Exports: total value: $59.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996) commodities : coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment partners: Japan 24%, South Korea 8%, NZ 7%, US 7%, UK, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong (1994/95)
Imports: total value : $59.7 billion (f.o.b., 1996) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products partners: US 22%, Japan 17%, UK 6%, China 5%, NZ 5% (1994/95)
Debt - external: $134 billion (June 1996)
Economic aid: donor: ODA, $1.25 billion (FY95/96)
Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1 - 1.2835 (January 1997), 1.2773 (1996), 1.3486 (1995), 1.3668 (1994), 1.4704 (1993), 1.3600 (1992)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
@Australia:Communications
Telephones: 8.7 million (1987 est.)
Telephone system: good domestic and international service domestic: domestic satellite system international: submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat (Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 258, FM 67, shortwave 0
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 134 (1987 est.)
Televisions: 9.2 million (1992 est.)
@Australia:Transportation
Railways: total : 38,563 km (2,914 km electrified; 172 km dual gauge) broad gauge: 6,083 km 1.600-m gauge standard gauge: 16,752 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 15,728 km 1.067-m gauge
Highways: total : 895,030 km paved: 345,482 km (including 1,330 km of expressways) unpaved: 549,548 km (1995 est.)
Waterways: 8,368 km; mainly by small, shallow-draft craft
Pipelines: crude oil 2,500 km; petroleum products 500 km; natural gas 5,600 km
Ports and harbors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Devonport,
Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart (Tasmania), Launceton (Tasmania), Mackay,
Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville
Merchant marine: total: 69 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,282,084 GRT/3,326,092 DWT ships by type : bulk 30, cargo 4, chemical tanker 3, combination bulk 1, container 5, liquefied gas tanker 4, oil tanker 14, roll-on/roll-off cargo 7, short-sea passenger 1 (1996 est.)
Airports: 443 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 275 over 3,047 m : 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 13 1,524 to 2,437 m: 106 914 to 1,523 m: 116 under 914 m : 31 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 168 1,524 to 2,437 m: 22 914 to 1,523 m: 146 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal
Australian Air Force
Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49 : 4,863,007 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 4,200,090 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 127,508 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $7.9 billion (FY96/97)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.9% (FY96/97)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: territorial claim in Antarctica (Australian
Antarctic Territory)
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 ______________________________________________________________________
AUSTRIA
@Austria:Geography
Location: Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates: 47 20 N, 13 20 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total : 83,850 sq km land: 82,730 sq km water : 1,120 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries: total: 2,564 km border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 37 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain in lowlands and snow in mountains; cool summers with occasional showers
Terrain: in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
Elevation extremes: lowest point : Neusiedler See 115 m highest point: Grossglockner 3,797 m
Natural resources: iron ore, oil, timber, magnesite, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 17% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 39% other : 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Tropical Timber 94
Geography - note: landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere
@Austria:People
Population: 8,132,505 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: 17% (male 717,989; female 681,897) 15–64 years: 68% (male 2,777,525; female 2,703,296) 65 years and over : 15% (male 464,802; female 786,996) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: −0.02% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 10.17 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 10.05 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: −0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female