Forgotten World (130): Australia
Australia is one of the largest countries in the world – but most of it is desert – and constitutes the overwhelming mass of the smallest continent on the globe (Australasia). The population is just over 21 million with approximately 60% of the population concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Australia has a prosperous, Western-style mixed economy, with a per capita GDP slightly lower than that of the UK, but higher than those of Germany and France in terms of purchasing power parity. The country was ranked third in the United Nations’ 2007 Human Development Index and sixth in The Economist worldwide quality-of-life index 2005.
The country tends not to make the world’s media unless there is an election or there is regional crisis.
There are two major political groups that form governments: the Australian Labour Party and the Coalition which is a grouping of two parties: the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party. Currently the Labour Party is in power.Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over, in each state and territory and at the federal level.
Australia has mediated between warring groups in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and deployed thousands of peacekeepers in newly-independent East Timor.