Population in Australia Flashcards
What is the population?
21.5 million
Only 1/3 of UK
Describe the country
Areas of 7.6 million km
World’s 6th largest country
Highest standard of living in the world
Where do most live?
3/4 love in narrow coastal belt in SE corner
Brisbane to Adelaide
Where does most of export wealth come from?
Enormous reserves of mineral (iron ore)
What is the GDP per capita?
$67,458
One of richest countries in world
Life expectancy
81.6
Aboriginals = 63
BR + DR
BR higher than UK + China
DR lower than UK
Population structure
Median age = 37.5
More younger people than UK or China
AGEING POPULATION
Pop growth
One of fastest rates in HICs
1.3%
What has the gov. Done to increase BR?
Introduced paid parental leave and baby grants
What type of theory does the gov. use?
Boserup
Immigration drives economic growth, supplies skilled workers to help offset + support ageing population + increase size of domestic market
Why else is immigration important?
Every year 600 pop well qualified young Australians emigrate to work overseas + need to be replaced
Without it they would face skills shortage in its mines, industries + farms
What were the 2 phases of immigration?
Assisted passage (1970s)
Skills-based migration
How has pop growth contributed to environmental issues?
Drought + water supply
Declining soil quality
What are the 3 main issues with water supply
Rainfall is unreliable
Evaporation is high
Water inland is mostly obtained by drilling for limited groundwater
How has drought affected the rural areas?
No.sheep fell from 120 million(1998) to 100 million (2008)
What has been done to increase water storage capacity?
Snowy mountains scheme = dams + reservoirs been constructed in mountains of wetter parts of Victoria
Today it supplies 60% of Australia’s food and wine production
What are the 2 soil problems that have arisen?
Soil salinity = increase salt content because irrigation water = rich in mineral salts
Soil erosion = dry areas are over grazed
