Polity · 1943 CE – present
Commonwealth of Australia
Australia
Also recorded as Australia
- Peak recorded area
- 8,231,350 km²
- 1945 CE
- Rulers on record
- 48
- from 1901 CE
- Data series
- 501
- 1943 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
6 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 67 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population351 obs · 1 CE–2025 CE | 27Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 84.21years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 137.1Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 0.957% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 85.97years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 82.43years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 161 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 47.3Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita203 obs · 1820 CE–2022 CE | 52K2011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP Current Usd112 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 1.8Tcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Real Wage105 obs · 1860 CE–2006 CE | 202.89index (1500=1)2006 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Total Exports95 obs · 1920 CE–2014 CE | 240.6Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports95 obs · 1920 CE–2014 CE | 250.5Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 73 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Expenditure % GDP140 obs · 1950 CE–2024 CE | 1.88% of GDP2024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| CINC Score97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 0.0069CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 185.8Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 5.3Mtons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure97 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 24.2Bcurrent USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel96 obs · 1920 CE–2016 CE | 57Kpersons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 116 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 4.03% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Coal Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 3,282.57TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 1,501.4TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 173.43TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 17.42% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 47.22%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 27 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index236 obs · 1789 CE–2024 CE | 0.857index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index236 obs · 1789 CE–2024 CE | 0.991index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index234 obs · 1789 CE–2024 CE | 0.808index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index233 obs · 1789 CE–2024 CE | 0.637index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 3RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity2112 obs · 1901 CE–2012 CE | 10index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 57 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index236 obs · 1789 CE–2024 CE | 0.94index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Mail Items142 obs · 1851 CE–1993 CE | 4,956items1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km125 obs · 1869 CE–1993 CE | 36.7Kkm1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph119 obs · 1863 CE–1985 CE | 4.33count1985 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Merchant Shipping Tonnage118 obs · 1871 CE–1992 CE | 2,676gross tons1992 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm93 obs · 1901 CE–1993 CE | 56.6Ktonne-km1993 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
48 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Edmund BartonHead of Government1901 CE – 1903 CE
- Alfred DeakinHead of Government1903 CE – 1904 CE
- Chris WatsonHead of Government1904 CE
- George ReidHead of Government1904 CE – 1905 CE
- Andrew FisherHead of Government1908 CE – 1909 CE
- Joseph CookHead of Government1913 CE – 1914 CE
- Billy HughesHead of Government1915 CE – 1923 CE
- S. M. BruceHead of Government1923 CE – 1929 CE
- James ScullinHead of Government1929 CE – 1932 CE
- Joseph LyonsHead of Government1932 CE – 1939 CE
- Earle PageHead of Government1939 CE
- Robert MenziesHead of Government1939 CE – 1941 CE
- Arthur FaddenHead of Government1941 CE
- John CurtinHead of Government1941 CE – 1945 CE
- Ben ChifleyHead of Government1945 CE – 1949 CE
- Frank FordeHead of Government1945 CE
- Bill McKellHead of State1947 CE – 1953 CE
- Elizabeth IIHead of State1952 CE – 2022 CE
- William Slim, 1st Viscount SlimHead of State1953 CE – 1960 CE
- William Morrison, 1st Viscount DunrossilHead of State1960 CE – 1961 CE
- William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'IsleHead of State1961 CE – 1965 CE
- Richard Casey, Baron CaseyHead of State1965 CE – 1969 CE
- Harold HoltHead of Government1966 CE – 1967 CE
- John McEwenHead of Government1967 CE – 1968 CE
- John GortonHead of Government1968 CE – 1971 CE
- Paul HasluckHead of State1969 CE – 1974 CE
- William McMahonHead of Government1971 CE – 1972 CE
- Gough WhitlamHead of Government1972 CE – 1975 CE
- John KerrHead of State1974 CE – 1977 CE
- Malcolm FraserHead of Government1975 CE – 1983 CE
- Zelman CowenHead of State1977 CE – 1982 CE
- Ninian StephenHead of State1982 CE – 1989 CE
- Bob HawkeHead of Government1983 CE – 1991 CE
- Bill HaydenHead of State1989 CE – 1996 CE
- Paul KeatingHead of Government1991 CE – 1996 CE
- John HowardHead of Government1996 CE – 2007 CE
- William DeaneHead of State1996 CE – 2001 CE
- Peter HollingworthHead of State2001 CE – 2003 CE
- Michael JefferyHead of State2003 CE – 2008 CE
- Kevin RuddHead of Government2007 CE – 2010 CE
- Quentin BryceHead of State2008 CE – 2014 CE
- Julia GillardHead of Government2010 CE – 2013 CE
- Tony AbbottHead of Government2013 CE – 2015 CE
- Peter CosgroveHead of State2014 CE –
- Malcolm TurnbullHead of Government2015 CE – 2018 CE
- Scott MorrisonHead of Government2018 CE – 2022 CE
- Anthony AlbaneseHead of Government2022 CE –
- Charles IIIHead of State2022 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
- Government type
- federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Executive branch
- chief of state: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General Samantha (Sam) MOSTYN (since 1 July 2024); head of government: Prime Minister Anthony ALBANESE (since 23 May 2022); cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the prime minister from among members of Parliament and sworn in by the governor general;
- Ethnic groups
- English 33%, Australian 29.9%, Irish 9.5%, Scottish 8.6%, Chinese 5.5%, Italian 4.4%, German 4%, Indian 3.1%, Australian Aboriginal 2.9%, Greek 1.7%, unspecified 4.7% (2021 est.)
- Natural resources
- alumina, coal, iron ore, copper, lithium, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, opals, natural gas, petroleum
- Economy
- high-income and globally integrated economy; strong mining, manufacturing, and service sectors driving slow but steady growth; net exporter, driven by commodities to East Asian trade partners; weak productivity and aging population straining labor force participation
Language & currency
- Currency
- Australian dollars (AUD)
Memberships
- League of NationsLoNInternational organisation · founding member1920 CE – 1946 CE
- Commonwealth of NationsCWInternational organisation · founding member1931 CE –
- Allied Powers (WWII)Historical alliance · member1939 CE – 1945 CE
- Australia–New Zealand Defense Pact (1944)Military alliance · member1944 CE – 1951 CE
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · founding member1945 CE –
- Five EyesFVEYMilitary alliance · member1948 CE –
- ANZUSANZUSMilitary alliance · founding member1951 CE –
- United States of America–Australia–New Zealand Defense Pact (1951)Military alliance · member1951 CE –
- SEATOSEATOMilitary alliance · founding member1954 CE – 1977 CE
- 8-member Entente (1954)Historical alliance · member1954 CE – 1977 CE
- Indonesia–Australia Entente (1995)Historical alliance · member1995 CE – 1999 CE
- G20G20Political union · founding member1999 CE –
- Quadrilateral Security DialogueQUADMilitary alliance · founding member2007 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Commonwealth of Australia is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.