77 Facts About Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.

Australia has an area of 7,741,220 square km. 

Canberra is the capital and largest city of Australia. 

English is national language of Australia. 

Australian dollar (AUD) is official currency of Australia.

Australia has no land bordering countries. 

Australia is both a country and a continent.

The name Australia comes from the Latin, ‘Terra Australia Incognito’, which means the Unknown Southern Land.

Australia is also known as the world's sports capital. The reason for this is that more than 70% of its population engages in a recreational activity or sports at least once a week.

The country with the most venomous snakes is Australia. The Inland Taipan is the most venomous snake, capable of killing at least 100 fully grown men or 2,50,000 mice with a single bite.

Australia's GDP is 32 times that of the United Kingdom, nearly twice that of Europe, and nearly equal to that of the United States of America.

Australia has the world's lowest population density—two people per square kilometer.

Australia is the world's only continent-nation. It is also the world's smallest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent.

Every year on January 26th, Australia Day, the country's national day, is observed.

Australia's national animal is the kangaroo. In 2011, there were 34,303,677 kangaroos in Australia's commercial harvest area. And they (kangaroos) can only be found in Australia.

In Australia, you can receive a one-of-a-kind health treatment that is thought to be 40,000 years old. These Aboriginal cultures and healing techniques are thought to be the world's oldest. These century-old techniques can treat difficulties and illnesses such as depression, cancer, and substance abuse.

Australia has the world's longest fence, which is 5,530 kilometers long. The 'dingo fence' is what it's called.

The country's first cops were all criminals. Governor Arthur Philip formed a band of eight of the most well-behaved convicts in 1789.

Australia is home to the world's deadliest spiders. These spiders can be purchased at the Australian Reptile Park, which is the only place on the planet where they can be milked. The funnel web spiders are named after them. The venom from these spiders is milked and sent to a laboratory in the country where it is turned into antivenom.

The Harbor Bridge, the world's tallest steel arch bridge, is located in Sydney, Australia. It is 97.3 meters long and 134 meters above sea level. It holds the Guinness World Record for the longest span.

Nullarbor Links is the "World's Longest Golf Course," stretching 1,365 kilometers along the Eyre Highway, which connects two states on Australia's southern coast (South Australia and Western Australia).

The platypus and the echidna are the only two mammals that lay eggs. You guessed it: they can only be found in Australia.

The ultrasound, Vegemite, the tank, football, the refrigerator, pre-paid postage, the BlackBox on aeroplanes, lawn mowers with engines, smoke alarms, asprin/aspirin, the pacemaker, and penicillin were all invented by Australians.

Australia now has the world's largest espresso machine. It can brew up to 18 cups of coffee at any given time and requires at least 5 people to operate it.

Every year, Australians consume 260 million meat pies, or about 12 per person.

In Australia, the average person consumes 83 liters of beer.

The world's only white whale, dubbed 'Migaloo,' can be seen in Australia.

Australia is home to a vibrant multicultural community of people from nearly 200 different countries.

In addition, over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken in this diverse country.

Surprisingly, Australia has more snow than Switzerland during the winter.

Australia became the world's second country to grant women the right to vote in 1902.

In Australia, 16% of the people speak a language other than English.

Australia has at least 14 million obese people out of its 23 million people. And, in the United States, obesity kills more people prematurely than smoking and illness combined.

Australians, too, have swimming pools in their oceans.

The minimum wage in Australia is $16.88, while it is $5.15 in Georgia, USA.

In Australia, a lake known as 'Pink Lake' exists. This salt lake's name is derived from the colour of its water. It is located in Western Australia's Goldfields-Esperance region.

Lord Howe Island, a popular tourist destination in Australia, only allows 400 tourists at any given time, regardless of how many people apply and want to visit. The rules are the rules!

In Australia, there is a town called 1770. Yes, the name is only made up of digits.

The Canning Stock Route is the world's longest and most remote stock route, stretching 2000 kilometres from Halls Creek to Wiluna in outback Western Australia.

A staggering 91% of Australia is covered by vegetation.

Australia has the world's third largest ocean territory, spanning three oceans and covering approximately 12 million square kilometres.

Only a licenced electrician in Victoria, Australia, can change an electric bulb.

There are over 10,000 beaches in Australia.

The Australians claim that Wi-Fi was invented by their National Science Agency.

In Australia, the last time a spider killed someone was in 1981.

Gina Rinehart, the richest Australian woman, is worth $29 billion. She is thought to earn $600 per second.

The world's oldest fossil, with cells dating back 3.4 billion years, was discovered in Australia. Brasier and David Wacey, a geologist at the University of Western Australia in Crawley, made the discovery.

Camel exports from Australia to Saudi Arabia.

Australians enjoy gambling, which explains why they spend more money per capita than any other country in the world.

According to the 2011 census, Australia had 73 million sheep. And this clearly outnumbers Australia's total human population.

Australian sheep set a new world record for the largest wool haul from a single shearing. It had 40 kg of wool removed from its body, which took 5 shearers to complete.

For the past five years, Melbourne, Australia, has been named the world's most livable city.

The term "selfie" is an Australian slang term that was named the 2013 international word of the year. In 2002, a drunk from Australia used it for the first time in an online forum.

Every year, the average poker player in Australia loses $380.

The world's first seat belt law was enacted in 1970 in the Australian state of Victoria, making the use of a seat belt mandatory for drivers and front-seat passengers.

Swimming at public beaches in Australia was prohibited between 1838 and 1902.

In 1967, Australia's Prime Minister Harold Hold went for a swim and never returned. The event was dubbed "the swim that required no towel" later on.

It's fun for kids to learn that on July 17, 1924, the world's first society of cartoonists was founded in Sydney, Australia. "The Black and White Artists' Society" was its name.

Australia is the third country, after the United States and Russia, to successfully launch a satellite into orbit.

Australia is the only continent that does not have an active volcano.

Australia is also known for a massive carving of an Indigenous man in the desert. The over 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) long drawing can be seen in Australia. It has been a popular tourist destination for over a decade.

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the world's largest organic structure.

Australia has over 60 different kangaroo species and over 1500 different spider species.

Kangaroos can go months without drinking water. They can also dig water wells up to 3-4 feet deep.

Lungfish, a living fossil from the Triassic period 350 million years ago, can be found in Queensland.

Western Australia is currently the world's largest gold producer.

Melbourne, Victoria, has the world's second largest Greek population, after Athens, Greece.

The best imitator in the world is the Australian Lyre Bird. It can imitate the calls of 15 different bird species found in their area.

Canberra, Australia's capital city, was built as a result of a dispute between Sydney and Melbourne over who would be the country's capital. To resolve this conflict, a new city was built between these two and declared the capital.

Diggers are Australian servicemen, a term derived from miners on Australia's goldfields in the 1800s.

Almost 80% of Australians work in the service sector, with manufacturing accounting for 14%.

Cannabis is used by 50% of young Australians aged 14 to 19.

Lazy people are referred to as 'bludgers' in Australia.

Adelaide, a city in Australia, is well-known for its abundance of churches.

In 1969, images of man's first steps on the moon were broadcast to the rest of the world from Australia.

At 478 kilometers, Australia has the world's longest straight railway track.

Anna Creek Station in South Australia is the world's largest cattle station, covering over 34,000 square kilometers.