comparison to the world: 21 $154.8 billion (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities:
coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, wheat, machinery and transport equipment
Exports - partners:
China 21.81%, Japan 19.19%, South Korea 7.88%, India 7.51%, US 4.95%, UK 4.37%, NZ 4.1% (2009)
Imports:
$200.4 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 21 $160.4 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products
Imports - partners:
China 17.94%, US 11.26%, Japan 8.36%, Thailand 5.81%, Singapore 5.54%, Germany 5.3% (2009)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$38.62 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 30 $41.74 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt - external:
$1.169 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 14 $1.094 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$329.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 14 $295.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$245.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 17 $221.1 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange rates:
Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar - 1.1151 (2010), 1.2822 (2009), 1.2059 (2008), 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006)
Communications ::Australia
Telephones - main lines in use:
9.02 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 24
Telephones - mobile cellular:
24.22 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 37
Telephone system:
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service
domestic: domestic satellite system; significant use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile telephones
international: country code - 61; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable with links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; the Southern Cross fiber optic submarine cable provides links to New Zealand and the United States; satellite earth stations - 19 (10 Intelsat - 4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean, 2 Inmarsat - Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, 2 Globalstar, 5 other) (2007)
Broadcast media:
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs multiple national and local radio networks and TV stations, as well as Australia Network, a TV service that broadcasts throughout the Asia-Pacific region and is the main public broadcaster; Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), a second large public broadcaster, operates radio and TV networks broadcasting in multiple languages; several large national commercial TV networks, a large number of local commercial TV stations, and hundreds of commercial radio stations are accessible; cable and satellite systems are available (2008)
Internet country code:
.au
Internet hosts:
13.361 million (2010) country comparison to the world: 8
Internet users:
15.81 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 25
Transportation ::Australia
Airports:
465 (2010) country comparison to the world: 17
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 326
over 3,047 m: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 148
914 to 1,523 m: 140
under 914 m: 14 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 139
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 110
under 914 m: 12 (2010)
Heliports:
1 (2010)
Pipelines:
gas 27,105 km; liquid petroleum gas 240 km; oil 3,258 km; oil/gas/water 1 km (2009)
Railways:
total: 37,855 km country comparison to the world: 7 broad gauge: 142 km 1.600-m gauge
standard gauge: 24,409 km 1.435-m gauge (1,094 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 13,304 km 1.067-m gauge (1,193 km electrified) (2008)
Roadways:
total: 812,972 km country comparison to the world: 9 paved: 341,448 km
unpaved: 471,524 km (2004)
Waterways:
2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling river systems) (2006) country comparison to the world: 45
Merchant marine:
total: 45 country comparison to the world: 73 by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 8, liquefied gas 4, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 5
foreign-owned: 20 (Canada 7, Germany 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 1, Singapore 2, UK 5, US 2)
registered in other countries: 29 (Dominica 1, Fiji 2, Liberia 2, Marshall Islands 1, Netherlands 1, NZ 1, Panama 5, Singapore 11, Tonga 1, UK 1, US 1, Vanuatu 2) (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Brisbane, Cairns, Dampier, Darwin, Fremantle, Gladstone, Geelong,
Hay Point, Hobart, Jervis Bay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Adelaide,
Port Dalrymple, Port Hedland, Port Kembla, Port Lincoln, Port
Walcott, Sydney
