Australia
belongs to the highly developed countries of the world. The living standard there is very
high.
Main industries are iron, steel, textiles, electrical equipment,
chemicals, car, aircraft, ship and machinery.
Agriculture of Australia is based on
sheep and
cattle breeding and
growing up crops. Australia belongs to the top
exporters of beef, lamb, wool and wheat, although only 9 per cent of land is arable. Other
agricultural items are barley, oats, hay, sugar, wine, fruit and vegetables. Sheep and
cattle farmers live on isolated farms called
stations in Australia. The farmers
do not often go to the towns or see their neighbours who live more than one hundred miles
away. They contact their friends, business partners and shopkeepers by means of radio.
Radio is very important for them. You can also see
camps
in the wild nature here.
Australia is well known for the
mineral deposits there - bauxite (the first in
the world, 32% of the world production), coal, copper, iron, lead, nickel, silver, tin,
uranium and zinc ores. (see the map)
Inland of the country has not any railways and that is why a huge
amount of goods is transported by so-called "road
trains" - long trucks.
Only 7 per cent of the population work in agriculture, 30 per cent in
industry and trade and 32.6 per cent in services.
The main trading partners are Japan, the USA, the UK and New Zealand.
Currency used in Australia is Australian Dollar.
