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About Australia
smallest continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. With the island state of Tasmania to the south, the continent makes up the Commonwealth of Australia, a federal parliamentary state (1995 est. pop. 18,322,000), 2,967,877 sq mi (7,686,810 sq km). Australia's capital is Canberra . Its largest city is Sydney , closely followed in population by Melbourne .
People
Most Australians are of British and Irish ancestry and the majority of the country lives in  urban areas. Its population has more than doubled since the end of World War II, spurred by an ambitious postwar immigration program. In the 19th cent., Australia enacted strong measures to prevent immigration by nonwhites. After World War II, immigration from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other countries increased Australia's cultural diversity. In 1973, Australia officially ended discriminatory immigration policies, and substantial Asian immigration followed. By 1988, about 40% of immigration to Australia was from Asia and by the early 1990s Asians constituted about 4% of the population.
Land
The Australian continent extends from east to west some 2,400 mi (3,860 km) and from north to south nearly 2,000 mi (3,220 km). It is on the whole exceedingly flat and dry.  Less than 20 in. (50.8 cm) of precipitation falls annually over 70% of the land area. From the narrow coastal plain in the west the land rises abruptly in what, from the sea, appear to be mountain ranges but are actually the escarpments of a rough plateau that occupies the western half of the continent. It is generally from 1,000 to 2,000 ft (305-610 m) high but several mountain ranges rise to nearly 5,000 ft (1,520 m); there are no permanent rivers or lakes in the region. In the southwest corner of the continent there is a small moist and fertile area, but the rest of Western Australia is arid, with large desert areas.
Resources
Australia is highly industrialized, and manufactured goods account for most of the gross domestic product. Its chief industries include mining (much of which is accomplished with the aid of Japanese capital), food processing, and the manufacture of industrial and transportation equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, machinery, and motor vehicles. Australia has valuable mineral resources, including coal, iron, bauxite, copper, tin, lead, zinc, and uranium; the country is an important producer of opals and diamonds. Some lumbering is done in the east and southeast.
Government
The executive power of the commonwealth is vested in a governor-general (representing the British sovereign) and a cabinet, presided over by the prime minister, which represents the party or coalition holding a majority in the lower house of parliament. The parliament consists of two houses. The distribution of federal and state powers is roughly like that in the United States. British intervention in Australian affairs was formally abolished in 1986.
*Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003.
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