Australia is known for many things, including swathes of tropical beaches, marine reserves, Aboriginal culture, cute koalas, rolling wine country, and lush rainforests.
Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz" and "the Land Down Under" (usually shortened to just "Down Under"). Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country", "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land".
Australia is colloquially known as "the Land Down Under" (or just "Down Under"), which derives from the country's position in the Southern Hemisphere, at the antipodes of the United Kingdom.
Australian English can be described as a new dialect that developed as a result of contact between people who spoke different, mutually intelligible, varieties of English. The very early form of Australian English would have been first spoken by the children of the colonists born into the early colony in Sydney.
The phrase 'the lucky country', originated by author Donald Horne in 1964, has been used in the past few decades to describe Australia as a land of economic opportunity and bountiful natural resources.
More than 80% of our plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia and are found nowhere else in the world. Some of our Australian animals are very well known like kangaroos, dingos, wallabies and wombats and of course the koala, platypus and echidna.
Australian stereotypical characters always use expressions like "Crikey!", "G'day, mate" and "Put another shrimp [sic] on the barbie." They are often represented as being unsophisticated and obsessed with beer and surfing, boomarangs and kangaroos. Australian men are often shown as being macho, misogynistic brutes.
There are also a number of terms for Australia, such as: Aussie, Oz, Lucky Country, and land of the long weekend.
The world's 12th largest economy
Strong growth in 2021 solidified Australia's position as the world's 12th largest economy in 2021. Nominal GDP was around A$2.2 trillion (US$1.6 trillion) in 2021. Australia is home to just 0.3% of the world's population, but accounts for 1.7% of the global economy.
Australia is internationally renowned for cricket, and the Australian Men's Cricket Team has a higher percentage of successful matches than any other international team. However, although Australia is particularly good at cricket, Australians also love rugby, netball, swimming and surfing and more.
American ranchers loved Australian Shepherds because they were great herders, but Aussies rose to fame among the general population because of their frequent appearances in rodeos. Not only could Aussies help herd the bulls, they could also perform tricks.
General Australian English is the most common of Australian accents.
It surely sounds strange to those who are familiar with American or British English, but it is a very common expression in Australia. G'day is a shortened form of 'Good Day' and it is the equivalent of 'Hello.
Hooroo = Goodbye
The Australian slang for goodbye is Hooroo and sometimes they even Cheerio like British people.
Foods only available in Australia: Vegemite, Chiko rolls, fairy bread, Milo, Lamingtons and Twisties | news.com.au — Australia's leading news site.
After Dutch navigators charted the northern, western and southern coasts of Australia during the 17th Century this newly found continent became known as 'New Holland'. It was the English explorer Matthew Flinders who suggested the name we use today.
The title has become a nickname for Australia and is generally used favourably, although the origin of the phrase was negative in the context of the book.
Australia and Canada have similar levels of GDP per capita (based on purchasing power parity, nominal GDP per capita was around US$ 7 000 for Australia and US$ 9 000 for Canada in 008). Since 1990, Australia's growth in real GDP per capita has been a little higher than Canada's.