Car Rental Oceania
/ Australia -
Oceania/Australia is the smallest continent, and is
one of the most distinct and captivating areas in the
world.
A vast majority of geography experts consider the long-established
continent of Australia to be more accurately known as
Australia/Oceania.
Countries that are included in this continent are: Australia,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, as well as the thousands
of coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific
Ocean, including the Melanesia and Polynesia islands.
Micronesia is also part of this group which is a collection
of islands that run along the northern and southern
edges of the equator. The highest point of this continent
is Mt. Wilhelm in Papua New Guinea. The lowest point
is located in Lake Eyre in Australia which is 52 ft
(16M) below sea level Most Australians
are of British and Irish ancestry and the majority of
the country lives in urban areas. Its population has
more than doubled since the end of World War II, spurred
by an ambitious postwar immigration program. In the
19th cent., Australia enacted strong measures to prevent
immigration by nonwhites. After World War II, immigration
from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other countries increased
Australia's cultural diversity. In 1973, Australia officially
ended discriminatory immigration policies, and substantial
Asian immigration followed. By 1988 about 40% of immigration
to Australia was from Asia, and by 1997 Asians constituted
about 5% of the population. Nonetheless, there remains
substantial anxiety among white Australians concerning
Asian immigration.
The indigenous population, the Australian aborigines
, estimated to number as many as 350,000 at the time
of the Europeans' arrival, was numbered at 386,049 (including
Torres Strait Islanders, who are of Papuan descent)
in 1996. Although still more rural than the general
population, the aboriginal population has become more
urbanized, with some two thirds living in cities. New
South Wales and Queensland account for just over half
of the Australian aboriginal population. In Tasmania
the aboriginal population was virtually wiped out in
the 19th cent.
There is no state religion in Australia. The largest
churches are the Anglican and Roman Catholic. Although
education is not a federal concern, government grants
have aided in the establishment of state universities
including the Univ. of Sydney (1852), the Univ. of Melbourne
(1854), the Univ. of Adelaide (1874), and the Univ.
of Queensland (in Brisbane, 1909).
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