Did You Know: Australia

The world is becoming a smaller place everyday. Due to the internet and other factors, people can communicate and coordinate with their counterparts in the other hemisphere in a matter of seconds. Therefore, it is necessary for people to know some facts about various countries. Here are some facts about Australia.

25 facts about Australia.

1. About 6% of Australians work in tourism.
2. Australia has the lowest precipitation of any of the world’s continents with people living on them.  (Antarctica gets less but no one really lives there so they don’t really count.)
3. About 21% of Australians smoke.
4. There are approximately 1500 species of Australian spiders.
5. The worlds largest population of camels with one hump reside in Australia.
6. No part of Australia is more than 1000 kilometers from the ocean and beaches.
7. In Australia, Tasmania, has the cleanest air in the world.  (I bet this is good for your health!)
8. The Great Barrier reef has a mailbox and you can take a ferry out there and send a postcard with the only Great Barrier reef stamp.
   Image by babasteve via Flickr
9. Australia is both the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on earth.
10. Only 40% of Australia is tropical while in the Australian Alps it snows sometimes.
11. Australia is the 6th largest country in the world but its population density is one of the lowest in the whole world due to the fact that nearly ¾ of the continent are uninhabitable.
12. Australia is one of the only continents that doesn’t have a live volcano on it.
13. About 20 million people live in Australia.  With about 150 million sheep in Australia making it he largest exporter of sheep meat and wool in the world.
14. The first police force in Australia was made up of 12 of their best behave convicts.
15. The Kangaroos and Emus only live in Australia.
16. The Australian Eucalyptus is the fastest growing tree in the whole world.
17. Australia is both the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on earth.
18. Cute and puffy rabbits are considered pests in Australia.
19. Australians do speak English but they have their own “slang” and that’s how people there can really tell if you’re a local or a tourist.  Here are a few examples of this:

                        Aussie – Australian