Happy Australia Day to all of our friends Down Under!
Today marks the arrival of the British criminals settlers in Australia in 1788. But Australia Day has become more than just celebrating the past. It’s now a day to celebrate everything that makes Australia great.
So get all your Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Ois out and settle into that down unda’ spirit, ’cause we’ve rounded up 20 interesting facts about this amazing and unique country.
[ad_bb1]
There Are More Sheep Than People
The sheep-to-person ratio is higher in Australia than in surrounding regions like New Zealand. In Australia there are 74 million sheep to 23.5 million people, that’s a ratio of three to one.
Aussies Invented Some Cool Things
The most famous Australian inventions include the black box flight recorder, electronic pacemaker, electric drill, Vegemite, Wi-Fi, and the ultrasound. Not bad at all.
Australians Love Other Nationalities
Almost a quarter of Australian residents were born abroad.
Australia is Home to Some of the World’s Largest Structures
Sydney Harbor Bridge is one of the world’s largest steel arch bridges and the Sydney Tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.
Sydney Tower
Sydney is Not The Capital
Because Melbourne and Sydney could not agree on which city should be the capital of Australia, it was decided that neither of them should be and instead a new capital called Canberra was built. We think this was most likely decided over a beer.
Oz Has A Huge Dingo Fence
The Dingo Fence (or dog fence) is a long fence that stretches from Jimbour on the Darling Downs near Dalby, ending west of Eyre peninsula on cliffs of the Nullarbor Plain. The fence was built in the early 1900s to keep dingoes or wild dogs away from where the sheep and cattle graze. At 5,614 kilometers, it’s one of the longest structures in the world and the world’s longest fence and is almost double the length of China’s Great Wall.
Australia Was Once The Wealthiest Country
And in 1880, Melbourne was the richest city in the world.
Picturesofmoney.org
Travellers Really Don’t Want to Leave
In a 2012 study, each week, 70 tourists would overstay their visas and go missing on land.
Aussies Know How to Drink
Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke set a world record for downing 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Hawke later suggested that this was the reason for his great political success.
Aussies Like to Gamble
Per capita, Australians spend more money on gambling than any other nation. This might also be why in Victoria they have a day off from work to attend the Melbourne Cup.
Aussies Are Great at Sports
Melbourne is considered the sporting capital of the world, as it has more top level sport available for its citizens than anywhere else.
Greek People Love Australia
Melbourne has the world’s largest Greek population outside of Athens.
Australia Receives a Lot of Snow
Despite how hot Oz is, the Australian Alps receive more snowfall than Switzerland.
Australia Has Lots of Spiders
If you suffer from arachnophobia and you’re planning on heading to Oz, be careful where you step. There are 1,500 species of Australian spiders.
Watch Out for Snakes
Aside from terrifying spiders, Australia is home to 10 of the world’s 15 most poisonous snakes.
There is Always Access to the Beach
More than 80 per cent of Australians live within 100 km of the coast.
Aussies Really Like to Drink
The average Aussie drinks 96 litres of beer per year.
Australia Has Really Slow Internet
Internet connection is really bad in Oz, so residents have to deal with extremely slow connections.
There Are Tons of Camels
When Australia first began building their railroad they brought over wild camels. Today, around 1 million wild camels roam the Australian deserts.
Australians Aren’t Big Fans of Starbucks
While there’s a huge cafe and coffee culture in Australia, locals aren’t huge fans of North America’s favourite Starbucks. In 2000, Starbucks opened the doors of its first location in Sydney. Today, there are only 25 Starbucks coffee shops in Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, and Melbourne. That’s less than there are in downtown Toronto.
Christopher Furlong/Getty
[ad_bb2]