• Australia was inhabited by indigenous people for about 50,000 years before the British came. 
• Captain James Cook first landed on Australia's east coast in 1770. In 1788, the British returned with eleven ships to establish a penal colony in New South Wales. Within days of The First Fleet's arrival and the raising of the British flag, two French ships arrived, just too late to claim Australia for France.
• Australia is located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean.
• Australia is an island surrounded by more than 8,000 smaller islands.
• Australia consists of six states, five on the mainland and the island of Tasmania, which has the cleanest air in the world.
• Australia is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Australia is as big as the continental U.S.
• Since 1945, more than 7 million people have settled in Australia. From the late 1970s, there was a significant increase in immigration from Asian and other non-European countries, making Australia a multicultural country.
• Australia is very sparsely populated with only 2.66 persons per square kilometre.
• Half of the entire population of Australia lives in three cities: Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Population: 24.3 million
• Australia is ranked second on the Human Development Index (based on life expectancy, income and education).
• Australia's Highway 1 is the world's longest national highway. With about 14,500 km, (9,000 mi), it circumnavigates the entire country.
• Australia is one of the wealthiest Asia–Pacific nations and has enjoyed more than two decades of economic expansion
• Australia is the only Western country in the world to not have a Bill of Rights.
• Australia exports camels to Saudi Arabia.
• The Red Kangaroo is the national animal of Australia.
• In Australia, there are more kangaroos than people.
• In 1856, stonemasons took action to ensure a standard of 8-hour working days, which then became recognised worldwide.
• The Great Barrier Reef is the planet's largest living structure.
• If all the sails of the Opera House roof were combined, they would create a perfect sphere. The architect was inspired while eating an orange.
• Some shopping centres and restaurants play classical music in their car park to deter teenagers from loitering at night.

Sources: Fact Slides; Heritage.org; Buzzfeed