Australia is known for many things, including swathes of tropical beaches, marine reserves, Aboriginal culture, cute koalas, rolling wine country, and lush rainforests.
Australia is home to 1,500 types of spiders and 4,000 types of ants. Also, the Australian mammals, Platypus and Echidnas, are the only two mammals in the world that lay eggs to give birth! It's also not really known that swimming on public beaches was illegal for more than 60 years in Australia!
Australia is famous globally for many things – the Outback, venomous creatures, liveable cities, Aboriginal culture, the cliché of men in cork hats and natural icons such as Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef. Ask an Aussie though and you might get a different reply – pavlovas, magpie attacks and meat pies to name a few.
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".
Hunted for meat and for sport, and used as a motif in the decorative arts, the kangaroo was finally recognised as an official symbol of Australia when it was included on the nation's coat of arms in 1908.
Australians think that the lifestyle, climate and landscape, and way of life are what make Australia such a great place to live. It was clear that the warm climate, wide open spaces and laid back, friendly people work together to set Australia apart from the rest of the world.
Australian cities are consistently ranked as some of the most liveable in the world. Our quality of education, healthcare, transport, infrastructure and government services are rated well above international averages. Australia is a technologically advanced country with a strong, globally competitive economy.
It is an official public holiday in every state and territory. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.
