Why is australia unique?

Question

Why is australia unique?

Answer 1

There are several good answers on this link:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 2

Where else can you get in a fist fight with someone, and still call them "mate"

Answer 3

Because we have MONOTREMES .. which are egg laying mammals ... The platypus and the Echidna

Answer 4

it is the largest island on the planet;  25S 135E.  also it is one of the seven continents.

Answer 5

It is the largest island, but some people consider it just as that and not as one of the seven continents.

Answer 6

In land area, Australia is the sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil. It has, however, a relatively small population.

Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands. The mainland is the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on Earth. It lies between 10° and 39° South latitude.

Apart from Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent.

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Its interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land is arid or semi-arid. Its fertile areas are well-watered, however, and these are used very effectively to help feed the world.

The largest State, Western Australia, is about the same size as Western Europe.

Australia was the second country to give women the vote.

Australia's expenditure on arts products ranks among the highest in developed countries.

Life expectancy for women is 80 years.

Australia borders no other country because it is surrounded by ocean, so there is plenty of coastline to explore.

Answer 7

Culture, Wildlife and History.

Answer 8

Due to the early land separation of Australia it is a land like no other with about a million different native species. More than 80 per cent of the country’s flowering plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia, along with most of the fish and almost half of the birds.

More than 750 species of birds have been recorded in Australia, 350 of which are found nowhere else in the world. Among them are the kookaburra, the rainbow lorikeet and the fairy penguin.

About 80 per cent of marine species found in southern Australian waters occur nowhere else in the world.

Australia has more than 140 species of marsupials, including koalas, wombats and the Tasmanian devil, now found only in the Tasmanian wilderness. Australia hosts another unique animal group, the monotremes—egg-laying mammals, often referred to as ‘living fossils’. The most distinctive is the platypus, a river-dwelling animal with a duck-like bill, a furry body and webbed feet.

In addition the country has the widest range of habitat from rain forest in Queensland to desert in the central and north-western part of the country. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid.

Answer 9

Unique Things about Australia:



Australia was the first country in the world to give women both the right to vote and to stand for election to parliament (New Zealand gave the right to vote only).

A census taken in 1828 found that half the people of New South Wales were convicts and half of the free population were former convicts.  In 2007 an estimated 22% of all Australians have a convict ancestor.

The Australian Lyrebird can mimic the calls of 15 other bird species and turn them into a song.  It is also known to mimic the sound of mobile phones.

Australia is the smallest, driest, flattest, oldest continent in the world (excluding Antarctica - which is technically drier).  It is the only country that is also a continent.

Australia is home to the most dangerous creatures on Earth.  It has the the worlds most deadly spider (Funnel Web), marine creature (Box Jelly Fish) and Snake (Taipan).   It is also home to Man eating saltwater crocodiles, The Great White Shark, deadly blue ringed octopus, Stone fish, brown snakes and tiger snakes.

Australia is also home to the cutest cuddliest looking (but not necessarily safe) animals on Earth like:  Koala bears, Quokkas, Tasmanian Devils, Wallabies, Kangaroos, Gecko lizards, Wombats, Possums, Rainbow Lorikeets (Parrots), Gallahs, Cockatoos, and Platypus.

Australia is the only continent where there are more species of venomous snakes than non-venomous.

Aboriginals have the oldest culture in the world.  Archeologists date their activities going back over 60,000 years.

The "dingo fence" in outback australia is the longest man made barrier in the world. At 5500kms long, It is twice as long as the great wall of China.

Australians read more newspapers than any other nation.

Australians spend more money on gambling than any other nation.  21% of all gambling machines in the world are located in Australia.

For every person in Australia there are at least 2 sheep and 16 rabbits.

Australia supplies 70% of the worlds wool.

Australia was the first country to issue plastic (polymer) dollar notes.  It is considered the most secure (difficult to counterfeit) currency in the world.  

Australia has more beaches than anywhere else on Earth.

Australia has the largest living structure in the world - the 2000 km long great barrier reef.

There are only two mammals in the world that lay eggs, the Patypus and the Echidna.  Both of these animals originated in Australia.

Australia was responsible for the worlds first test tube twins, triplets and quads.  Australia also invented the ultra-sound machine, the heart pacemaker, cochlear implants (bionic ear), Microsurgery, Spray on skin for burns victims, vaccines for anthrax, cervical cancer and the cure for stomach ulcers.

Australia invented the Rotary clothesline, Surf life saving reels, aircraft black box flight recorder,  permanent crease trousers, combine harvester, rotary hoe, Sarich orbital engine, the box kite (which lead to advances in manned flight by other countries),  Car differential gears, Scramjet Engine, latex gloves, The notepad, insect repellant, garage roller door, pre-paid postage, Vegemite, Winecasks, Secret Ballot Voting system, Music Synthesizer (the Fairlight), Totallisator betting machines,  Race Cam, Calisthenics,   the australian crawl freestyle swimming stroke (common everywhere today),  Speedo swimwear, Dual flush toilets,

Australia released the worlds first feature length film - The story of the Kelly Gang in 1906.

Australia started the 8 hour working day.

The federal division of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia is the largest single member electoral division in the world (the next largest is Nunuvut in Canada).   It is larger than the combined area of France, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Poland.

More than half of Australia receives less than 5inches of rain a year.

The worlds longest straight stretch of railway stretches for 478kms across the Nullabor plain in Australia.   One section is 145kms of dead straight railway line.

Some Australian cattle stations (ranches) are larger in area (around 30,000 square kms) than many of the worlds nations.

Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia is the worlds largest sand island.