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capital:
canberra administrative divisions: 6 states and 2 territories*; australian capital territory*. new south wales. northern territory*. queensland. south australia. tasmania. victoria. western australia dependent areas: ashmore and cartier islands. christmas island. cocos (keeling) islands. coral sea islands. heard island and mcdonald islands. norfolk island. macquarie island independence: 1 january 1901 (federation of uk colonies) national holiday: australia day. 26 january (1788) constitution: 9 july 1900. effective 1 january 1901 legal system: based on english common law; accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory executive branch: chief of state: queen of australia elizabeth ii (since 6 february 1952). represented by governor general maj. gen. (ret.) michael jeffery (since 11 august 2003) head of government: prime minister john winston howard (since 11 march 1996); deputy prime minister mark vaile (since 6 july 2005) cabinet: prime minister nominates. from among members of parliament. candidates who are subsequently sworn in by the governor general to serve as government ministers elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections. the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general note: government coalition - liberal party and national party legislative branch: bicameral federal parliament consists of the senate (76 seats - 12 from each of the six states and two from each of the two mainland territories; one-half of state members are elected every three years by popular vote to serve six-year terms while all territory members are elected every three years) and the house of representatives (150 seats; members elected by popular preferential voting to serve terms of up to three-years; no state can have fewer than five representatives) elections: senate - last held 9 october 2004 (next to be held no later than june 2008); house of representatives - last held 9 october 2004 (next to be called no later than november 2007) election results: senate - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party (for session beginning on 1 july 2005) - liberal party-national party coalition 39. australian labor party 28. democrats 4. australian greens 4. family first party 1; house of representatives - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - liberal party-national party coalition 87. australian labor party 60. independents 3 judicial branch: high court (the chief justice and six other justices are appointed by the governor general) political parties and leaders: australian democrats [lyn allison]; australian labor party [kim beazley]; australian progressive alliance [meg lees]; australian greens [bob brown]; liberal party [john winston howard]; the nationals [mark vaile]; one nation party [len harris]; family first party [steve fielding] international organization participation: anzus. apec. arf. asdb. asean (dialogue partner). australia group. bis. c. cp. eas. ebrd. fao. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. iea. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. miga. nam (guest). nea. nsg. oecd. opcw. paris club. pca. pif. sparteca. spc. un. unctad. unesco. unhcr. unmis. untso. upu. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto. zc diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador michael j. thawley chancery: 1601 massachusetts avenue nw. washington. dc 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 797-3000 fax: [1] (202) 797-3168 consulate(s) general: atlanta. chicago. honolulu. los angeles. new york. and san francisco diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: william a. stanton. charge d'affaires ad interim embassy: moonah place. yarralumla. canberra. australian capital territory 2600 mailing address: apo ap 96549 telephone: [61] (02) 6214-5600 fax: [61] (02) 6214-5970 consulate(s) general: melbourne. perth. sydney flag description: blue with the flag of the uk in the upper hoist-side quadrant and a large seven-pointed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant known as the commonwealth star. representing the federation of the colonies of australia in 1901; the star depicts one point for each of the six original states and one representing all of australia's internal and external territories; the remaining half is a representation of the southern cross constellation in white with one small five-pointed star and four larger. seven-pointed stars economy - overview: australia has an enviable western-style capitalist economy. with a per capita gdp on par with the four dominant west european economies. rising output in the domestic economy. robust business and consumer confidence. and rising exports of raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the economy. australia's emphasis on reforms. low inflation. and growing ties with china are other key factors behind the economy's strength. the impact of drought. weak foreign demand. and strong import demand pushed the trade deficit up from $8 billion in 2002. to $18 billion in 2003. $13 billion in 2004. and $16 billion in 2005. housing prices probably peaked in 2005. diminishing the prospect that interest rates would be raised to prevent a speculative bubble. conservative fiscal policies have kept australia's budget in surplus from 2002 to 2005. gdp (purchasing power parity): $642.7 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $649.9 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 2.7% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $32.000 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 26.4% services: 69.6% (2004 est.) labor force: 10.42 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 3.7%. industry 26.4%. services 70% (2004 est.) unemployment rate: 5.2% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 25.4% (1994) distribution of family income - gini index: 35.2 (1994) inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 24.8% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $249.8 billion expenditures: $240.2 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 16.2% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: wheat. barley. sugarcane. fruits; cattle. sheep. poultry industries: mining. industrial and transportation equipment. food processing. chemicals. steel industrial production growth rate: 1.6% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 215.8 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 90.8% hydro: 8.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0.9% (2001) electricity - consumption: 200.7 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 530.000 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 875.600 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: 523.400 bbl/day (2001) oil - imports: 530.800 bbl/day (2001) oil - proved reserves: 3.664 billion bbl (1 january 2002) natural gas - production: 33.08 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 23.33 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 9.744 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 2.407 trillion cu m (1 january 2002) current account balance: $-41.1 billion (2005 est.) exports: $103 billion (2005 est.) exports - partners: japan 18.7%. china 9.2%. us 8.1%. south korea 7.8%. new zealand 7.4%. india 4.6%. uk 4.2% (2004) imports: $119.6 billion (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 14.8%. china 12.7%. japan 11.8%. germany 5.8%. singapore 4.4%. uk 4.1% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $39.03 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $509.6 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - donor: oda. $894 million (fy99/00) currency (code): australian dollar (aud) currency code: aud exchange rates: australian dollars per us dollar - 1.31 (2005). 1.3598 (2004). 1.5419 (2003). 1.8406 (2002). 1.9334 (2001) fiscal year: 1 july - 30 june telephones - main lines in use: 10.815 million (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 14.347 million (2003) telephone system: general assessment: excellent domestic and international service domestic: domestic satellite system; much use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile cellular telephones international: country code - 61; submarine cables to new zealand. papua new guinea. and indonesia; satellite earth stations - 19 (10 intelsat - 4 indian ocean and 6 pacific ocean. 2 inmarsat - indian and pacific ocean regions. 2 globalstar. 5 other) (2005) radio broadcast stations: am 262. fm 345. shortwave 1 (1998) radios: 25.5 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 104 (1997) televisions: 10.15 million (1997) internet country code: .au internet hosts: 2.847.763 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 571 (2002) internet users: 9.472 million (2002) airports: 448 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 308 over 3.047 m: 10 2.438 to 3.047 m: 12 1.524 to 2.437 m: 133 914 to 1.523 m: 140 under 914 m: 13 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 142 1.524 to 2.437 m: 18 914 to 1.523 m: 110 under 914 m: 14 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) pipelines: condensate/gas 492 km; gas 28.680 km; liquid petroleum gas 240 km; oil 4.773 km; oil/gas/water 110 km (2004) railways: total: 54.439 km (3859 km electrified) broad gauge: 5.434 km 1.600-m gauge standard gauge: 34.110 km 1.435-m gauge (1.397 km electrified) narrow gauge: 14.895 km 1.067-m gauge (2.462 km electrified) dual gauge: 213 km dual gauge (2004) roadways: total: 811.601 km paved: 316.524 km unpaved: 495.077 km (2002) waterways: 2.000 km (mainly used for recreation on murray and murray-darling river systems) (2004) merchant marine: total: 55 ships (1.000 grt or over) 1.531.461 grt/1.999.409 dwt by type: bulk carrier 16. cargo 7. chemical tanker 3. container 1. liquefied gas 4. passenger 5. passenger/cargo 6. petroleum tanker 8. roll on/roll off 5 foreign-owned: 16 (france 1. germany 3. japan 1. philippines 1. saudi arabia 1. united kingdom 2. united states 7) registered in other countries: 35 (2005) ports and terminals: brisbane. dampier. fremantle. gladstone. hay point. melbourne. newcastle. port hedland. port kembla. port walcott. sydney military branches: australian defense force (adf): australian army. royal australian navy. royal australian air force. special operations command military service age and obligation: 16 years of age for voluntary service (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 4.943.676 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 4.092.717 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 142.158 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $16.65 billion (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 2.7% (2004) disputes - international: east timor and australia continue to meet but disagree over how to delimit a permanent maritime boundary and share unexploited petroleum resources that fall outside the joint petroleum development area covered by the 2002 timor sea treaty; east timor dispute hampers creation of a revised maritime boundary with indonesia (see also ashmore and cartier islands dispute); regional states express concern over australia's 2004 declaration of a 1.000-nautical mile-wide maritime indentification zone; australia asserts land and maritime claims to antarctica (see antarctica); in 2004 australia submitted claims to unclos to extend its continental margin from both its mainland and antarctic claims illicit drugs: tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate
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