Australia also has mountainous areas and plateaus scattered throughout the country. The Blue Mountains, on the south-eastern end of Australia, get their name from the blue haze caused by oil droplets given off from the eucalyptus trees. Off the northeast coast of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef which is over 1,900 kilometers of coral. It has developed over the last million years, and is now the largest living structure in the world.
English is the official language, but the way it is spoken and written makes it distinctively Australian English. There were believed to be between 200 to 300 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact. However, only about 70 of these languages survived, with all but 20 of these now endangered. Australia has it's own sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 6,500 deaf people.
The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the first building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004
School attendance is compulsory in Australia between the ages of 6-15 years (16 years in South Australia and Tasmania), resulting in an adult literacy rate assumed to be 99%. Government grants have supported the establishment of Australia's 38 universities, however there are several private universities. A state-based system of vocational training colleges exists known as TAFE Institutes, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople. Approximately 58% of Australians between 25 to 64 years of age have vocational or tertiary qualifications.
Most of the estimated 20.4 million Australians are descended from 19th and 20th century immigrants, with the majority originating from Britain and Ireland.
