Australia’s Economy

Australia is one of the world’s richest countries. It exports valuable minerals and farm products to all parts of the world.

Various kinds of raw materials are produced. Many of them, however, lie in dry areas very far away from bigger cities or harbours. Workers must build railroad lines or roads to the mines, which is a reason why mining is a very expensive industry in Australia. Foreigncompanies come to Australia to invest money to mine raw materials .

Australia is the world’s Nr. 1 in the production of diamonds, bauxite and lead. It also produces a big quantity of coal, iron ore and nickel. Almost all of the world’s valuable opals are mined in Australia. The country also has much of the world’s uranium under its surface.

About 60% of Australia is farmland, most of which is used to raise cattle and sheep. Farmers can grow wheat in many parts of the country because wheat doesn’t need very much rain . Other products that are produced include sugar cane and bananas in the tropical north and fruits like apples, oranges and pears in the south.

Australia is the world’s largest wool producer. Most of it is exported to countries all over the world. Winemaking is a part of the economy that has been growing very quickly. Grapes grow in the southern and south eastern part of the continent and produce wine of excellent quality.

Not many people work on Australian farms because farmers have many machines to work with. Only about 5 % of the population are farmers, but they produce almost everything that the country needs.

Tourism has become very important for the economy of the country. Australiaoffers many sights like Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef or Sydney Opera House. Because it is so far away from Europe and North America, it costs a lot to travel “down under”.

 

Australia trades goods with many countries. China, Japan and other Asian countries buy Australian farm products like wheat and wool.Raw materials and minerals are also exported to European countries and to the USA. Japan is, however, Australia’s biggest customer. It buys most of the coal, iron ore and bauxite it needs for its big industries.

Words

• bauxite = a raw material from which aluminium is made
• customer = someone who buys goods
• economy =the way a country produces, buiys and sells goods and the money that it has
• foreign = from another country
• goods =products
• invest = to spend money on something
• iron ore = rock that has iron in it
• lead =a heavy grey metal that melts easily and is poisonous
• mine = place where you dig out minerals
• mining =the work of getting gold, coal and other minerals out of the earth
• minerals = a raw material that is dug out of the ground
• offer = give
• opal = a stone that often changes colours and is very expensive
• population = the people who live in a country
• quantity = a lot of
• raise = to look after and feed animals so that you can sell them as food or other things
• raw materials = the things that exist in nature and which we need , like oil, wood or gas
• sugarcane =a tropical plant from which you can get sugar
• surface =the top layer of something
• trade = to sell and buy products
• valuable = very expensive
• various = different
• wheat = a plant from which you make white bread