Factbook dossier
Background
Aboriginal Australians arrived on the continent at least 60,000 years ago and developed complex hunter-gatherer societies and oral histories. Dutch navigators led by Abel TASMAN were the first Europeans to land in Australia in 1606, and they mapped the western and northern coasts. They named the continent New Holland but made no attempts to permanently settle it. In 1770, Englishman James COOK sailed to the east coast of Australia, named it New South Wales, and claimed it for Great Britain. In 1788 and 1825 respectively, Great Britain established New South Wales and then Tasmania as penal colonies. Great Britain and Ireland sent more than 150,000 convicts to Australia before ending the practice in 1868. As Europeans began settling areas away from the coasts, they came into more direct contact with Aboriginal Australians. Europeans also cleared land for agriculture, impacting Aboriginal Australians ways of life. These issues, along with disease and a policy in the 1900s that forcefully removed Aboriginal children from their parents, reduced the Aboriginal Australian population from more than 700,000 pre-European contact to a low of 74,000 in 1933. Four additional colonies were established in Australia in the mid-1800s: Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859). Gold rushes beginning in the 1850s brought thousands of new immigrants to New South Wales and Victoria, helping to reorient Australia away from its penal colony roots. In the second half of the 1800s, the colonies were all gradually granted self-government, and in 1901, t…
Location
Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Area
total : 7,741,220 sq km land: 7,682,300 sq km water: 58,920 sq km note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island
Natural resources
alumina, coal, iron ore, copper, lithium, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, opals, natural gas, petroleum note 1: Australia is the world's largest net exporter of coal accounting for 26.5% of global coal exports in 2021; coal is the country s most abundant energy resource, and coal ranks as the second-largest export commodity from Australia in terms of revenue; in 2020, Australia held the third-largest recoverable coal reserves in the world behind the United States and Russia note 2: Australia is by far the world's largest supplier of opals note 3: Australia holds the largest uranium reserves in the world and was the second-largest global uranium producer behind Kazakhstan in 2020 note 4: Australia was the largest exporter of LNG in the world in 2020
Natural hazards
cyclones along the coast; severe droughts; forest fires volcanism: volcanic activity on Heard and McDonald Islands
Population
total: 27,490,921 (2025 est.) male: 13,685,935 female: 13,804,986
Ethnic groups
English 33%, Australian 29.9%, Irish 9.5%, Scottish 8.6%, Chinese 5.5%, Italian 4.4%, German 4%, Indian 3.1%, Australian Aboriginal 2.9%, Greek 1.7%, unspecified 4.7% (2021 est.) note: data represent self-identified ancestry, with the option of reporting two ancestries
Languages
English 72%, Mandarin 2.7%, Arabic 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.3%, Cantonese 1.2%, other 15.7%, unspecified 5.7% (2021 est.) note: data represent language spoken at home
Religions
Roman Catholic 20%, Protestant 18.1% (Anglican 9.8%, Uniting Church 2.6%, Presbyterian and Reformed 1.6%, Baptist 1.4%, Pentecostal 1%, other Protestant 1.7%), other Christian 3.5%, Muslim 3.2%, Hindu 2.7%, Buddhist 2.4%, Orthodox 2.3% (Eastern Orthodox 2.1%, Oriental Orthodox 0.2%), other 2.1%, none 38.4%, unspecified 7.3% (2021 est.)
Environmental issues
soil erosion from overgrazing, deforestation, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices; limited natural freshwater resources; soil salinity from use of poor-quality water, drought, desertification; habitat loss from agricultural clearing; floral extinctions; Great Barrier Reef preservation; overfishing; pollution; invasive species
Government type
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Capital
name: Canberra geographic coordinates: 35 16 S, 149 08 E time difference: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in October; ends first Sunday in April time zone note: Australia has six time zones, including Lord Howe Island (UTC+11) etymology: the name may derive from the Aboriginal word nganbirra , meaning "meeting place"
Executive branch
chief of state: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General Samantha (Sam) MOSTYN (since 1 July 2024) head of government: Prime Minister Anthony ALBANESE (since 23 May 2022) cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the prime minister from among members of Parliament and sworn in by the governor general election/appointment process: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general
Legislative branch
legislature name: Parliament legislative structure: bicameral
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$1.635 trillion (2024 est.) $1.611 trillion (2023 est.) $1.558 trillion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Real GDP per capita
$60,100 (2024 est.) $60,500 (2023 est.) $59,900 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
3.2% (2024 est.) 5.6% (2023 est.) 6.6% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Exports - partners
China 37%, Japan 16%, S. Korea 6%, India 5%, Taiwan 5% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
Imports - partners
China 26%, USA 11%, S. Korea 6%, Japan 6%, Thailand 5% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
Military and security forces
Australian Defense Force (ADF): Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force (2025) note: the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is an independent agency of the Attorney-General s Department; the AFP, state, and territorial police forces are responsible for internal security; the Australian Border Force (ABF) is under the Department of Home Affairs
Military expenditures
2% of GDP (2024 est.) 2% of GDP (2023 est.) 2% of GDP (2022 est.) 2% of GDP (2021 est.) 2% of GDP (2020 est.)