1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
7,692,300 km2; 6% arable, 58% pasture, 2% forested, 34% other WATER
Coastline
about 25,760 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
3 nm (fishing 200 nm; prawn and crayfish on continental shelf)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
99% Caucasian, 1% Asian and aborigine
Labor force
6.5 million; 14% agriculture, 32% industry, 37% services, 15% commerce, 2% other; 6.2% unemployment
Language
English
Literacy
98.5%
Nationality
noun—Australian(s); adjective—Australian
Organized labor
44% of labor force
Population
15,011,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.3%
Religion
98% Christian
Government
Branches
Parliament (House of Representatives and Senate); Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible to House; independent judiciary Government leaders: Governor General Sir Zelman COWEN; Prime Minister J. Malcolm FRASER
Capital
Canberra
Communists
5,000 members (est.)
Elections
held at three-year intervals or sooner if Parliament is dissolved by Prime Minister; last election October 1980 Political parties and leaders: government—Liberal Party (Malcolm Fraser) and National Country Party (Douglas Anthony); opposition—Labor Party (William J. Hayden) Voting strength (1980 parliamentary election): lower house—Liberal-Country coalition, 74 seats; Labor Party, 51 seats; Senate—Liberal-Country coalition, 31 seats; Labor, 27 seats; Australian Democrats, 5 seats; Independents, 1 seat
Legal system
based on English common law; constitution adopted 1900; High Court has jurisdiction over cases involving interpretation of the constitution; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Member of
ADB, AIOEC, ANZUS, CIPEC (associate), Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, DAC, ELDO, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IATP, IBA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
National holiday
26 January
Official name
Commonwealth of Australia
Other political or pressure groups
Democratic Labor Party (anti-Communist Labor Party splinter group)
Political subdivisions
6 states and 2 territories—Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) and Northern Territory
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
federal parliamentary state recognizing Elizabeth II as sovereign or head of state
Economy
Agriculture
large areas devoted to livestock grazing; 60% of area used for crops is planted in wheat; major products—wool, livestock, wheat, fruits, sugarcane; self-sufficient in food; caloric intake, 3,300 calories per day per capita
Aid
economic—Australian aid abroad in Australian dollars, $662 million (FY81-82); for Papua New Guinea in US dollars, $290 million per year 1981-86
Budget
expenditures, A$40.86 billion; receipts A$40.72 billion (FY81-82)
Crude steel
7.8 million metric tons produced (FY76), 560 kg per capita
Electric power
26,358,140 kW capacity (1980); 98.843 billion kWh produced (1980), 6,728 kWh per capita
Exports
$18.7 billion (f.o.b., 1979); principal products (1979)—44% agricultural products, 14% metalliferous ores, 10% wool, 10% coal
Fiscal year
1 July-30 June
Fishing
catch 122,947 metric tons (1978); exports $94.5 million (FY75), imports $86.2 million (FY75)
GNP
$120.4 billion (1979), $8,360 per capita; 60% private consumption, 16% government current expenditure, 24% investment (1975); 2.8% real average annual growth (1979)
Imports
$18.3 billion (c.i.f., 1979); principal products (1977)—41% manufactured raw materials, 28% capital equipment, 25% consumer goods
Major industries
mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals
Major trade partners
(1979) exports—28% Japan, 12% US, 5% New Zealand, 4% UK; imports— 23% US, 11% UK, 18% Japan
Monetary conversion rate
1.0 Australian dollar=US$1.08 (February 1982)
Communications
Airfields
1,584 total, 1,526 usable; 207 with permanent-surface runways, 2 with runways over 3,660 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 570 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
around 150 major transport aircraft
Highways
837,872 km total (1980); 207,650 km paved, 205,454 km gravel, crushed stone, or stabilized soil surface, 424,768 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways
8,368 km; mainly by small, shallow-draft craft
Pipelines
crude oil, 740 km; refined products, 340 km; natural gas, 6,947 km
Ports
12 major, numerous minor
Railroads
42,855 km total (1980); 9,689 km 1.60-meter gauge, 15,783 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 17,383 km 1.067-meter gauge; 800 km electrified (June 1962); government owned (except for few hundred kilometers of privately owned track)
Telecommunications
very good international and domestic service; 7.4 million telephones (52 per 100 popl.); 223 AM, 5 FM, and 111 TV stations; 3 earth satellite stations; submarine cables to New Zealand, New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Guam
Military and Security
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 30 June 1982, $4.7 billion; about 10.1% of total central government budget
Military manpower
males 15-49, 3,907,000; 3,334,000 fit for military service; 131,000 reach military age (17) annually