Australia: 23 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

Lots of South Africans have immigrated to the “land down-under” (aka Australia) in the last couple of decades. But there’s a lot more to this country (apart from the fact that it’s at the bottom of the world map).

They are definately one of South Africa’s sport rivals (the main reason why I won’t ever move there). I would not mind seeing this beautiful country one day though.

Here are 23 facts you might not have known about Australia

1. Australia is the word’s smallest continent and the world’s sixth largest country. Western Australia is the biggest Australian state and covers one third of the continent. Its total area is over 2.5 million square kilometres. That makes it 3.6 times bigger than Texas, 4.6 times bigger than France and 11 times bigger than the UK. It’s an interesting fact that, despite its large size, Western Australia is home to only +/- 2 million people.

2. For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, the region was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups.

3. A census taken in 1828 found that half the population of New South Wales were convicts and that former convicts made up nearly half of the free population. It is estimated that by the time transportation ended in 1868 that 40 percent of the country’s English-speaking population were convicts. In 2007 it was estimated that 22 per cent of living Australians had a convict ancestor.

4. Today the country has an estimated population of 26,4 million (according to 2023 estimates). The majority of people live in the coastal regions of the country.

5. Sydney is the biggest city in the country with a population of over 5.1 million. Melbourne is the 2nd biggest with a population of almost 5 million. Canberra is the capital city of the country and has a population of +/- 400,000.

6. The first recorded European sighting of the Aussie mainland and the first recorded European landfall on the continent were attributed to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula on an unknown date in early 1606.

7. Apparently the first European settlers in the future colony drank more alcohol per person than any other community in the history of mankind. In 1954 Bob Hawke made it into the Guinness Record Book: he sculled 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. He went on to become the Prime Minister of Australia when he got older.

8. There are 1500 spider species, 6000 species of flies, about 4000 species of ants, 350 species of termites and 150 million sheep in Australia.

9. Sydney Harbor Bridge is the world’s largest steel arch bridge and the Sydney Tower Center is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.

10. The country has the lowest precipitation of any of the world’s inhabited continents. (Antarctica gets less.) 70 percent of the country gets less than 500 mm (20 inches) of rainfall per year.

11. Australia has over 60 separate wine regions. With such a huge variety of wine regions, it’s hard to choose between them.  The majority of the wine regions are in New South Wales and Victoria so if you fancy discovering a few of them a road trip between Sydney and Melbourne would be a great way to go about it.

12. The vast rock of Uluru sits in the red centre of Australia, surrounded by scrubland and sacred to various Aboriginal tribes in the area. It is one of the few places on the earth to be listed twice as a UNESCO World Heritage site, both on the cultural and natural lists. Amazingly around 2.5 km of the rock is thought to be underground connected to the Olgas, where the rock emerges again 25 km (16 miles) away.

13. Australia has the highest number of camels in the world. Over one million feral camels are roaming the outback.

14. If you visit one beach a day in Australia it will take you 27 years to see all of them. The country has almost 12,000 beaches along its 60 000 km (37 282 miles) coastline.

15. There are no active volcanoes in Australia.

16. Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1902 (after New Zealand).

17. The first known use of the word “selfie” in any paper or electronic medium appeared in an Australian internet forum on 13 September 2002.

18. Australia has 516 national parks to protect its unique plants and animals. At four times the size of Yellowstone in the US (or more than half the size of Tasmania), Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert became Australia’s largest national park when it was declared in November 2021.

19. There are approximately 42 million kangaroos in Australia (according to 2022 figures). Back in 2009 there were around 27 million.

20. One of Melbourne’s original names was Batmania (which was named after the politician John Batman). The city was officially named Melbourne on 10 April 1837 by Governor Richard Bourke in honour of the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.

21. Anna Creek Station is the world’s largest working cattle station. It’s located in South Australia. The cattle station has an area of 23,677 square kilometres (9,142 square miles / 5,851,000 acres) which is slightly larger than Israel. The station (which is home to +/- 10,000 cattle) is operated by 8 station hands.

22. With an average population density of 3.5 individuals per square kilometer of its total land area, Australia stands as one of the world’s least densely populated countries. This is primarily ascribed to the semi-arid and desert landscapes prevalent in much of its interior.

23. Atop the peaks of the Great Dividing Range, winter ushers in substantial snowfall. The intensity of this snowfall is such that during the winter months, the Australian Alps near the capital city of Canberra receive more snow than the Swiss Alps.

Well, there you have it, 23 facts you might not have known about Australia. If I left anything out, feel free to leave a comment below.

Watch this space for updates in the Facts category on Running Wolf’s Rant.

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