The 2010 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Telephone system:
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service
domestic: domestic satellite system; significant use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile telephones
international: country code - 61; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable with links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; the Southern Cross fiber optic submarine cable provides links to New Zealand and the United States; satellite earth stations - 19 (10 Intelsat - 4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean, 2 Inmarsat - Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, 2 Globalstar, 5 other) (2007)
Broadcast media:
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs multiple national and local radio networks and TV stations, as well as Australia Network, a TV service that broadcasts throughout the Asia-Pacific region and is the main public broadcaster; Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), a second large public broadcaster, operates radio and TV networks broadcasting in multiple languages; several large national commercial TV networks, a large number of local commercial TV stations, and hundreds of commercial radio stations are accessible; cable and satellite systems are available (2008)
Internet country code:
.au
Internet hosts:
13.361 million (2010) country comparison to the world: 8
Internet users:
15.81 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 25
Transportation ::Australia
Airports:
465 (2010) country comparison to the world: 17
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 326
over 3,047 m: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 148
914 to 1,523 m: 140
under 914 m: 14 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 139
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 110
under 914 m: 12 (2010)
Heliports:
1 (2010)
Pipelines:
gas 27,105 km; liquid petroleum gas 240 km; oil 3,258 km; oil/gas/water 1 km (2009)
Railways:
total: 37,855 km country comparison to the world: 7 broad gauge: 142 km 1.600-m gauge
standard gauge: 24,409 km 1.435-m gauge (1,094 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 13,304 km 1.067-m gauge (1,193 km electrified) (2008)
Roadways:
total: 812,972 km country comparison to the world: 9 paved: 341,448 km
unpaved: 471,524 km (2004)
Waterways:
2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling river systems) (2006) country comparison to the world: 45
Merchant marine:
total: 45 country comparison to the world: 73 by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 8, liquefied gas 4, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 5
foreign-owned: 20 (Canada 7, Germany 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 1, Singapore 2, UK 5, US 2)
registered in other countries: 29 (Dominica 1, Fiji 2, Liberia 2, Marshall Islands 1, Netherlands 1, NZ 1, Panama 5, Singapore 11, Tonga 1, UK 1, US 1, Vanuatu 2) (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Brisbane, Cairns, Dampier, Darwin, Fremantle, Gladstone, Geelong,
Hay Point, Hobart, Jervis Bay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Adelaide,
Port Dalrymple, Port Hedland, Port Kembla, Port Lincoln, Port
Walcott, Sydney
Military ::Australia
Military branches:
Australian Defense Force (ADF): Australian Army, Royal Australian
Navy, Royal Australian Air Force, Special Operations Command (2006)
Military service age and obligation:
17 years of age for voluntary military service (with parental consent); no conscription; women allowed to serve in Army combat units in non-combat support roles (2010)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 5,275,667
females age 16–49: 5,082,543 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 4,377,411
females age 16–49: 4,210,442 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 144,232
female: 136,525 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
3% of GDP (2009) country comparison to the world: 42
Transnational Issues ::Australia
Disputes - international:
In 2007 Australia and Timor-Leste signed a 50-year development zone and revenue sharing agreement in lieu of a maritime boundary; dispute with Timor-Leste hampers creation of a revised maritime boundary with Indonesia in the Timor Sea; regional states continue to 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; in 2004 Australia submitted its claims to Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to extend its continental margins covering over 3.37 million square kilometers, expanding its seabed roughly 30 percent more than its claimed exclusive economic zone; since 2003, Australia has led the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to maintain civil and political order and reinforce regional security
Illicit drugs:
Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate; major consumer of cocaine and amphetamines
page last updated on January 19, 2011
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@Austria (Europe)
Introduction ::Austria
Background:
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999.
Geography ::Austria
Location:
Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates:
47