Australia

Más allá de la capital, las principales ciudades son Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane — cada una un centro de cultura regional, economía e historia. Canberra was purpose-built as a compromise capital after Sydney and Melbourne refused to yield the honour to each other — an American-designed garden city of roundabouts and embassies that is mocked by citizens of both rival cities and quietly loved by the public servants who live there.

El idioma oficial es inglés, que refleja el patrimonio cultural del país y lo conecta con una amplia comunidad internacional. Internacionalmente, Australia se contacta mediante el código +61. Australians have built a self-image around the 'fair go' egalitarianism of the bush legend while the overwhelming majority live in coastal cities — a gap between mythology and urban reality that generates constant creative tension in literature, sport, and politics.

El tráfico rodado circula por la izquierda, en consonancia con la convención de

La vida económica y cotidiana se rige por la zona horaria de UTC+05:00, alineando el país con sus vecinos regionales.

Australian cuisine absorbed successive waves of migration to create a Pacific Rim fusion that includes Vietnamese banh mi in Melbourne's CBD, Japanese omakase in Sydney, Lebanese family restaurants in western Sydney, and a genuine café culture that has now exported its flat white coffee to the world.

Australian Rules Football evolved on the gold rush fields of 1850s Victoria to produce a sport uniquely suited to Australian conditions — vast oval grounds, kicking to mark contests high in the air, and a physical intensity that makes the AFL Grand Final the country's single largest annual sporting event.

Uluru rises 348 metres from the central Australian desert in a geological formation that extends six kilometres underground, its sandstone changing from ochre to deep purple to crimson as the sun moves — a sacred site for the Anangu people that receives roughly half a million visitors each year.