Etymology
The name ''Australia'' (pronounced in Australian English) is derived from the Latin ''History
Indigenous peoples
European exploration and colonisation
The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically for trade by Makassan fishermen from what is now Indonesia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the ''Colonial expansion
Federation to the World Wars
Post-war and contemporary eras
Geography and environment
General characteristics
Geology
Climate
Biodiversity
Government and politics
Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The country has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its Constitution of Australia, constitution, which is List of national constitutions, one of the world's oldest, since Federation of Australia, Federation in 1901. It is also one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and States and territories of Australia, state and territorial governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United Kingdom (a Fusion of powers, fused executive, constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline) and the United States (federalism, a written constitution and bicameralism, strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), along with distinctive indigenous features. The federal government is Separation of powers in Australia, separated into three branches: * Legislature: the bicameral Parliament of Australia, Parliament, comprising the Monarchy of Australia, monarch (represented by the Governor-General of Australia, governor-general), the Australian Senate, Senate, and the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives; * Executive: the Federal Executive Council (Australia), Federal Executive Council, which in practice gives legal effect to the decisions of the Cabinet of Australia, cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister and other ministers of state appointed by the governor-general on the advice of Parliament; * Judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other Australian court hierarchy, federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the governor-general on advice of Parliament Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by the Governor-General of Australia, governor-general at the federal level and by the Governors of the Australian states, governors at the state level, who by convention act on the advice of his ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister and the Federal Executive Council (Australia), Federal Executive Council. The governor-general, however, does have reserve powers which, in some situations, may be exercised outside the prime minister's request. These powers are held by convention and their scope is unclear. The most notable exercise of these powers was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, constitutional crisis of 1975.States and territories
Foreign relations
Military
Economy
Energy
In 2003, Australia's energy sources were coal (58.4%), hydropower (19.1%), natural gas (13.5%), liquid/gas fossil fuel-switching plants (5.4%), oil (2.9%), and other renewable resources like wind power, solar energy, and bioenergy (0.7%). During the 21st century, Australia has been trending to generate more energy using renewable resources and less energy using fossil fuels. In 2020, Australia used coal for 62% of all energy (3.6% increase compared to 2013), wind power for 9.9% (9.5% increase), natural gas for 9.9% (3.6% decrease), solar power for 9.9% (9.8% increase), hydropower for 6.4% (12.7% decrease), bioenergy for 1.4% (1.2% increase), and other sources like oil and waste coal mine gas for 0.5%. In August 2009, Australia's government set a goal to achieve 20% of all energy in the country from renewable sources by 2020. They achieved this goal, as renewable resources accounted for 27.7% of Australia's energy in 2020.Science and technology
In 2019, Australia spent A$35.6 billion on research and development, allocating about 1.79% of GDP. A recent study by Accenture for the Tech Council shows that the Australian tech sector combined contributes $167 billion a year to the economy and employs 861,000 people. The country's most recognized and important sector of this type is mining, where Australia continues to have the highest penetration of technologies, especially drones, autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles and mine management software. In addition, the Australian recent startup ecosystem is growing annually at rates of 5.8%, and the Sydney and Melbourne ecosystems are already valued at $25 billion. Australia consistently has ranked high in the Global Innovation Index, Global Innovation Index (GII). In 2021, Australia ranked 25th out of the 132 economies featured in the GII 2021, down from being 22nd in 2019. With only 0.3% of the world's population, Australia contributed 4.1% of the world's published research in 2020, making it one of the top 10 research contributors in the world. CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, contributes 10% of all research in the country, while the rest is carried out by universities. Its most notable contributions include the invention of atomic absorption spectroscopy, the essential components of Wi-Fi technology, and the development of the first commercially successful polymer banknote.Demographics
Ancestry and immigration
Language
Religion
Health
Australia's life expectancy of 83 years (81 years for males and 85 years for females), is the List of countries by life expectancy, fifth-highest in the world. It has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, while Tobacco smoking, cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, responsible for 7.8% of the total mortality and disease. Ranked second in preventable causes is hypertension at 7.6%, with obesity third at 7.5%. Australia ranked 35th in the world in 2012 for its proportion of obese women and near the top of Developed country, developed nations for its proportion of Obesity in Australia, obese adults; 63% of its adult population is either overweight or obese. Australia spent around 9.91% of its total GDP to healthcare in 2021. It introduced universal health care in 1975. Known as Medicare (Australia), Medicare, it is now nominally funded by an income tax surcharge known as the Medicare levy, currently at 2%. The states manage hospitals and attached outpatient services, while the Commonwealth funds the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (subsidising the costs of medicines) and general practice. During the COVID-19 pandemic Australia had one of the most restrictive quarantine policies, resulting in one of the lowest death rates worldwide.Education
Culture
Arts
Media
Cuisine
Sport and recreation
See also
* Outline of Australia * Index of Australia-related articlesNotes
References
Bibliography
* * * * *Further reading
* Denoon, Donald, et al. (2000). ''A History of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific''. Oxford: Blackwell. . * Goad, Philip and Julie Willis (eds.) (2011). ''The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture''. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. . * Hughes, Robert (1986). ''The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding''. Knopf. . * Powell, J.M. (1988). ''An Historical Geography of Modern Australia: The Restive Fringe''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Robinson, G.M., Loughran, R.J., and Tranter, P.J. (2000). ''Australia and New Zealand: Economy, Society and Environment''. London: Arnold; New York: Oxford University Press. paperback, hardback. *External links
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