Australia-Amanda

=Australia = Amanda

Population: 21,007,310

 * Crude Birth Rate:** 12.55 births/1,000 population
 * Crude Death Rate:** 6.68 deaths/1,000 population
 * Rate of Natural Increase:** 1.221%
 * Infant Mortality Rate:** 4.82 deaths/1,000 live births
 * Life Expectancy:** 81.53 years
 * GNI PPP per capita:** $35,990
 * Stage of Demographic Transition**: Stage Four (This occurs where birth and death rates are both low. Therefore the total population is high and stable)

[|Population Pyramid]

http://www.acacia-au.com/Minimum_salary_level_Increase_article.php

One fourth of Australia's population consists of immigrants. The issue in this article deals with temporary skilled migrants in Australia. The article explains the increase of the minimum salary level (MSL) of temporary migrants. The MSL will increase by 3.8% effective August 1, 2008. In Australia, there are nearly 68,000 temporary skilled migrants that will be affected. The idea is to "improve the integrity” of the Temporary Skilled Migration Program. There will be penalties for employers who do not implement this increase, which will lessen the possibility of exploitation of the migrants. I think that this is an excellent idea, because many migrants are usually exploited and paid less than other workers and this will help them to be treated more fairly.

Migration:
Refugee Information:

Net migration rate:
 * 1) 27 Australia: 3.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Folk Culture
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/festivals/ -This page explains the various cultural events in Australia and explains when they take place and what they entail. http://www.folkalliance.org.au/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=55 -This page discusses the interests of Australian Folk Culture from the point of view of the Folk Alliance Australia. By: Steve Swayne The photo above is of Andrew Clermont playing a fiddle made from a gourd. He is from Australia and this oicture was taken at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia in 2007.

Language
English is the official language and is spoken by about 79% of the people speak English. Many people speak more than one language. Kriol, Warlpiri, and Torres Strait Creole are three major languages still spoken today. Torres Strait Creole has 23,400 people thats speak the language and is a language that traveled by trade between islands of the pacific. Kriol is based in the Roper River, Katherine areas, Ngukurr, Queensland and Northern Territory. The language is English based and about 10,000 people speak the language. Warlpiri has 3,000 people that speak the language and is found in the Northern Territory, Yuendumu, Ali Curung Willowra, Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, and Lajamanu.

Map of Australian Languages: http://www.ethnologue.com/maps/AUS_ETH.jpg

Info about Australia and it's Languages: http://fits.depauw.edu/mkfinney/culturaleresumes/australia/language.htm]]

Religion
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) Christianity was introduced with European settlement of Australia from 1788, denominations represented were predominantly Roman Catholic found amongst Irish convicts and Anglican among other convicts. Other groups were also represented, for example, a number of Methodists. After settlement, some Muslim sailors and prisoners came to Australia on the convict ships, Afghan cameleers settled in Australia from the 1860s onwards. Islam was not a significant force in this period. During the 1800s, European settlers brought their traditional churches to Australia. These included the Church of England (now the Anglican Church), and the Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Baptist churches. Conflict between the claims and needs of various religious groups has been a feature of Australian history from the start. In Australia, under an umbrella of common law and British (Protestant) tradition, many forms of religious life flourished. Within this framework many different cultural, national, religious, and life-style groups have negotiated their way in this society. This is not done with a complete lack of conflict even where there is the best will. In the process of negotiating a proper place and role within Australian society both the larger society and the particular religious, cultural, or life-style group will grow and change. This fluid process of intergroup negotiation within a particular state structure is the prevalent mode of multicultural plurality in western industrial societies.
 * What religions are prevalent?**
 * What is the history of religion in your country and how did it spread?**
 * Has there been any significant religious conflict.**

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_n3_v56/ai_17612373/pg_10 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/as.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Australia

Since 1945 more than six million people from across the world have come to Australia to live. Today, more than 20 per cent of Australians are foreign born and more than 40 per cent are of mixed cultural origin. In our homes we speak 226 languages - after English, the most popular are Italian, Greek, Cantonese and Arabic. Information thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Australia.
 * Ethnicity**
 * An ethnic melting pot**
 * Australian (37.13%)
 * [|English] (31.65%)
 * [|Irish] (9.08%)
 * [|Scottish] (7.56%)
 * [|Italian] (4.29%)
 * [|German] (4.09%)
 * [|Chinese] (3.37%)
 * [|Greek] (1.84%)
 * [|Dutch] (1.56%)
 * [|Indian] (1.18%)
 * [|Lebanese] (0.92%)
 * [|Vietnamese] (0.87%)
 * [|Polish] (0.82%)
 * [|New Zealander] (0.81%)
 * [|Filipino] (0.81%)
 * [|Maltese] (0.77%)
 * [|Croatian] (0.59%)
 * [|Australian Aboriginal] (0.58%)
 * [|Welsh] (0.57%)
 * [|French] (0.5%)
 * [|Serbian] (0.48%)
 * [|Maori] (0.47%)
 * [|Spanish] (0.42%)
 * [|Macedonian] (0.42%)
 * [|South African] (0.4%)
 * [|Sinhalese] (0.37%)
 * [|Hungarian] (0.3%)
 * [|Russian] (0.3%)
 * [|Turkish] (0.3%)
 * [|American] (0.28%)

=**Development:**= Australia is an MDC with a strong, enviable economy with GDP on par with four dominant Western European economies. GDP: $824.9 billion Per Capita GDP: $39,300 Literacy rate: age 15 and over 99% can read and write Life expectancy: 81.53 years IMR: 4.82/1,000 people CBR: 12.55/1,000 people
 * Economic:**
 * Social:**
 * Demographic:**

=Agriculture:=

=
The center and northern tip of Australia have little or no agriculture. The main portion of Australia has livestock ranching and smaller portions cultivate grain and dairy. Australia's biggest issue at the moment is the drought. Fires are spreading and killling people as well as burning agricultural areas. [|Australia] is a major agricultural producer and exporter and the cattle and wheat production was important in the development of the country. The cattle and wheat are a significant aspect of Australia's economy.====== There are three main zones: 1) **high rainfall zone** (used for dairying, prime lamb, beef and wool production) 2) **wheat sheep zone** (cropping and the grazing of sheep (for wool, lamb and mutton) and beef cattle) 3) **pastoral zone** (grazing of beef cattle and sheep for wool and mutton)

Value in millions of Australian dollars: "The beef industry is the biggest agricultural enterprise in Australia. The [|Australian beef industry] is dependent on export markets, with over 60% of Australian beef production exported, primarily to the [|United States] and [|Japan]." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Australia
 * ~ Commodity ||~  ||~   ||~   ||~   ||~   ||~ 2006-07 (forecast) ||
 * [|Cattle] and calves ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 6,517 ||
 * [|Wheat] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 6,026 ||
 * [|Milk] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 3,245 ||
 * [|Fruit] and [|nuts] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2,915 ||
 * [|Vegetables] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2,715 ||
 * [|Wool] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2,138 ||
 * [|Barley] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1,624 ||
 * [|Poultry] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1,461 ||
 * [|Lambs] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1,348 ||
 * [|Sugar cane] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1,208 ||
 * The Beef Industry**

Industry in Australia:
[|Australia Industry]
 * ** Industries: ** || **mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel** ||
 * **Industrial production growth rate:** || **3.5% (2008 est.)** ||
 * ** Electricity - production: ** || **244.2 billion kWh (2007 est.)** ||
 * ** Exports: ** || **$178.9 billion (2008 est.)** ||
 * ** Exports - commodities: ** || **coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, machinery and transport equipment** ||
 * ** Imports: ** || **$187.2 billion (2008 est.)** ||
 * ** Imports - commodities: ** || **machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products** ||

Services:
The service sector aka tertiary sector accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s economic activity. Services include banking, insurance and finance; the media and entertainment industries; consulting, tourism and retail; services provided by government, such as education, health and welfare; and other personal and business services. **Banking, insurance and finance:** Finance and insurance is the **third** largest sector in the Australian economy. This sector has been one of the country’s highest performing industries. **Media and entertainment:** Australia is well served by diverse news media. There is a strong tradition of print journalism: a number of Australian newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age rank among the oldest continuously published newspapers in the world. Their news casting is also well developed. **Tourism and retail, food and beverage industries:** Australia has a well-developed tourism industry that welcomes more than five million visitors to the country each year and contributes around $20 billion to the economy annually. The retail industry is the **largest employer** in Australia, accounting for 920 000 jobs, or 12 per cent of the workforce. Unfortunately, this subsector of service is dropping drastically and they are losing millions of dollars in tourism. **The government sector:** Three of the largest areas, in terms of public spending, are health care, education, and welfare. [|Service Slump in Australia] [|Services in Australia]

Below is an explanation of what Australia sees in the future of Urban Planning and what how they will also incorporate saving the environment and wildlife.
Reducing the need for cars, and hence the density of car traffic as well as the amount of land devoted to car parks, can make a big difference to the urban experience. Car dependency can be reduced by providing the city with good, frequent, and well integrated public transport, and by bringing a greater variety of destinations within walking or cycling distance of each other. A city that consists of a number of medium to high density districts can cut down on the need for cars. The district should be small enough so that houses, workplaces and other facilities are within walking distance of each other, and of a well-serviced public transport stop that provides easy access to other districts. But populous enough to support a variety of services and job opportunities within the district, to reduce the need to travel beyond the district. If these districts are clustered together into a compact city form, then journeys by public transport between the districts will be shorter, and more of the city will be accessible by walking or cycling from any given point. Existing, low density cities can be reformed by increasing the density of areas around public transport nodes, eg around the intersections of main roads. And by decreasing the density of the areas in between - to reduce the number of people living beyond easy walking distance of district centres and transport nodes, and to make room for more greenspace next to populated areas. To reform a sprawling city to greater compactness means more intensive development in districts surrounding the metropolitan center. But a similar process can occur in outer suburban areas, with the districts around urban regional hubs undergoing development. [|Extra Info on Urban Development in Australia]
 * Urban Transport**
 * Urban Form**
 * Urban Consolidation**

Ecological Footprint