Overview of Australia

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  • Overview of Australia

Population: 24.43 million (April 2017). British and Irish descendants make up 74% of the population, Asians account for 5%, Indigenous Australians make up 2.7%, and other ethnicities constitute 18.3%. The official language is English. Approximately 63.9% of residents practice Christianity, while 5.9% follow other religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. About 30.2% of the population either has no religious affiliation or their religious affiliation is unknown.

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Administrative Divisions: Australia is divided into 6 states and 2 territories. The 6 states are New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. The 2 territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

Judicial Institutions: The Federal High Court is Australia's highest judicial authority. It has appellate jurisdiction over other lower courts and makes decisions on cases involving constitutional interpretation. It consists of 1 Chief Justice and 6 Justices. The current Chief Justice is Susan Kiefel, who assumed office in January 2017. Each state has its own Supreme Court, District Courts, and Magistrates' Courts. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have only Supreme Courts and Magistrates' Courts.

Economy: Australia is a newly industrialized country with a developed agriculture and livestock sector and abundant natural resources. It is a major producer and exporter of sheep, cattle, wheat, and sugar. Additionally, Australia is a significant producer and exporter of minerals. While agriculture and mining have been traditional industries, manufacturing and high-tech industries have seen rapid development, and the services sector now dominates the national economy. Economic reforms in the 1970s onwards, along with a focus on international trade, have led to sustained economic growth. From 1991 to 2008, the average annual economic growth rate was 3.5%, ranking among the top in OECD countries. In recent years, economic growth has slowed due to declining international commodity prices, a downturn in the mining sector, increased public fiscal pressure, and the impacts of the global economic situation. Nevertheless, Australia's financial system is robust, well-regulated, and has ample room for macroeconomic policy adjustments, performing better than other Western countries during the international financial crisis. Australia has maintained continuous positive economic growth for 26 years.

Resources: Australia possesses abundant mineral resources, with over 70 different types. It holds the world's largest proven economic reserves of lead, nickel, silver, uranium, zinc, and tantalum. Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite, alumina, diamonds, and tantalum, and ranks among the top in gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese ore, nickel, silver, uranium, and zinc production. It is the largest exporter of black coal, bauxite, diamonds, and zinc concentrates, the second-largest exporter of alumina and iron ore, and the third-largest exporter of aluminum and gold. Known economically viable mineral reserves include approximately 5.3 billion tons of bauxite, 14.6 billion tons of iron ore, 40.3 billion tons of black coal, 30 billion tons of brown coal, 22.9 million tons of lead, 22.6 million tons of nickel, 41,835 tons of tantalum, 410 million tons of zinc, and 5,570 tons of gold. Australia also has 227 billion liters of proven crude oil reserves and 22 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves. The forest cover is 21%, with approximately 163 million hectares of natural forest, two-thirds of which are eucalyptus forests. The fishing industry is abundant, with fishing zones 16% larger than the country's land area, making it the world's third-largest fishing zone. It boasts more than 3,000 species of marine and freshwater fish and over 3,000 species of crustaceans and mollusks, with about 600 species commercially fished. Key aquatic products include prawns, lobsters, abalones, tuna, scallops, and oysters, among others.

Industry: Major sectors include manufacturing, construction, and mining. In the 2014/15 fiscal year, the mining industry had a value of AUD 118.28 billion, decreasing by 7.4% compared to the previous year. The construction industry had a value of AUD 116.16 billion, increasing by 7.6%, and manufacturing had a value of AUD 98.06 billion, increasing by 1.3%.

Agriculture and Livestock: Agriculture and livestock play a significant role in the national economy and are among the world's largest exporters of wool and beef. In the 2015/16 fiscal year, the value of agriculture and livestock production reached AUD 38.29 billion, accounting for 2.3% of the GDP during the same period. Major crops include wheat, barley, cotton, and sorghum, while major livestock products include beef, milk, lamb, wool, and poultry.

Services Sector: The services sector is the most important and fastest-growing sector of the Australian economy. After over 30 years of economic structural adjustment, it has become a pillar industry. In the 2014/15 fiscal year, the services sector had a value of AUD 1,183.85 billion, accounting for 75% of the GDP during the same period. In the 2015/2016 fiscal year, the value of foreign services trade was AUD 146 billion, accounting for 22.1% of Australia's total foreign trade.

Tourism: In the 2015/16 fiscal year, the tourism industry had a value of AUD 52.92 billion, accounting for 3.2% of the GDP during the same period. In recent years, the number of overseas tourists has been increasing, but domestic tourists remain the backbone of the tourism industry. In the 2015/16 fiscal year, domestic tourists spent AUD 95.67 billion, while overseas tourists spent AUD 34.22 billion. Australia has abundant tourism resources, with famous cities and attractions including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, Darwin, the Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru (Ayers Rock).

Education: Education is mainly the responsibility of state governments. Each state has an education department responsible for primary, secondary, and technical education institutions within that state. The federal government provides funding to universities and higher education colleges across Australia, formulates and coordinates education policies. Schools are divided into public and private, offering preschool education, 12 years of compulsory primary and secondary education, and higher education. Vocational education is widely promoted, and there is a strong focus on teacher training and the development of science and technology education. In 2014, there were 6,290 primary schools, 1,390 secondary schools, 1,322 combined primary and secondary schools, and 403 special schools in Australia. Approximately 60% of students attended public schools. There were 259,000 primary and secondary school teachers, with about 65% teaching in public schools. In 2013, there were a total of 1,095,000 higher education students, with 93.8% studying at public institutions. Domestic students numbered 831,000, increasing by 4.4%, while international students numbered 264,000, decreasing by 2.7%. Prominent