Unusual facts about Australia (20 photos)

Here are some facts about this ocean country that may surprise you and help you look at Australia from a different perspective, or just think about distant and beautiful places on the planet.





Australia owes its population to wars and gold rush

There is an opinion that modern Australians are mostly descendants of convicts, prostitutes, various sectarians and other marginalized people. If you do not take into account the aborigines, antisocial elements were indeed the first inhabitants of the continent. However, in percentage terms, the share of their descendants is not large.



Australia owes its population to the gold rush and two world wars. In the first few years of the so-called gold rush that began in the mid-19th century, the non-native population of the continent increased approximately threefold: from ≈332,000 to ≈1 million.





Then there was a surge in population growth after World War I: from 4,059,083 (1911) to 6,526,485 (1931). The subsequent World War II also contributed to population growth, from 6,778,372 (1936) to 8,421,775 (1956).

Australia has a resource economy

Australia is at the top of all sorts of happiness and well-being indices, this is the notorious "Garden of Eden". It can be assumed that the economy of one of the most prosperous countries in the Western world is based on highly intellectual and technological industries: IT, mechanical engineering, machine tool manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, etc.

Of course, these industries are also worthily represented in the local economy. However, Australia owes its wealth mainly to the extractive industry.



The birthplace of Mel Gibson and Angela White is one of the main suppliers of coal, uranium, iron ore and other minerals to the world market.

– You see, how great it would be to live with our resources, if we put all the oligarchs in jail and stop stealing! – Sidor Matrasych from Gornozavodsk might add sarcastically.

Of course, Sidor Matrasych has the right to his opinion. However, I would like to modestly note that Australia does not have restless neighbors, the climate is warm here, over the past 100+ years, Australians have not experienced two world wars, three revolutions, a civil war, at least three large-scale outbreaks of famine, two cardinal breakdowns of the political system.

More than a third of Australia's population lives in two cities

Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world. About 86% of Australia's population lives in cities. This is one of the highest urbanization rates among developed countries. Most of the population is concentrated in large cities located along the coast, since the interior of the country is mostly desert and uninhabitable.



Only Sydney and Melbourne together have a population of over 10 million. The rest of the population is concentrated in smaller cities: Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide. In total, the population of Australia is about 27 million people.

Australia has no official language

Legally, Australia does not have an official language. But de facto it is English.



At the same time, several dozen languages ​​are spoken in the country, including Aboriginal languages ​​and immigrant dialects.

The capital of Australia is the city of Canberra

Quite often, the main city of Australia is called Sydney or Melbourne. In fact, the administrative center of the country is Canberra.



This is a specially built city that was created to perform capital functions. Canberra is home to major government institutions, including the Parliament of Australia, the Supreme Court, and the Prime Minister's Residence.



The Parliament Building.

Canberra is located in the Australian Capital Territory, roughly equidistant between the country's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

Canberra was chosen as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, which were vying for capital status. The city was designed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin and was officially founded in 1913.

A Toxic Ghost Town Exists in Australia

Witenoom is a small town in Western Australia, located in the Pilbara region.



Since 1943, blue asbestos (crocidolite) deposits have been actively mined here, which has led to economic growth, but it has later become clear that the mining and use of asbestos is extremely dangerous to health.



Many residents and workers in the mines have suffered from asbestos-related diseases, including lung cancer. The death toll is estimated at 2,000.

Due to the high toxicity of asbestos, the town was almost abandoned and the mines were closed. Today, Wittenoom is considered a "ghost town" and access is restricted due to the ongoing health risks.



Local authorities even removed it from maps and road signs to discourage people from visiting it.

There are reservations in Australia

Reservations are not only found in the United States. At one time, the indigenous population of Australia was also driven into reservations. They arose during the period of colonization, when the Aborigines were forced out of their traditional lands. Today, many of these territories are governed by the Aborigines themselves.



The largest reserves include Arnhem Land, API Land, and Kimberley.

In Australia, 22.3% of the population speaks a language other than English (2021 estimate).

Australia may be home to the oldest culture

The indigenous people of the historic Arnhem Land region, located in the Northern Territory, may be the oldest culture in the world. Some estimates suggest it is about 60,000 years old!



This is indirectly confirmed by archaeological finds: rock paintings and ancient artifacts such as a stone axe, which is approximately 35,000 years old.

Australians are a rather warlike nation

Even since colonial times, Australians have regularly participated in wars. The British Empire attracted them to fight the Boers, Maori, and rebels in Egypt. Australians fought on the side of the Entente during the First World War.



Australians in Gallipoli (Ottoman Empire) during World War I.

Australia was a member of the anti-Hitler coalition during World War II. Then the Australians took an active part in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In the 21st century, they were members of the Western coalition in the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. And that's not even counting the numerous peacekeeping missions that Australians were involved in.

There is one city in Australia with a very unusual name

We are talking about a city in the state of Queensland, which is called 1770, or Seventeen Seventy.



According to the popular version, it received such an unusual name in honor of the first landing of James Cook in Australia, which took place in 1770 on one of the local beaches.

By our standards, 1770 is more like a village or a large settlement. It consists of a pub, a fish restaurant, a couple of shops and a group of wooden houses. The population of the city does not exceed 100 people.

Australia is one of the few countries that lays claim to Antarctica

Most countries consider Antarctica a neutral, no-man's land where only scientific research can be conducted. However, Australia is one of those countries that lay claim to a part of Antarctic lands.



Russell Crowe's compatriots have very enviable appetites. They lay claim to almost all of East Antarctica.

Australia is one of the first to celebrate the New Year

Australia is one of the first to celebrate the New Year thanks to its geographical location. The country is located in the Eastern Hemisphere, close to the International Date Line (an imaginary line that runs through the Pacific Ocean and determines the change of calendar days). When midnight comes in Australia, many other countries in the world are still in the previous day.



Date Line. A — along the 180th meridian, B — existing.

The first major city to celebrate the New Year is Sydney, located in the UTC+10 time zone (or UTC+11 during summer time). Because of this, the famous fireworks over the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge become one of the first New Year's shows broadcast around the world.

Elections are a mandatory event in Australia

What is usually ridiculed and called fiction in our country is a major event in Australia. So important that you will be fined if you do not participate in it without a valid reason. We are talking about elections.



Voting in Australia is mandatory. If a citizen does not show up at the polling station without a valid reason, he or she faces a fine. This is one of the reasons for the high turnout in elections - over 90%.

There are partially underground cities in Australia

The city of Coober Pedy, located in South Australia, is known as the opal capital of the world, as it contains about a third of the world's reserves of these precious stones. However, the main feature of Coober Pedy is its unique architecture: many houses, churches, hotels and even shops are underground.



Coober Pedy was founded in 1915, when large opal deposits were discovered here. However, the climate in this region is extremely harsh: summer temperatures often exceed 40 ° C, and at night they can drop to zero. To escape the extreme heat, dust storms and cold, residents began to build houses in old mines and dug underground rooms.



Underground, the temperature remains relatively constant at around 22–24°C, making life more comfortable.