Okay it’s Pop quiz time! Which country has the longest fence in the world? How about
the 2nd largest Greek population? Um, Three times more sheep than people? Ok, one word
will give it away: kangaroos. Yes, I’m talking about the Land Down Under. So, what do you
know about Australia?
Let’s start with the name. “Australia” comes from the Latin word “australis,”
meaning “southern.” Way back in the 2nd century, there were legends of a mysterious
“terra australis incognita” or “unknown southern land.” Well, now it’s very known,
so let’s get to know more about it!
Despite the stereotypes of hot sunny weather year-round, the Australian Alps, which are
the highest mountain range in the country, get more snow than the Swiss Alps do! Better
grab your skis!
The world’s longest national highway is in Australia. It stretches for over 9,000
miles! (for comparison, the earth’s diameter is about 7,900.) It's actually a network of
highways that connect all capitals of the mainland states.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Great Wall of China, but what about the Great Fence of
Australia? Ok, that’s not what it’s called, but still! The Dingo Fence in southeast Australia
stretches for nearly 3,500 miles. For comparison, it would easily cover the entire span of the
US, from Los Angeles to Houlton, Maine!
Now it might not be so surprising to know that Australia is huge! It’s about the same
size as the continental US. At about 2,500 miles wide, the distance from the west to
east coast is further than Barcelona to Moscow.
In all, Australia is the world's 6th largest country and the only one that’s also a whole
continent.
But with all that territory, over 80% of Australians live within 60 miles of the coast. This makes
the country one of the most coastal-dwelling populations in the world.
And that means a whole lotta beaches! In fact, they have so many that if you decided to visit
a new beach every day, it’d take you almost 30 years to see them all!
The biggest property in Australia is about 40,000 square miles in area. South Korea could
fit into it with room to spare.
The country’s termites are busy building huge properties as well. Their mounds are
the tallest animal-made structures on this planet.
Before humans arrived, the continent was home to mega-fauna. If you’d lived there about
46,000 years ago, you’d be dead today. But you would’ve seen 10-foot-tall kangaroos,
23-foot-long goanna lizards, and ducks the size of an adult horse. Quack!
The largest living structure on the planet is the Australian Great Barrier Reef. By the
way, it has its own mailbox! There’s a rumor that the fish there use “eel-mail”…
Neither kangaroos nor emus can walk backward. That's why they're painted on the Australian
coat of arms. Keep moving forward!
The platypus, an egg-laying mammal that lives only in Australia, is one of the rare venomous
mammals on this planet. Luckily, while the venom has an excruciatingly painful effect
on people, it's not lethal. The takeaway -- Don’t fuss with a platypus.
By the way, when the first platypus was brought to England, people there were sure that it
was a joke. The English believed that Australians had sewn a duck's bill onto a rat's body to
play a trick on them! Yeah, right up until he bit them! Not laughing now are ya?
Swimming in the surf during the day had been illegal in Australia up until 1902. But after
one guy calmly entered the waves of Manly Beach one afternoon that year, surf bathing
became increasingly popular.
The largest Greek population outside of Greece itself is in Australia. Actually, to be more
precise, in Melbourne. More than 160,000 people who live there say they come from Greek descent.
Melbourne was the richest city in the world in 1880. These days, Tokyo, Japan holds this
title.
And until 2018, Melbourne had been ranked as the most livable city in the world for
7 years in a row. But then it was bumped down to 2nd place after Vienna, Austria. Come on,
Melbourne, get back in the game!
One of Melbourne's founders was John Batman. (Yep, that was his real name.) And get this:
the city was temporarily called Batmania! Too bad they decided to change it… to Robinville?
Nah.
In 2018, Australia ranked third after Norway and Switzerland on the Human Development Index.
This index is based on education, life expectancy, and citizen's income. Basically, they got
a good thing going down under there!
In 2005, security guards at the Parliament House in Canberra were prohibited from calling
people "mate." But the ban only lasted for a day, mate! G’day!
If you’re ever in Western Australia, you can visit one of their many super salty pink
lakes. They get the bubble-gum hue from a certain type of algae and bacteria, and they’re
totally safe to swim in! Just be careful what you chew!
Oh, and be sure to take a selfie while you’re swimming in what looks like a giant pool of
Pepto-Bismol. You can thank Australia for coming up with the word “selfie” in the
first place!
There are about 74 million sheep to 25 million people in Australia, which makes an impressive
ratio of three to one. Only China and India have more than that!
Ok, and the kangaroo thing is totally true. There are twice as many kangaroos as there
are people there – that’s 50 to 25 million.
Speaking of which, when a baby kangaroo is born, it's only half an inch long. It’s
also hairless and totally pink. Kinda looks like a gummy bear…
What else is there in Australia? Oh that’s right, koalas! And to top that, there are
10 times more camels than koalas. Australia is the source of a lot of the Middle East’s
camels! (um, Do you prefer one hump or two?)
In Western Australia, it's against the law to be in possession of more than 110 pounds
of potatoes. Eh, every country has its obscure bizarre laws!
Almost every single day, rangers at Uluru, aka Ayers Rock, get packages with pieces of
the sacred monolith. Apparently, tourists take a piece of rock as a souvenir, and then
they feel guilty and send it back with a note of apology. But some say they start having
bad luck as soon as they return home with the stones! So, they send their “souvenirs”
back to undo the curse! No wonder these packages got the nickname “sorry rocks.”
The architect of the world-famous Sydney Opera House got the idea of this unique construction
while munching on an orange. If you combine all the sails of the building’s roof, you'll
get a perfect sphere.
The most ancient fossils in the world were found in Australia. They were no less than
3.4 billion years old! Even older than my leftovers in the frig.
There are so many different species in this country that only 25% of them have been discovered
so far.
Of the animals discovered to be native to Australia, none have hooves.
Burger King miraculously turns into Hungry Jack's as soon as you land in Australia. It's
the Aussie franchise of the famous fast food chain.
Australia is a unique continent that doesn't house any active volcanos.
It’s also the flattest continent on our planet.
But it’s got plenty of mountains, and one of them is called Mount Disappointment. It’s
just 2,600 feet tall, and, naturally, explorers William Hovell and Hamilton Hume expected
to see a great view from the top. However, after climbing the mountain, they discovered
that there were too many trees growing on top and blocking the view completely. Guess
how the men felt? Uh huh.
Australia has tons of unique flora and fauna species that you won't find anywhere else
in the world.
Among those are a staggering 1,500 spider species! Spider species, yeah!... On the bright
side, while some of them are fatally poisonous, most are completely harmless. But how do I
tell them apart? Oh the poisonous ones wear signs. Got it.
It’s also where you’ll find 21 of the world’s top 25 most venomous snakes.
More than 90% of Australia is covered with some kind of vegetation.
Since 1988, Australia has had a national floral emblem, and it's the golden wattle. When this
plant blooms, it gets covered with the country’s national colors: green and gold.
Australia is a multinational country with more than 200 different languages and dialects
spoken there. The most popular non-English languages are Mandarin, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese,
and Cantonese.
There are 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Australia, including 12 natural sites, 3 cultural
sites, and 4 mixed sites.
The difference between Australia's total length and its width is only 200 miles.
Do you have an 8-hour working day? You can thank Australian stonemasons for that! In
1865, they demanded to make 8-hour shifts the standard. And it spread throughout the
world from there!
With 8 people per square mile, Australia has an extremely low population density. For comparison,
there are about 93 people per square mile in the US.
The national Australian airline Qantas uses recycled cooking oil to power its interstate
flights.
So, have I missed any cool facts about Australia? Let me know down in the comments! If you learned
something new today, then give this video a like and share it with a friend. But – hey!
– don't go Waltzing Matilda just yet! We have over 2,000 cool videos for you to check
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