AU — Australia

Australia is a continent-country in the Southern Hemisphere, the world's sixth-largest by area. Canberra is the capital (built as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne), while Sydney is the largest city. Australia has one of the world's highest standards of living and a strong tech sector. The Australian Dollar (AUD) is the fifth-most traded currency globally. For developers, the AU country code maps to the en-AU locale for Australian English, which has distinctive spelling and vocabulary differences from en-US and en-GB. The .au domain recently opened second-level registrations (directly under .au alongside .com.au). The +61 dialing code serves Australia. Australian date format is DD/MM/YYYY (like UK, unlike US). The Australian Business Number (ABN) and Tax File Number (TFN) have specific validation algorithms. Australia's timezone system is complex, with some states observing daylight saving time and others not, and some using half-hour offsets. The NBN (National Broadband Network) digital infrastructure affects connectivity considerations.