Australia was inhabited by indigenous people for about 50,000 years before the British came.
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Australia has the world's 12th-largest economy and it had the world's 5th-highest per-capita income in 2014.
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Australia had the 3rd-highest human development index in the world in 2018, which measures quality of life, health, education and economic freedom.
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Australia is the world's sixth-largest country by total area.
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In Australia, there are more kangaroos than people.
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The name "Australia" comes from the Latin "Terra Australis" or "Southern land".
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Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as "New Holland".
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Australia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, with just 3.3 people per sq km.
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January 2019 was the hottest month ever in Australia, with average temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F).
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Australia has over 10,000 beaches. You could visit a new beach every day for over 27 years.
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Australia is an island surrounded by more than 8,000 smaller islands.
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Australia is the only Western country in the world to not have a Bill of Rights.
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Australia is as big as the continental U.S.
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Australia claims to own the largest territory in Antarctica: 5.8 million sq km (2.2 million sq mi).
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The city of Melbourne, Australia, used to be called Batmania.
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The world's largest cattle station, Anna Creek Station in Australia, is larger than Israel.
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Australia's Highway 1 is the world's longest national highway. With about 14,500 km, (9,000 mi), it circumnavigates the entire country.
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The town of Docker River in Australia was once invaded by 6,000 camels that came in search of water.
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An Iraqi man moved to Australia and used the Welfare System as income. Years later, he became successful and wrote a check to the government for every cent they gave him.
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10% of Britons think Australia is further away than the Moon, a survey found in 2013.
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There's a bookstore in Australia where books are wrapped in paper with short descriptions so no one can "judge a book by its cover."
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Australia's National Science Agency claims to have invented the technology behind Wi-Fi and has sued companies using the technology without a license.
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In Victoria, Australia, only a licensed electrician is allowed to change a light bulb.
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Many claim that a genocide was committed in Australia against its native people from 1910 to 1970 in an effort to create a "white Australia."
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The top ten deadliest snakes can be found in Australia.
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Australian koalas are in danger of extinction because over half of them have chlamydia.
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Burning Mountain, Australia, has an underground natural coal fire that has been burning for about 6,000 years.
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In 1892, over 200 people left Australia to create "New Australia", an utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay.
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In 1975, Australia had a government shutdown, which ended with the Queen firing everyone and the government starting again.
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Declawing cats is legal in most U.S. states but banned in at least 22 countries including Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
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The last time somebody died from a spider bite in Australia was in 1981.
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75% of Australia's living species are unknown to man.
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There's a plant, native to Australia, that will make you vomit in pure agony just by touching it. The sting is potent enough to kill humans and horses.
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In 2013, A pig in Australia stole 18 beers from a campsite, got drunk, and then tried to fight a cow.
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There were over 10 million koalas before British settlers arrived in Australia. Now, there are around 43,000 in the wild.
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In 2009, snipers were deployed in Australia to protect a colony of little penguins from predators.
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You are required to show up to vote in Australia. If you don't, you'll face a fine.
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The most valuable legal tender coin in the world is a US$1 million coin from Australia. Since it weighs 1,000 kg and is 99.99% pure gold, it is worth almost US$45 million.
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In 2004, gay rights activists in Australia started a micronation in the Great Barrier Reef called the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands.
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Lake Hillier in Australia is a bright pink color and scientists aren't sure why.
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The Church of Scientology runs a child labor camp in Australia.
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24 rabbits that were introduced to Australia in 1859 had multiplied in number to over 2 million in ten years.
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The SEX Party in Australia is looking to legalize marijuana, euthanasia, censorship, abortion, and tax the church.
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The Red Kangaroo is the national animal of Australia.
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Over 80% of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind, which is the highest rate of gambling in the world.
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Australia uses the motion of the ocean to generate zero-emission electricity and desalinate water simultaneously.
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There is a mountain in Australia called
Mt. Disappointment
Mt. Disappointment
because its explorers found the view from it sub-par and wanted to reflect that.
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Australia has 31% of the world's uranium supply.
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A gram of cocaine costs
€207 in Australia
€207 in Australia
but just €9 in Brazil.
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The Australian Plate is moving about 7 centimeters (2.8 inches) northwards every year.
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In 2004, an Australian research institute published a study on the loss of teaspoons in the workplace.
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Australians are the world's biggest meat eaters, consuming almost 200lbs each every year, closely followed by Americans.
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The first heart transplant using a "dead heart" was performed by surgeons in Australia, in October 2014.
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Australia's first police force was composed of the best-behaved convicts.
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About 2 in 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70.
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In Coober Pedy, Australia, over half of the population lives in caves carved underground to stay away from the heat.
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A fish discovered in Australia in 2015 was named ‘Blue Bastard'.
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Australia hasn't had a recession since 1981.
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The Hawaiian Pizza was invented in Canada and is the most popular pizza in Australia.
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Cockburn
is a town on the border of South Australia.
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Before he became prime minister of Australia in 1983, Bob Hawke got into the 1955 Guinness Book of Records, for drinking two and a half pints of beer in 11 seconds.
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Horses killed more people in Australia from 2000 to 2013 than all venomous animals combined.
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There are around 600 gazetted places named after the Emu in Australia, including mountains, lakes, creeks and towns.
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The Sydney Opera House has terrible acoustics. There's a US$153 million renovation project to be completed in 2020.
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Shark Bay, Australia, is now called 'Safety Beach'. It changed its name to attract tourists.
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Tanning beds are banned in Australia.
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Australia's National Soccer team is called "The Socceroos."
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Half of the entire population of Australia lives in three cities: Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
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Giant flying turkeys as big as kangaroos once roamed Australia.
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In 1996, Australia enacted strict gun laws. It had no mass shooting since.
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90% of rural Australians say their lives are already affected by climate change.
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Australia exports camels to Saudi Arabia.
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Australia has 10 times more camels than koalas.
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In 1967, Australia's Prime Minister went to the beach for a swim and was never seen again.
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In Australia, Burger King is called "Hungry Jack's".
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