of plants, including living fossils such as the cycad palm and the grass tree, and brilliant wildflowers such as the Waratah, Sturt’s desert pea, the flowering cones of Banksia trees, and the red and green kangaroo paw. The continent has 700 species of acacia, which Australians call wattle, and 1200 species in the Myrtaceae family which includes eucalypts or gum trees.

Australia’s national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, is a revised version of a late 19th-century patriotic song. It was declared the national anthem in April 1984, replacing God Save the Queen, which was designated the royal anthem. In the same year, Australia officially adopted green and gold as its national colours .

click on the flag to hear our Anthem

The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent. The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven-pointed star represents the six States and the Territories, and the small stars form the Southern Cross - a prominent feature of the southern hemisphere night sky.

Australia’s official language is English, by common usage rather than law. Australian English does not differ significantly from other forms of English, although some colloquial and slang expressions are unique.

Australia’s national day, Australia Day, on 26 January, marks the date in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip, of the British Royal Navy, commanding a fleet of 11 ships, sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney Cove). Phillip formally took possession of the eastern part of the continent for England and established a settlement, now Australia’s largest city, Sydney.

click here to listen to cute aussie kids sing the Vegemite song

Every Aussie kid is raised on Vegemite! Vegemite is rich in vitamin B and a delicious

spread for toast or bread. Mind you....most non aussies just don't understand why we aussies love it so much. There wouldn't be a pantry in Australia that doesn't have Vegemite. Click on the jar of Vegemite above to visit a great site, where cute little Aussie kids will sing you the "Vegemite song"

music "Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport" (unknown singers)