AUSTRALIA - COLOMBIA

Culture

the primary basis of Australian culture has been Anglo-Celtic, although distinctive Australian features soon arose from the country's unique environment and the pre-existing indigenous culture. Over the past 50 years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture, large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking countries and Australia's Asian neighbours. The vigour and originality of the arts in Australia, literature, cinema, opera, music, painting, theatre, dance, and crafts, have achieved international recognition.

Colombian culture lies at the crossroads of Latin America, and is distinguished by having a very multicultural society. European, African, Native American, American, Middle Eastern, and other Latin American cultural influences such as Mexico and the Caribbean are all felt in Colombia's modern culture. Due to Colombia's geography and years of social and political instability, Colombian culture has been heavily fragmented into five major cultural regions which also correspond to Colombian natural regions. Urban migration, industrialization, globalization, and other political, social and economic issues have altered the Colombian lifestyle throughout the years.

Geography

Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia has 34,218 kilometres of coastline and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres. This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Colombia is the 26th largest nation in the world and the fourth-largest country in South America. Located in the northwestern region of South America, it is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the North by the Atlantic Ocean, through the Caribbean Sea; to the north-west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Besides the countries in South America, the Republic of Colombia is recognized to share maritime borders with the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Politics

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional democracy based on a federal division of powers. The form of government used in Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General at federal level and by the Governors at state level. Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister. The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.

The Government of Colombia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic as established in the Colombian Constitution of 1991. The Colombian government is divided into three branches of power; the executive, legislative and judicial with special control institutions and electoral institutions. The President of Colombia is the highest representative of the executive branch of government in Colombia and is also the head of state and head of government with supreme administrative authority, followed by the Vice President and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Colombia.

Economy

Australia has a generally prosperous, Western-style mixed economy, with a per-capita GDP slightly higher than that of the UK, Germany, and France in terms of purchasing power parity. The country was ranked third in the United Nations 2007 Human Development Index and sixth in The Economist worldwide quality-of-life index 2005. The emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactures has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade during the rise in commodity prices since the start of the century. Nevertheless, Australia has the world's fourth-largest current account deficit in absolute terms.

Colombia's economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a highly literate population and relatively high-valued currency. After experiencing decades of steady growth, Colombia experienced a recession in 1999, and the recovery from that recession was long and painful. Colombia's economy suffers from weak domestic and foreign demand, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflicts.

LINA HERNANDEZ P.