Australia is a continent by itself albeit the smallest one yet
“Eighty percent of Australians live within 80 miles of the sea; 50 percent of the country’s houses sit less than 8 miles from a beach” [source].
Isn’t that amazing? People definitely love living near the sea. The United States coastlines also house the majority of the country’s population; so does India and China. It definitely makes you think of the impact global warming will have on the ensuing rise in sea levels.
May 12, 2008
You ever driven 50 miles away from the cost of Australia? There’s a reason everyone lives so close to the water… and it has less to do with the water than the other obvious factor.
May 12, 2008
Chris, of course I’m aware of the reason and my statement of love to live near the sea was in light of the fact of similar location behavior in other countries.
May 12, 2008
I hear ya’, but If the location behavior in Australia has much more to do with a vast and expansive area of nothingness, which gives no other choice than to live the the coast, it seems that there is less TRUE similarity than it first appears.
Seems like some root analysis is required as to the “whys” of the location choices.
I’d posit that many (most?) countries have their mass of population near the shore because of previous trade patterns and the reliance upon water to move goods. Have to be near a port for trade, need to be near a port to make money.
And all that said, Australians do in fact love the water.
May 13, 2008
Chris, I agree. Locational decisions even those in close proximity of water can hardly be explored in depth in a 50-word post
As you said, even if the land inside Australia was more hospitable, Aussies would still live near the sea.