Australia Culture Project

AUSTRALIA

Facts and Statistics
Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Capital: Canberra
Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north
Population: 19,913,144 (July 2004 est.)
Ethnic Make-up: Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%
Religions: ;Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 24.3%, non-Christian 11%, other 12.6%
Government: democratic, federal-state system recognizing the British monarch as sovereign
Languages in Australia:
English is the primary language used in Australia. In 1788, there were about 250 separate Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia, plus dialects. Today, only two thirds of these languages survive and only 20 of them (eight per cent of the original 250) are still strong enough to have chance of surviving well into the next century. In addition to these there are also the languages of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Traditional Australian foods: Vegemite: black spread made from yeast extract plus salt and is spread on toast or sandwiches. Children are brought up eating it from babyhood.
Meat Pie: approximately 260 million meat pies are eaten by Australians every year
Pavola: dessert with a soft meringue with fruit and cream filling
Lamingtons: sponge cake cube desserts coated with chocolate and coconut
Clothing:
Due to the mild weather, Australians tend to wear light clothing. In the workplace, people dress to stay cool which consists of long socks and tailored shorts instead of slacks. People dress stylishly in the city and in the workplace, but tend to dress down in jeans and sneakers for the weekends. Children must wear uniforms at school and sunscreen all year round. Having a suntan is a sign of foolishness because Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world