Australia
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Long-term concerns include climate-change issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and more frequent droughts, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.
Timor-Leste and Australia agreed in 2005 to defer the disputed portion of the boundary for fifty years and to split hydrocarbon revenues evenly outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty; dispute with Timor-Leste hampers creation of a revised maritime boundary with Indonesia in the Timor Sea; regional states continue to express concern over Australia's 2004 declaration of a 1,000-nautical mile-wide maritime identification zone; Australia asserts land and maritime claims to Antarctica; in 2004 Australia submitted its claims to Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to extend its continental margins covering over 3.37 million square kilometers, expanding its seabed roughly thirty percent more than its claimed exclusive economic zone; since 2003, Australia has led the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to maintain civil and political order and reinforce regional security . Source: The World Factbook, CIA. |
Aboriginal
settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before
the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial
claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name
of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries;
they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country
took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and
manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort
in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into
an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the
OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990s, a performance due in large
part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s.
Australia
has an enviable, strong economy with a per capita GDP on par with the four
dominant West European economies. Robust business and consumer confidence and
high export prices for raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the
economy, particularly in mining states. Australia's emphasis on reforms, low
inflation, a housing market boom, and growing ties with China have been key
factors behind the economy's 16 solid years of expansion. Drought, robust import
demand, and a strong currency have pushed the trade deficit up in recent years,
while infrastructure bottlenecks and a tight labor market are constraining
growth in export volumes and stoking inflation. Australia's budget has been in
surplus since 2002 due to strong revenue growth.