Diversity in Australia

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Diversity in Australia

Population, Culture, Languages & Religions in Australia

Population

Australia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. With a population of approximately 26 million over a vast area of approximately 7.7 million square kilometers, it has a population of 3.35 people per square kilometer (as of 2023).

The following statistics about population is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS):

COUNTRY	AREA (km2)	DENSITY (people per km2)
Australia	7,703,556.6	3.35
Canada	9,971,000	3
Japan	377,000	336
New Zealand	268,000	14
United Kingdom	242,000	244
United States of America	9,809,000	29

The following table shows the respective states Area in km², it’s Capital City and it’s Total Population:

State / Territory	Area (km²)	Capital City	Total Population
New South Wales	801,150	Sydney	8,072,163
Victoria	227,416	Melbourne	6,503,491
Queensland	2,529,875	Brisbane	5,156,138
South Australia	1,730,648	Adelaide	1,781,516
Western Australia	983,482	Perth	2,660,026
Tasmania	68,401	Hobart	557,571
Northern Territory	1,349,129	Darwin	232,605
Australian Capital Territory	2,358	Canberra	454,499
TOTAL (incl. other territories)			25,422,788

Multiculturalism

Australia is a vibrant, multicultural country. Almost half of the country’s population was either born overseas or has at least one parent born overseas. And the people there come from every culture, every race, every faith, every nation.

Many ethnic groups are represented in Australia, making it one of the most the most culturally diverse countries in the world.

Australia’s diversity is described here:

・Over 28% of Australians were born in another country.

・21% of Australians have at least one parent who was born overseas.

・Australian migrants are from more than 190 countries;

・2.8% of Australians are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.

Top 5 countries of birth in Australia by number, as of 2021 (From ABS)

	Country of birth	Persons (count)	Proportion of population (%)
1	England	927,490	3.6
2	India	673,352	2.6
3	China	549,618	2.2
4	New Zealand	530,492	2.1
5	Philippines	293,892	1.2

Languages

Although, English is the official language in Australia, there are more than 200 languages spoken in Australian households. The ABS provide these statistics about the number and proportion of people who spoke a language other than English at home in 2016:

Language	Number of people	Proportion of population (%)
Mandarin	596,711	2.5
Arabic	321,728	1.4
Cantonese	244,600	1.2
Vietnamese	277,400	1.2
Italian	271,597	1.2
Greek	237,125	1.0
Tagalog (Filipino)	182,498	0.8
Hindi	159,637	0.7

Religion

Though Australia is predominantly a Christian country; however, all religions are represented in Australian society and people are free to practice their own choice of religion. Churches, mosques, temples and synagogues are located in most major cities.

Census year	Christian (%)	Other religions (%)	No religion (%)
1901	96.1	1.4	0.4
2001	68.0	4.9	15.5
2011	61.1	7.2	22.3
2016	52.1	8.2	30.1