Facts about Australia

• Because the rainwater in Tasmania is some of the purest in the world, over five tons of the water was transported to Seoul, Korea to provide drinking water to Olympic athletes. Tasmania is also considered to have the best air in the world.
• Did you know the platypus is only indigenous to Australia?
• Australia was the largest heard of wild camels wandering the deserts of Australia. Around 200,000 camels make their home there. Incidentally, about 20% of Australia is desert.
• The following animals were founded in Australia: the emu, the kangaroo, the kookaburra, and the koala.
• Bob Hawke, a prime minister of Australia, became inserted into the Guinness Book of Records by drinking 2.5 pints of beer in just 11 seconds in 1954.
• If you happen to be near The Great Barrier Reef and need to mail a letter or a postcard, you can. There is a mailbox located on the reef and uses the only stamp licensed by The Great Barrier Reef.
• Australia uses money deemed the AUD, or the Australian dollar. Coins are 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent silver pieces and there are also 1 and 2 dollar gold coins. The coins are not made from silver and gold, they are just that color. Pictured on the coins are Australian animals like the kangaroo and echidna anteater. The money notes (equivalent to our paper money) are actually made from a plastic polymer to make counterfeiting nearly impossible.
• Channel 9 was Australia's first TV station, which started broadcasting in Sydney in 1956. The first radio station was started in 1912.
• When you first immigrate to Australia, you may not apply for citizenship just yet. You must stay there for two years as a permanent resident, compared to six months to one year for most other countries.

Other Fun Facts

Did You Know?

Much of the world's opals come from Australia, which is usually anywhere from 85 to 95% at any given time.

• The name QANTAS, which is a major airline for Australia, is an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service.
• In terms of law in Australia, self-defense actually means you defended yourself only after you were physically harmed. In the U.S., there just has to be an intent or obvious threat to your life.
• Australians celebrate Australia Day on January 26. Australia Day is the day in 1777 that Britain sent over the convicts to start a penal colony. Over 80 years, Great Britain sent around 160,000 convicts to the colony.
• One fun fact about Australia is that for 64 years starting in 1838, it was illegal to swim at a beach in the day.

·         1. Australia is the 6th largest country in the world, with a land mass of over 7.6 million sq km.

·         2. In 1838, it was declared illegal in Australia for people to go swimming in public beaches during the daytime. This no-daytime-beach-swimming law was enforced right up until 1902.

·         3. Australia is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the longest coral reef in the world, extending beyond 2,012.5 kilometers.

·         4. It is said that a typical Australian can expect to consume 10 tons of vegetables, 8 tons of fruits, half a ton of cheese, 165,000 eggs, 92 sheep, 17 beef cattle, and 406 loaves of bread in the span of his lifetime.

·         5. In 1954, a man named Bob Hawke entered the Guinness Book of Records for gulping down 2.5 pints of beer in just 11 seconds. In 1983, the same Bob Hawke became prime minister of Australia.

·         6. In 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt went swimming at the Cheviot Beach. He was never seen again. This event has been called “the swim that needed no towel” (and may have made lawmakers – even for just a second – consider reinstating that law against swimming in beaches).

·         7. Though Australian mines account for around 15% of the country’s GDP, only 0.02% of Australia’s land area is occupied by mines. (In fact, more of Australian land is covered by pubs.)

·         8. Australia has more than 150 million sheep – about 7.5 times more than its human population.

·         9. Australia’s population is so un-dense that while other countries usually compute how many people they have per square kilometer, Australia computes how many square kilometers it has available per person.

·         10. No matter where you stand in Australia, you are never more than 1,000 km away from a beach.