Australia is the only nation which is a whole continent in itself. Many a times, we just think Australia as cricket loving, opera loving, land of kangaroos and deadly critters! But there is so much more to it.
Here are 10 interesting and fun facts about Australia. They will excite you for your trip to the Oz, the land that’s Down Under.
16 WORLD HERITAGE SITES
You would not regret visiting Australia. It has 16 world heritage sites. Whoa! That is wonderful. You can’t just miss them. And before you ask, yes, the Great Barrier Reef is in the list and so is the Sydney Opera House.
DIVERSE CULTURE
We all know that Australia is full of diverse culture. But this would come as a surprise. Did you know, there are over 200 languages spoken in Australia?
After English, the most popular language is Greek. That is understandable as Melbourne has the highest Greek population next to Athens.
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
The beautiful architectural marvel Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect, John Utzon. Because of the difference of opinion with the government, he later resigned from this project. It was built and later inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II.
The sad thing is John never got to see how his design became such a wonder. He died in 2008. John never came back to Sydney.
THE NULLABAR PLAINS
The Nullabar plains have both the longest section of straight railway track as well as the longest straight road. Traveling on both of these would be interesting.
The railway section is 478 km long, whereas the road is 146 km long. Go on for the once-in-lifetime ride of the Nullabar plains.
LOTS OF SPACE
Australia is heaven for all the people who want space. The population density here is very less. In U.K it is 248.25 persons/square kilometer.
But here it is just three persons per square kilometer. Those who hate crowds can have fun here. Or maybe even think of migrating to Australia if you like empty spaces.
KANGAROOS
Australians love kangaroos. So one day they decided they will use them as a symbol in their coat of arms. One interesting thing is both Emu and Kangaroo cannot walk backward.
So it was a symbol of moving forward for the Australian Government. It means Kadima (Forward in Hebrew).
There are a lot of mysteries in Australia. It is an intriguing fact that Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared. You read that right.
In 1967 he went for a swim on Cheviot beach. He has been missing since then. Nobody knows what happened to him.
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES
If you want to uncover the mystery, go to the beach. Australia has around 9900 beaches.
If you say it in a fancy way, it will take you 27 years to visit each beach in Australia. That sounds time-consuming. But we hope you are going to opt for the best.
POKER
Do you love playing poker? If you do Aussies can teach you few things. Because up to 80% of the adult population are engaged in gambling. Twenty percent of world’s poker machines are in Australia.
New South Wales has the highest number of pokers in Australia. Hope you win much in beginner’s luck, though you should not make gambling your passion.
SPORTS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Lastly, Australia is known as the sports capital of the world.
But surprisingly, it is also one of the most obese countries according to a 2012 study. Approximately 63% of the population is overweight. They are not as healthy being a sports-loving nation, eh?