Drogas

Klein Bottle House (Rye, Victoria, Australia)

Opera House (Sydney, Australia)

Language
Main article: Languages of Australia
Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as the de facto national language.[2] Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[246] and differs slightly from other varieties ofEnglish in grammar and spelling.[247] General Australian serves as the standard dialect. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 81% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%), Greek (1.3%), and Vietnamese (1.2%);[227] a considerable proportion of first- andsecond-generation migrants are bilingual. A 2010–2011 study by the Australia Early Development Index found the most common language spoken by children after English was Arabic, followed by Vietnamese, Greek, Chinese, and Hindi.[248][249]
Between 200 and 300 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which only about 70 have survived. Many ofthese are exclusively spoken by older people; only 18 Indigenous languages are still spoken by all age groups.[250] At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12 per cent of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.[251] Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deafpeople.[252]
Australia has no state religion, and 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.[253] In the 2011 census, 61.1 per cent of Australians were counted as Christian, including 25.3 per cent as Roman Catholic and 17.1 per cent as Anglican.About 22 per cent of the population stated "no religion" (which includes humanism, atheism, agnosticism and rationalism). The largest non-Christian religion in Australia is Buddhism (2.5 per cent), followed by Islam (2.2 per cent), Hinduism (1.3 per cent) and Judaism (0.5 per cent). Overall, 7.2 per cent of Australians identify with non-Christian religions.[227] A 2001 census showed there are almost9,000 Wiccans and 10,623 pagans.[254]
Prior to European settlement in Australia, the animist beliefs of Australia's indigenous people had been practised for millennia. In the case of mainland Aboriginal Australians, their spirituality is known as the Dreamtime and it places a heavy emphasis on belonging to the land. The collection of stories that it contains shaped Aboriginal law and customs.Aboriginal art, story and dance continue to draw on these spiritual traditions. In the case of the Torres Strait Islanders who inhabit the islands between Australia and New Guinea, spirituality and customs reflected their Melanesian origins and dependence on the sea. The 1996 Australian census counted more than 7000 respondents as followers of a traditional Aboriginal religion.[255]
Culture

Mainarticle: Culture of Australia

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the first building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.[279]
Since 1788, the basis of Australian culture has been strongly influenced by Anglo-Celtic Western culture.[280][281] Distinctive cultural features have also arisen from Australia's natural environment and Indigenouscultures.[282][283] Since the mid-20th century, American popular culture has strongly influenced Australia, particularly through television and cinema.[284] Other cultural influences come from neighbouring Asian countries, and through large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking nations.[284][285]
Arts
Main articles: Australian art, Theatre of Australia, and Dance in Australia

Sunlight Sweet by...