The Peoples of Australia

We came from all over the world. Australians are a very friendly open sort of people. We love our sports, our family barbecues and the beach. We are very urbanised - most of us living in the larger cities along the coast. Almost 94% of the population are of European decent and as a result we have a western outlook and culture. In general Australians are very tolerant of other people and their customs.

Click here to see what some of us look like.

WORK

Australians are one of the most urbanised societies in the world. Almost 80% of the workforce are employed in service industries such as: offices, banks, etc in the major cities. About 16% work in manufacturing About 3% are farmers or graziers. Wool is one of Australia's major exports. Wool shearing is hard work. Australia is rich in mineral deposits. We mine and export alumina, iron, coal, copper,gold, uranium, etc all over the world. About 1% work in the mining industry.

SPORTS

During winter we play Australian Rules Football which is played with an oval ball on an oval field with eighteen players on each team. We also play Rugby.   In the summer we play cricket. Cricket is played with a flat bat and a round leather covered ball. Each team has 11 players. The objective of the game is to hit the ball as far as possible without getting "caught out" or without having the ball come in contact with your body or hitting the stumps (3 short poles behind the batsman). The next Olympic games was held in Sydney Australia in the year 2000.

LEISURE
	Almost 85% of Australians live within a few hours drive of the coast. Most major cities have bicycle tracks. We love to race almost anything: horses, camels, goats, cockroaches and even earth worms. Australia has lots of wide open spaces and parks.

Click here to to learn about the migrants who came to Australia