Australian Facts

General Information The capital of Australia is Canberra The population of Australia in 1992 was 17,562,000 Life expectancy for men is 75 years Life expectancy for women is 80 years

Australian Geography The lowest annual rainfall occurs at Lake Eyre in South Australia, with an annual mean precipitation of about 100mm. The highest annual rainfall occurs at Tully in Queensland, with an annual mean precipitation of 4400mm. The lowest overnight ground temperatures recorded in Australia were at Canberra with -15.1 degrees, and Stanthorpe in Queensland with -11.0 degrees. The foggiest capital city in Australia is Canberra with an annual average of 47 fog days, Brisbane with 20 days, and Darwin with 2 days. Melville Island (5698km square), near Darwin, is the largest Island in Australian Waters (apart from Tasmania). The highest point in Australia is the top of Mt Kosciusko in New South Wales (2230 metres). The lowest point in Australia is 15 metres below sea level at Lake Eyre in South Australia. The largest lakes in Australia include Lake Eyre (9500km2), Lake Torrens (5900km2) and Lake Gairdner (4300km2) which are all in South Australia. The largest artificial lake in Australia is Lake Argyle (700km2) which is in Western Australia. The Deepest lake in Australia is Lake St Clair. The Murray River is the longest river in Australia at 2520km, combining with the Darling and Upper Darling Rivers to form the Murray-Darling basin. The Murray Darling extends over 15% of the continent, and serving 4 States and the ACT with water. The Murray also supports about 1/3 of Australia's agricultural production, supports 50% of Australia's sheep and croplands, and 25% of beef and dairy herds, contains about 62% of the country's irrigated land and supplies 50% of South Australia's water. The continental shelf below Australia varies in width between 30km and 240km.
Australia, Sydney - Opera House