The state parliaments control hospitals, education, police, the judiciary, roads, public transport and local government. The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms government, with its leader becoming prime minister. Members of the lower house are elected from single-member constituencies, commonly known as “electorates,” allocated to states on the basis of population.
The Australian mainland extends from west to east for nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 km) and from Cape York Peninsula in the northeast to Wilsons Promontory in the southeast for nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 km). Australia’s capital is Canberra, located in the southeast between the larger and more important economic and cultural centres of Sydney and Melbourne. Australia, the smallest continent and one of the largest countries on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Australian wine is produced mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country. Each major city has at least one daily newspaper, and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.
There is a symphony orchestra in each capital city, and a national opera company, Opera Australia, first made prominent by the renowned diva Dame Joan Sutherland. Many ballet and theater companies receive funding through the federal government's Council for the Arts. The traditions of indigenous Australians are transmitted orally. The culture until the mid-twentieth century was Anglo-Celtic, although distinctive Australian features had been evolving from the environment and Australian Aborigine culture. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution prohibits the federal government from making any law to establish any religion, impose any religious observance, or prohibit the free exercise of any religion. Australian English is the only language spoken in the home for around 80 percent of the population.
The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis Incognita ('unknown southern land'), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. Its population of almost 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.
At the 2021 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The Australian sign language known as Auslan was used at home by 16,242 people at the time of the 2021 census. English has no legal status in Australia but it is the de facto official and national language due to its widespread established use.