Population. – In 1988, the celebration of the bicentenary of the landing of the first settlers in the Sydney area allowed the country to measure its international position. Not only its mines, farms and sugar cane plantations on the Sugar Coast, but above all its cities, offered significant images. At the end of the 1980s the metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne had a consistency of the order of 3 million residents, those of Brisbane and Adelaide were of the order of one million. In the remaining part of the continent, the only metropolitan area is that of Perth, located in the south-western area, with over one million residents.
Taking into account that the country has 16.4 million residents, it can be seen that a double process is underway: growth in the ratio of the urban population to the total population; expansion of metropolitan areas in New South Wales, Victoria and Australia Southern. These circumstances confirm the prospective models that, with regard to urban expansion on a world scale, were developed during the seventies, on the basis of which the south-eastern territory of the Australia it appeared destined to accommodate two megalopolises, which would take shape in the last part of the century.
The first megacity is coagulating along the coast of New South Wales. The central area is made up of Sydney. Two wings consist of Newcastle to the north and Wollongong to the south. Then there is the fabric of intermediate inhabited centers and of those which, north and south of the wings, are expanding along the coast. The second megalopolis is forming between Melbourne and Adelaide, that is, between Port Phillip Bay and the Gulf of St Vincent, along the main roads and railways that wind inland, and with offshoots along the coastal routes. Naturally, these will be small megacities, that is, megalopolises with dimensions much smaller than those that are forming elsewhere, in the Japanese archipelago and along the US Pacific coast. Nonetheless,
Economic conditions. – During the late seventies, that is when the effects of the first oil shock (1973-74) made themselves felt on the international economy, and even more during the first part of the eighties, during which both the developed world and the world emerging had to absorb the repercussions of the second oil shock (1979-80), the Australia has assumed an increasing weight in the world concert. This advance has been caused by considerable progress in the exploitation of natural resources, of which the country is well supplied and which the developed world needs: Japan, the United States and Western Europe.
According to simplyyellowpages, the recent discoveries of iron minerals in the Hammersley Range (Western Australia) have considerably increased the importance of the country, which nowadays ranks fourth in the world ranking for consistency of reserves. Most of these are minerals with a metal content above 50% and with a low sulfur and phosphorus content.
Thanks to recent discoveries, the Australia strengthened its second place in the world ranking for bauxite reserves. The exploitation of fields in the Gulf of Carpentaria and in the Darling Range, in Australia Western, continued intensively. However, the exploitation of the Weipa field, perhaps the largest in the world, located on the western slopes of the York Peninsula has benefited Australian exports above all.
For the other minerals too – tin, silver, nickel, tungsten, manganese, uranium – the Australian mining economy has progressed, but since the late 1970s the leading image in the international economy has been assumed by coal. On the one hand, precisely in the second half of the 1970s, several countries around the world felt the need to diversify their energy balances through a reduction in dependence on hydrocarbon imports, which increased interest in coal fields. ‘A., Canada and South Africa (as well as, in a medium and long term perspective, those of China); on the other hand, the extractive economy of the Australia it continued to develop also thanks to a happy meeting between international demand and Australian supply.
The new discoveries meant that, at the beginning of the 1980s, coal resources were valued at over 200 billion tonnes, of which around 25 billion were valued as reserves, as they were already usable by existing technologies. The ratio between reserves and resources is considerable: from 1 to 10. The findings have strengthened the position of the country not for anthracite, although it is extracted in quantity, but above all in the field of bituminous and semi-bituminous coals. The former prevail in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, the latter prevail in Australia Meridium and in the Australia Western.
Australian fields have acquired increasing international importance thanks to three economic factors. In the first place, the extraction is carried out with high levels of productivity, achieved through large plants, machines and carriers, which ensure appropriate economies of scale. Secondly, the transfer to the ports of embarkation is inexpensive, partly because it takes place in part through pipelines. Thirdly, maritime transport has been entrusted to very large carriers – from 150,000 to 250,000 dwt – reducing costs. These circumstances have benefited above all from Japan and the countries of Southeast Asia dependent on Japanese industry.
Other considerable steps will be taken when the Australia will have achieved excellent technological solutions for the use of slurries in the transport of coal. These methods, which make it possible to transport coal in a liquid mixture (water or fuel oil) during the terrestrial phases of transport and to load it on special ships (coal slurry carriers), are encouraged by both Japan and Australia.
The position of the Australia it is also improving in the hydrocarbon field, thanks to the discovery of new natural gas fields on the Victoria continental shelf. This has allowed a certain diversification of the national energy balance, traditionally centered on coal, since hydraulic resources are limited to the Snowy Mountains System.
The Australian interest in hydrocarbons contained in offshore fields is evidenced by the care with which the country has proceeded to define maritime jurisdiction bands on the seas around its coasts. Agreements have been made with New Caledonia and New Guinea for the partition of the sea. Assuming the country would fully proclaim the bands of jurisdiction, it would acquire over 1.8 million square miles of sea, which would include areas rich in hydrocarbons.
The manufacturing industry, including the petrochemical industry, continued its development. The progress made in both sectors, mining and manufacturing, along with grain production and livestock, has benefited trade structures. At the output there are not only minerals, but wool and meat remain in the first place and chemicals appear there. Japan and the United States are the key partners ; followed by New Zealand and European countries: United Kingdom, with which the Australia it maintains traditional ties, and then – in order – Germany (the former Federal Republic component), Italy and France. The reasons for the exchange between Italy and the Australia they have grown.
Since the mid-1970s, the transformation of maritime routes has underlined the change in international relations. The links of the Pacific routes have been strengthened, especially towards Japan. The routes with Western Europe have developed, in particular with the most advanced nucleus of the EEC countries. The international coal trade takes place on routes of over 10 thousand miles, from Australia to the Mediterranean via Suez, and to Western Europe via Gibraltar. The exchange of food products and artifacts has meant that the Australia has become a strength of a complex framework of containerized routes across the Pacific, to the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Even with the Soviet Union large-scale models have been established: container ships connect the Australia with Vladivostok, where goods are sent via the Trans-Siberian railway. The advancement of refrigerated container transport technologies has provided opportunities for Australian meat exports. Thanks to the progress of the primary economy and the expansion of the manufacturing one, the Australia got two results. On the one hand, it has solidified its position among the richest countries, belonging to the area with over $ 10,000 in gross national product. Advancement in refrigerated container transport technologies has provided opportunities for Australian meat exports. Thanks to the progress of the primary economy and the expansion of the manufacturing one, the Australia got two results. On the one hand, it has solidified its position among the richest countries, belonging to the area with over $ 10,000 in gross national product. Advancement in refrigerated container transport technologies has provided opportunities for Australian meat exports. Thanks to the progress of the primary economy and the expansion of the manufacturing one, the Australia got two results. On the one hand, it has solidified its position among the richest countries, belonging to the area with over $ 10,000 in gross national product. per capita. On the other hand, it has had the opportunity to considerably develop the advanced tertiary sector, especially finance, international trade, technological and scientific research.
