quadrant and a large seven-pointed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant; the remaining half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in white with one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars
_*Economy #_Overview: Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GNP comparable to levels in industrialized West European countries. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Of the top 25 exports, 21 are primary products, so that, as happened during 1983–84, a downturn in world commodity prices can have a big impact on the economy. The government is pushing for increased exports of manufactured goods but competition in international markets will be severe.
_#_GDP: $255.9 billion, per capita $15,000; real growth rate 2.2% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.9% (December 1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 9.2% (March 1991)
_#_Budget: revenues $74.2 billion; expenditures $67.9 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (FY90)
_#_Exports: $39.8 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities—metals, minerals, coal, wool, cereals, meat, manufacturers;
partners—Japan 26%, US 11%, NZ 6%, South Korea 4%, Singapore 4%, UK, Taiwan, Hong Kong
_#_Imports: $42.0 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities—manufactured raw materials, capital equipment, consumer goods;
partners—US 24%, Japan 19%, UK 6%, FRG 7%, NZ 4% (1990)
_#_External debt: $123.7 billion (September 1990)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate - 1.8% (1990); accounts for 32% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 38,000,000 kW capacity; 150,000 million kWh produced, 8,860 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel, motor vehicles
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 5% of GNP and 37% of export revenues; world's largest exporter of beef and wool, second-largest for mutton, and among top wheat exporters; major crops—wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruit; livestock—cattle, sheep, poultry
_#_Economic aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970–89), $10.4 billion
_#_Currency: Australian dollar (plural—dollars); 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1—1.2834 (January 1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905 (1986), 1.4269 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
_*Communications #_Railroads: 40,478 km total; 7,970 km 1.600-meter gauge, 16,201 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 16,307 km 1.067-meter gauge; 183 km dual gauge; 1,130 km electrified; government owned (except for a few hundred kilometers of privately owned track) (1985)
_#_Highways: 837,872 km total; 243,750 km paved, 228,396 km gravel, crushed stone, or stabilized soil surface, 365,726 km unimproved earth
_#_Inland waterways: 8,368 km; mainly by small, shallow-draft craft
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 2,500 km; refined products, 500 km; natural gas, 5,600 km
_#_Ports: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Devonport, Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville
_#_Merchant marine: 77 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,249,926 GRT/3,391,323 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 6 cargo, 6 container, 10 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 16 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 1 combination ore/oil, 30 bulk
_#_Civil air: around 150 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 747 total, 524 usable; 270 with permanent-surface runways, 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 17 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 401 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: good international and domestic service; 8.7 million telephones; stations—258 AM, 67 FM, 134 TV; submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; domestic satellite service; satellite stations—4 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 6 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
_*Defense Forces #_Branches: Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15–49, 4,689,559; 4,090,921 fit for military service; 135,435 reach military age (17) annually
_#Defense expenditures: $6.6 billion, 2.2% of GDP (FY90) % @Austria *Geography #_Total area: 83,850 km2; land area: 82,730 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maine
_#_Land boundaries: 2,640 km total; Czechoslovakia 548 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 37 km, Switzerland 164 km, Yugoslavia 311 km
_#_Coastline: none—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: mostly mountains with Alps in west and south; mostly flat, with gentle slopes along eastern and northern margins
_#_Natural resources: iron ore, crude oil, timber, magnesite, aluminum, lead, coal, lignite, copper, hydropower
_#_Land use: arable land 17%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 24%; forest and woodland 39%; other 19%; includes irrigated NEGL%
_#_Environment: because of steep slopes, poor soils, and cold temperatures, population is concentrated on eastern lowlands
_#_Note: landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube
_*People #_Population: 7,665,804 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 5 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.5 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun—Austrian(s); adjective—Austrian
_#_Ethnic divisions: German 99.4%, Croatian 0.3%, Slovene 0.2%, other 0.1%
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 6%, other 9%
_#_Language: German
_#_Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1974 est.)
_#_Labor force: 3,470,000 (1989); services 56.4%, industry and crafts 35.4%, agriculture and forestry 8.1%; an estimated 200,000 Austrians are employed in other European countries; foreign laborers in Austria number 177,840, about 6% of labor force (1988)
_#_Organized labor: 60.1% of work force; the Austrian Trade Union Federation has 1,644,408 members (1989)
_*Government #_Long-form name: Republic of Austria
_#_Type: federal republic
_#_Capital: Vienna
_#_Administrative divisions: 9 states (bundeslander, singular—bundesland); Burgenland, Karnten, Niederosterreich, Oberosterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg, Wien
_#_Independence: 12 November 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
_#_Constitution: 1920, revised 1929 (reinstated 1945)
_#_Legal system: civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts by a Constitutional