States and territories

Australia has six states—New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia—and two major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments.

Geography and climate

Australia is the flattest continent. The driest inhabited continent. The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world, although a large proportion of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.

Environment

About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.

Among well-known Australian fauna are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, and wombat, and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra. Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE. Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna. Water restrictions are currently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought.

Language

Although Australia has no official language, English is so entrenched that it has become the de facto national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon. Grammar and spelling are similar to that of British English with some notable exceptions. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5, 500 deaf people.

Education

School attendance is compulsory throughout Australia. All children receive 11 years of compulsory education from the age of 6 to 16 (Year 1 to 10), before they can undertake two more years (Years 11 and 12), contributing to an adult literacy rate that is assumed to be 99%. A preparatory year prior to Year 1, although not compulsory, is almost universally undertaken. Government grants have supported the establishment of Australia's 38 universities; all but one is public.

Health

Life expectancy in Australia is relatively high, with figures of 78.7 years for males and 83.5 years for females (2006). Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, while cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease. Australia has one of the highest proportions of overweight citizens amongst developed nations; it has also been one of the most successful in managing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Media

The Australian cinema industry began with the 1906 release of The Story of the Kelly Gang, which is regarded as being the world's first feature-length film, but both Australian feature film production and the distribution of British-made features declined dramatically after World War I as American studios and distributors monopolised the industry and by the 1930s around 95% of the feature films screened in Australia were produced in Hollywood. By the late 1950s feature film production in Australia had effectively ceased and there were no all-Australian feature films made in the decade between 1959 and 1969.

Australia has two public broadcasters (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service), three commercial television networks, several pay-TV services, and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Each major city has at least one daily newspaper, and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.