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Australia is part of [[Oceania]], and a largely secular nation.  As a secular nation it does not have a "national" religion and it accepts citizens of a variety of creeds and faiths, just as the USA. It is about 7,500 miles from the [[United States]], though this is largely irrelevant in any geographical sense. The mainland of Australia is about the same size as mainland USA - exluding Alaska.  Australia has six states and two territories.  The states are Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.  The territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory which is the location of Australia's capital city: Canberra.

Australia is part of [[Oceania]], and a largely secular nation.  As a secular nation it does not have a "national" religion and it accepts citizens of a variety of creeds and faiths, just as the USA. It is about 7,500 miles from the [[United States]]. The mainland of Australia is about the same size as mainland USA - exluding Alaska.  Australia has six states and two territories.  The states are Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.  The territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory which is the location of Australia's capital city: Canberra.

Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as Aborigines although they come from a number of smaller "nations" and "tribes."  Over time these nations and tribes have lost their identity or been decimated by disease, poor nutrition, fighting with white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations.  The aboriginal culture still exists and a number of aboriginal languages have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement.

Australia was originally inhabited by people who are commonly known as Aborigines although they come from a number of smaller "nations" and "tribes."  Over time these nations and tribes have lost their identity or been decimated by disease, poor nutrition, fighting with white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations.  The aboriginal culture still exists and a number of aboriginal languages have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement.

The 1850s saw the discovery of gold and large number of people moved to Victoria to find new wealth - prospectors from China and the USA came in the hope of prosperity.  Eventually this wealth helped build the great cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat and Bendigo. Australia become a federated country in 1901 with its parliament sitting in Melbourne, Victoria, while the capital city of Canberra was being built.  Australia has a parliamentary system of government based on the British system with two law making houses:  the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Each state also has their own parliament.  Australia is a democracy which has allowed men and women or European descent to vote since federation, with Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962.  Its Head of Government is called the Prime Minister; at the moment he is the leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard. The Head of State is the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain), who acts through the Governor-General.

The 1850s saw the discovery of gold and large number of people moved to Victoria to find new wealth - prospectors from China and the USA came in the hope of prosperity.  Eventually this wealth helped build the great cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat and Bendigo. Australia become a federated country in 1901 with its parliament sitting in Melbourne, Victoria, while the capital city of Canberra was being built.  Australia has a parliamentary system of government based on the British system with two law making houses:  the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Each state also has their own parliament.  Australia is a democracy which has allowed men and women or European descent to vote since federation, with Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962.  Its Head of Government is called the Prime Minister; at the moment he is the leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard. The Head of State is the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain), who acts through the Governor-General.

Strangley enough the Liberal Party, who have ruled in Australia since 1996 are actually conservative.  They take on the name Liberal to indicate their belief in free trade and lack of government interference in business and day to day life.  The more liberal (in terms of USA speak) party is the Labor Party whose leader is Kevin Rudd. Though the liberal party has governed australia for the past 11 years, its popularity is fast declining, largely due to its continuing support of the USA in the 'War on Terror'. The prime minister John Howard also recently introduced a series of industrial relations reforms which in the eyes of many set industrial relations in australia back over 100 years.  

Strangley enough the Liberal Party, who have ruled in Australia since 1996 are actually conservative.  They take on the name Liberal to indicate their belief in free trade and lack of government interference in business and day to day life.  The more liberal (in terms of USA speak) party is the Labor Party whose leader is Kevin Rudd.

Australia relies a great deal on small industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economny.  It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.  Other favourite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Another popular tourist destination is the deeth-ta-merica region of central australia, a locale bordering South Australia, in which it is believed extremists of all religions other than christianity are prepapring for a world takeover. Tourists often entertain themselves by taking pot shots at the villagers with high powered sniper rifles, and dodge the rocks occasionally lobbed at them. This region is, naturally, entirely exempt from all human rights and international laws.  Some cattle stations in Australia rival Texas (yew texas, we gon get some partay down tonight y'all. my mothers my sister) in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

Australia relies a great deal on small industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economny.  It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.  Other favourite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.  Some cattle stations in Australia rival Texas in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line.  It is one of the world's least densely populated countries.  Despite the low population water is scarce and most cities have some form of water restrictions in place to allow for basics such as washing and drinking.  Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s (Celcius scale is used in the rest of the world) which is about 120 F.  The city of Darwin was destoyed by a cyclone in 1974 and bushfires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occuring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2000 homes were destoyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line.  It is one of the world's least densely populated countries.  Despite the low population water is scarce and most cities have some form of water restrictions in place to allow for basics such as washing and drinking.  Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s (Celcius scale is used in the rest of the world) which is about 120 F.  The city of Darwin was destoyed by a cyclone in 1974 and bushfires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occuring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2000 homes were destoyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.