Australia Country Guide | Guide to Australia

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Country Guide Australia

Capital:

Canberra

Population:

20,155,000

Currency:

Australian dollar (AUD)

Religions:

Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census)

Government:

democratic, federal-state system recognizing the British monarch as sovereign

Languages:

English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)

Climate:

generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Phone Code:

Festivals in Australia

The Dreaming Festival [article]

Melbourne International Comedy Festival [article]

Nude Beach Olympics [snippet]

Illawarra Folk Festival [snippet]

Splendour in the Grass [photo gallery]

Adelaide Festival [photo gallery]

Australian Rules Football - AFL Final Series [video]

Maslin Beach Nude Olympics [video]

Splendour in the Grass [web site]

Melbourne Jazz [web site]

Click here for the full range of Australia festival articles, snippets, videos, photo galleries and links

Australian Reading

Nowhere's as diverse as down under. From Uluru to Kakadu, from city lights to starry nights, this bestselling guide is the key to the heart of Australia.

it's a big country, but with 160 maps we've got it covered
spectacular colour field guide to Australia's native animals
surf, dive or sail; hike, bike or ski -- we'll show you how
hundreds of accommodation options, from bush camping to five-star resorts
full-colour guide to Aboriginal art

Purchase from: Amazon.com
Purchase from: Amazon.co.uk

Australia DVD

Pilot Guides: Destination Northern Australia

As seen on TV and formally known as Lonely Planet the Pilot Guides are undoubtedly champions of the travel world.

Australia is the oldest continent in the world and was first inhabited 50,000 years ago. Only 17 million people live in this vast country the size of mainland USA!

Traveller Ian Wright explores Outback Australia, one of the most sparse and rugged landscapes on earth, covering three quarters of Australia but with only 10% of its population; meanwhile Megan McCormick visits Queensland, the sun-shiniest state, home of the oldest rainforest on the planet, and bordered by the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living organism.

Along the way

Attend the Barunga Aboriginal festival in Katherine
Admire Uluru, or Ayres Rock, for more than 80 000 years a highly sacred site to the Aboriginal people
Camp on Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island, surrounded by man eating sharks but home to beautiful fresh water lakes
Watch for the alligators, hunt the kangaroo, and see dingoes and koalas
Dive among the colourful corals and amazing wildlife of the Great Barrier Reef

Purchase from: Amazon.com
Purchase from: Amazon.co.uk