Australia 101

Prior to a few years ago, I really didn't know much about Australia except it was originally filled with convicts from England and a bunch of kangaroos.  Talking to people (mainly from the states) has shocked me about how little people know of Australia.  Granted, at least in my 13 years of public school and 4 years of university, I was never taught about the land down under in class and people in the states hardly get any Australian media that's not riddled with Australian stereotypes.  So in hopes of enlightening some people (including myself because I got to learn more about the country's history in writing this), I present to you Australia 101.

First things first.  Australia is big.  It's roughly the same size as the mainland United States (although in regards to population, much smaller).  Australia is made up of 6 states: Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, and Tasmania.  There are also 2 territories within the mainland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory but these are often treated as states.  It would take about 40 hours to drive nonstop from Sydney (New South Wales) to Perth (Western Australia).  Similar to the US, each state has its own set of laws but also adhere to a national standard as well.

Almost everyone lives on the perimeter of the country.  The middle of Australia tends to be a pretty big desert (The Outback) which makes living a bit hard.  The biggest city is Sydney with a population over 4.8 million. Melbourne (Victoria) is not far behind with roughly 4.4 million. Brisbane (Queensland) has about 2.2 million, Perth with 2 million, and good ol' Adelaide (South Australia) with 1.3 million.

The currency in Australia is the Australian Dollar (AUD).  Coins come in $.05, $.10, $.20, $.50, $1, and $2.  A $.01 piece is not needed since all pricing is rounded (if something costs $5.99, you pay $6).  Notes come in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.  Each note has a distinct color/size which makes identifying amounts very easy.  Notes are made of a polymer plastic which makes them pretty much indestructible.  They can't be ripped and could easily survive a dip in the ocean.

$20 and $5 notes on top and $.05, $.20, $.50, and $2 coin below

So how did Australia come to be?  After the United States gave the boot to Britain, the English needed a new place to send convicts.  Lucky for them, British sailor James Cook had found/claimed a pretty large island a few years prior in 1770.  In 1788, the first fleet of ships carried over 1500 convicts to present day Sydney.  It wasn't until 1790 that people willfully immigrated to the place now known as Australia.  Fun fact, South Australia is the only modern state where convicts were never sent.

In 1901, Australia became an independent nation after Britain said the people were allowed to govern themselves.

In terms of government structure, Australia is both a constitutional monarchy as well as a representative democracy.  There are 3 "arms" of the government: legislature (aka Parliament), executive (Australian Government), and judiciary,  Parliament is elected by "the people" every 4 years.  Voting is compulsory and failure to do so results in a fine.  Parliament is made up of 2 Houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.  The leader of the political party that has the most seats in the House of Representatives after an election becomes the Prime Minister, or the head of the government.

So what's the deal with The Queen?  As a constitutional monarchy, The Queen of the UK acts as the head of state (known as The Queen of Australia when in Australia).  However, she doesn't really have political impact besides acting as a symbol.  "The Queen is represented in Australia at the federal level by a Governor-General. He or she is appointed by The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia and is completely independent of the British Government."

A pretty well known topic about Australia is the Aborigines.  The Aboriginals are the indigenous people of Australia who were here long before the British arrived.  I still don't quite get the relationship between them and European Australians but it sounds fairly similar to that of Native Americans and European Americans. The new arrivals to Australia didn't treat the Indigenous people very nicely.  Disease and a number of other things brought from Europe took a pretty big toll on the native population.  Long story short, there are still Aboriginal communities around Australia and the modern government offers help and assistance as restitution (this is pretty controversial).

This doesn't really have any relevance but that's a wild koala.

Now that you know a little more about Australian geography and history, let's talk about some common myths.

Myth # 1: Everything will kill you
While there is some truth to every myth, not everything in Australia is going to kill you.  Yes, there are some incredibly dangerous animals/insects but they tend to have very little human interaction.  Apparently more people die from falling off a horse each year than by getting eaten.

Myth # 2: Sydney is the capital of Australia
No.  Sydney is NOT the capital.  Stop saying that.  The capital of Australia is Canberra.  

Myth # 3: It's always summer
This depends on where you are.  Darwin (Northern Territory) does pretty much have year round summer but Adelaide, for example, gets the seasons.  During the summer here it averages about 30°C (86°F) but can have multiple days in the 40s (100°+ F).  Winter time averages around 16°C (60°F) with rain a common occurrence.  At night during the winter, it can actually get pretty cold.

Myth # 4: Kangaroos are everywhere
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you're in a big city, you're not going to see a kangaroo roaming the streets.  I have yet to see a wild kangaroo but have heard they are common as you get more inland.  Actually, one of the top reasons for tourist death is people driving too fast at night in the Outback and smashing into a kangaroo.

Myth # 5: Major cities are the equivalent of the Outback
Believe it or not Australia is one of the most developed countries in the world.  Unless you are actually in the Outback, a city is just like any other modern day city.  Roads are paved, people drive cars, there are skyscrapers, khaki bushwhacking attire is not the norm, etc.

Questions, comments, concerns?  Hope you learned a thing or two about Australia.  I also really hope the info I put in here is correct.

That's all for now.  Bye.

In case you don't believe me, here are some sources: 
http://goo.gl/gEYc3Q
https://goo.gl/UzDsrX
http://goo.gl/vhpC1
http://goo.gl/yNjlik
https://goo.gl/aFnSHG