Australia at a Glance

• Population: approx. 20,7 million


• Capital city: Canberra, 340,000 inhabitants


• Language: English


• Religions: Christs 68%, Curch of England 20,7%, Catholics 26,6%, Uniting Church of Australia 6,7%


• Form of government: Parliamentary-democratic Monarchy in the Commonwealth of Nations

Economy

Australia considers Germany to be one of the most important European countries and a leading nation within the European Union. Germany is Australia’s seventh largest trading partner and the priority country in its foreign trade policy after the United Kingdom. It accounts for some 20% of the country’s trade with the EU. The main German export products were motor vehicles and parts, chemical, pharmaceutical and electro technical products, plastics, special machinery, paper and cardboard. Over the last 10 years, German exports to Australia have increased by an average 7%.Australia traditionally supplies coal, ores, electro technical products, wool, foodstuffs and wine. Over the last 10 years, German imports from Australia have increased by an average 4%. With approx. 420 branch enterprises, German business is well placed in Australia.

Culture and Science

Bilateral cultural relations go back a long way, Germans being among the first European settlers in Australia. Ethnic Germans have set up numerous societies, many of which provide a point of contact for groups of visitors from Germany.
The branch offices of the Goethe Institute in Melbourne and Sydney are well attended. Since 2002, the German International School in Sydney has offered as a school-leaving certificate the International Baccalaureat, which is recognized as a university entrance qualification in Germany and Australia.

Some 36,000 (or approx. 1% of all) pupils learn German at Australian schools. German thus ranks fourth among the foreign languages learned, after Japanese, French and Chinese. The Goethe Institute helps promote the teaching of German by offering support to German teachers and advice on curricular matters.

Academic and scientific relations are particularly intensive at university level, with some 170 cooperation agreements between German and Australian higher-education institutions. The lively exchange between universities and scientists and academics on both sides is promoted by Germany through scholarship programmes, especially those of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The Australia Centre Europe in Berlin is run by eight large Australian universities as a communication hub for existing and prospective contacts in Germany and Europe.

Links

www.australien-embassy.de/ (Official representation of Australia in Germany)
www.germanembassy.org.au (German Embassy in Australia)
www.germany.org.au (German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce)
www.goethe.de/sydney (Goethe-Institute in Sydney)