The challenge of distance - The development of transport networks and infrastructure in Australia

Seminar paper from the year 1999 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Koblenz-Landau (Anglistics), course: Hauptseminar Cultural Studies III, language: English, abstract: Bringing a Country Together - The Conquest of Isolation

The size of the Australian continent is about 7.7 million square kilometers, which equals approximately the size of the United States of America excluding Alaska. Due to its extreme aridity, large areas of Australia are not populated or fit for agricultural and industrial use. Therefore, 86% of its 18.3 million inhabitants live in widely separated cities along the coastal regions, making Australia the most urbanized continent.1 Australia's coastline has a total length of 36,735 km. Extreme distances between cities have made the transportation network a major concern of the Australian economy. In the more densely populated south-east area of the continent, the distance between Sydney and Melbourne is 880 km. Melbourne and Adelaide are 720 km apart, and from Adelaide to Perth it is 2,675 km along the southern fringe of the Nullarbor Plain. The connection between Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs spans a distance of 3,014 km, and between Perth and Darwin the western highway covers approximately 4,000 km. 2 Today, Australia is spanned by approximately 810,000 km of roads and a rail network estimated at 40,000 km. According to Australian government publications from 1994, the industry sector supported by trans- portation networks contributes about six per cent to the total production value of goods and services.3