Total Area:

7,682,292 square kilometers (2,966,133 square miles) - about the same size as the USA.

Capital:

Canberra (inland from the East Coast and halfway between Sydney and Melbourne)

Population:

20,338,000 (yes, we know this is not very many people for such a big place and in fact, Australia has the lowest population density in the world)

Ethnic Composition:

94% European origin; 4.5% Asian; 1.5% aboriginal & Islanders

Language:

English

Religions:

26 percent Roman Catholic; 24 percent Anglican; 20 percent Protestant; 4 percent Eastern Orthodox; 26 percent other, including Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist.

Government:

A federal democracy. The dude in the top job is known as the Prime Minister and his name is John Howard. Just like in America, there are two primary political parties which in Australia are called the Liberal Party (currently in power) and the Labor Party.

Showing Off:

Australia has generated 9 Nobel Prize winners in the fields of science, medicine (winners for 2005), literature and immunology. Australia is also the world's largest island and is the only country that is also a continent. It also has more beaches (7,000 in total) than any other nation. Australia was the first place in the world where women were allowed to vote (in 1896). And best of all, Australia was voted as the second best country in the world to live, behind Norway and ahead of Canada. But who wants to live in freezing cold Norway?