One island that is one continent: that is Australia. That is why it is known as an “island continent” or the “world’s largest island”. With only roughly around 25M people populating the 8M square kilometers of land area, the population density of Australia is only 3 individuals per square kilometer.

Image Credit to the owner

This island continent is divided into 6 states and 2 mainland territories.  Commerce and industry are concentrated in the 6 states; namely, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC), and Western Australia (WA); while the 2 mainland territories constitute of virgin forests and agricultural areas. The 2 mainland territories are: Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Northern Territory (NT).

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom heads the government of Australia. However, since her official residence is in the United Kingdom, a governor-general is appointed as her viceroy to represent her for the territories. And, a federal governor represents her for the 6 states. Although The Australian government is a constitutional monarchy, it has a federal division of powers, with a parliament functioning as the law-making body.

Australia, together with other advanced countries, recorded a high life expectancy for its people. For women, the average life expectancy is 84 years old, and for men, 79.5 years. This high life expectancy is actually an indicator of the high quality of life.

Australia is also the most peaceful continent. According to the magazine The economist reported that from 2011 to 2013, Australia has 4 of the 10 most livable cities; with Melbourne as the number one. Then Adelaide placed 5th, Sydney placed 7th, and Perth, 9th.

Having an aging population (the average age of Australians if 38.8), Australia is a safe haven for young and skilled workers, and, for those who want to stay, their families. At present, immigrant groups in Australia include Filipinos, people from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, India, Italy and Vietnam; with Filipinos constituting the biggest number.

Religion does not pose a problem for Filipinos, who are mostly Christians, and other religious groups since religious freedom is widely observed in Australia. According to statistics, 61.1% of Australians are Christians, (with 25.3% Roman Catholics), 22.3% have no religion, and 7.2% are non-Christians. The largest groups for the non-Christians are followers of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism. Communication is also easy in Australia. Although several languages are being used by indigenous groups, the de facto language used is English.

Due to its advanced economy, jobs are available in all sectors. Aside from the professionals, who are almost always welcome in any country, Australia also has jobs not only for the skilled workers but also for the unskilled. The skilled workers are in demand for the blooming industrial sector, while the unskilled workers can go into fruit-picking jobs that abound in Australia.