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: 22,507,617 (July 2014 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. Yet their colourful vocabulary,
accent, phonetics system and slang ('Strine') can take a lot of getting used to. 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.

Australian Society & Culture

Aussie Modesty
Australians are very down to earth and always mindful of not giving the impression
that they think they are better than anyone else.
They value authenticity, sincerity, and loathe pretentiousness.
Australians prefer people who are modest, humble, self- deprecating and with a
sense of humour.
They do not draw attention to their academic or other achievements and tend to
distrust people who do.
They often downplay their own success, which may make them appear not to be
achievement-oriented.
Mates
Australians place a high value on relationships.
With a relatively small population, it is important to get along with everyone,
since you never know when your paths may cross again.
This leads to a win-win negotiating style, since having everyone come away with
positive feelings helps facilitate future business dealings.
A Multi-Cultural Society
The initial population of Australia was made up of Aborigines and people of British
and Irish descent.
After World War II there was heavy migration from Europe, especially from Greece,
Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, and Turkey.
This was in response to the Australian policy of proactively trying to attract
immigrants to boost the population and work force.
In the last thirty years, Australia has liberalised its immigration policy and
opened its borders to South East Asia.
This has caused a real shift in self-perception as Aussies begin to re-define
themselves as a multi-cultural and multi-faith society rather then the old
homogenous, white, Anglo- Saxon, Protestant nation.