Cruising in Australia

Background

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.

The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. It boasted one of the OECD's fastest growing economies during the 1990s, a performance due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.

Geography

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Geographic coordinates: 27 00 S, 133 00 E
Area: total: 7,686,850 sq km
Land: 7,617,930 sq km
Water: 68,920 sq km - includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island

Coastline

25,760 km

Maritime claims

Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate

Generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Terrain

Mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m
Highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m

Economy

Australia has an enviable Western-style capitalist economy with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies. Rising output in the domestic economy, robust business and consumer confidence, and rising exports of raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the economy. Australia's emphasis on reforms, low inflation, and growing ties with China are other key factors behind the economy's strength.

The impact of drought, weak foreign demand, and strong import demand pushed the trade deficit up from $8 billion in 2002, to $18 billion in 2003, $13 billion in 2004, and nearly $17 billion in 2005. Housing prices probably peaked in 2005, diminishing the prospect that interest rates would be raised to prevent a speculative bubble. Conservative fiscal policies have kept Australia's budget in surplus from 2002 to 2005.

Transportation

Airports: 450 (2005)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 308
over 3,047 m: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 12
1,524 to 2,437 m: 133
914 to 1,523 m: 140
under 914 m: 13 (2005)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 142
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 110
under 914 m: 14 (2005)

Waterways

2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling river systems) (2002)

Merchant Marine

Total: 53 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,360,458 GRT/1,532,874 DWT
By type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 15, cargo 5, chemical tanker 3, container 1, liquefied gas 4, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 5
Foreign-owned: 17 (Canada 1, France 3, Germany 3, Japan 1, Netherlands 2, Norway 1, Philippines 1, UK 2, US 3)
Registered in other countries: 34 (The Bahamas 3, Bermuda 2, Fiji 1, Liberia 2, Marshall Islands 2, Netherlands 1, NZ 2, Panama 4, Portugal 1, Singapore 6, Spain 1, Tonga 1, UK 4, US 2, Vanuatu 2) (2005)

Sailing Specifics: Ports and terminals

Brisbane, Dampier, Fremantle, Gladstone, Hay Point, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Hedland, Port Kembla, Port Walcott, Sydney

Disputes

East Timor and Australia agreed in 2005 to defer the disputed portion of the boundary for fifty years and to split hydrocarbon revenues evenly outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty; East Timor dispute hampers creation of a revised maritime boundary with Indonesia (see also Ashmore and Cartier Islands dispute); regional states express concern over Australia's 2004 declaration of a 1,000-nautical mile-wide maritime identification zone; Australia asserts land and maritime claims to Antarctica (see Antarctica); in 2004 Australia submitted its claims to UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to extend its continental margin from both its mainland and Antarctic claims   

Other Sailing Destinations in the Region

American Samoa - Australia - Cook Island - Easter Islands (Chile) - Federation of Micronesia - Fiji - Guam - USA (Hawaii)  - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - Nauru - New Caledonia - New Zealand - Niue - Norfolk Island - Northern Mariana Islands - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Pitcairn Island - Samoa - Solomon Island - Tokelau - Tonga - Tuvalu - Vanuatu - Wallis and Futuna

Further Reading

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