Australia prides itself as being a multi-cultural nation and if you travel to any major city you'll see almost as many different neighbourhoods as there are cultures on earth. While the overwhelming majority of Australians (92%) are of caucasian descent, around a quarter of the population were born overseas. Sydney and Melbourne in particular have a strong ethnic presence from Greek, italian, Asian and Muslim immigrants, and Melbourne has more Greeks living in it than any city in Greece. The great gold rushes of the 1800s brought a huge influx of Chinese immigrants and as a result there are many Chinese-Australians whose heritage dates back over 150 years.
Population: |
20,090,437 |
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 19.8% 15-64 years: 67.2% 65 years and over: 12.9% |
Median age: |
total: 36.56 years male: 35.74 years female: 37.4 years |
Ethnic groups: |
Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1% |
Religions: |
Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census) |
Languages: |
English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% |
Literacy: |
People aged over 15 who can read and write total population: 99.99% |
Population growth rate: |
0.87% |
Birth rate: |
12.26 births/1,000 population |
Death rate: |
7.44 deaths/1,000 population |
Net migration rate: |
3.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population |
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female |
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 4.69 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.27 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life expectancy at birth: |
average: 80.39 years male: 77.52 years female: 83.4 years |
Source: CIA World Factbook and the Australian Bureau of Statistics
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