Australia can be called two oceans, east and west, and there is no strong enemy in the north and south. Why can't it become a powerful country like the United States?

The reason is that discovery of america, a European, discovered Australia much earlier. Although there is a saying that the Dutch landed in Australia as early as 166, few Europeans set foot in this land until British captain Cook discovered the east coast of Australia in 177 and named it "New South Wales". The landing of European colonists was more than ten years after that.

With its vast territory, it is difficult to develop into a world power without sufficient population resources. Canada is an excellent example. Its territorial area is larger than that of the United States, but its comprehensive national strength is even less than 1% of that of the United States.

The population of Australia is even worse than that of Canada, only 25.44 million. In contrast, the population of the United States is 33 million, and Australia is less than 8% of that of the United States. Although the more people, the better, but a world power, without a population of 1 million, it is difficult to support a venue.

Australia's small population has a lot to do with its historical lack of attraction to European immigrants. The United States and Australia are both immigrant countries, and immigration plays a vital role in population growth. Historically, the United States is far more attractive to European immigrants than Australia.

It is said that the geographical conditions of the United States are good. In fact, it not only means that it has two oceans, the east and the west, and there are no strong enemies in the north and the south, but also because its territorial quality is extremely high, which is very suitable for developing agriculture, which is the key to a country's accumulation of original capital in the pre-industrial era.

Unfortunately, in this respect, Australia is not only an underachiever, but a poor student at the bottom. It can be clearly seen from Google Maps that the whole of Australia, except the coastal area, is green and the vast inland area is almost desert.

In fact, due to the huge evaporation, the precipitation is not rich. Australia is a country with extreme water shortage, with more than 4% of its land being a permanent desert, and the precipitation in most of the remaining areas is difficult to ensure the normal growth of crops. Therefore, although Australia has a vast territory, the cultivated land is pitiful, and the high-quality cultivated land is even inferior to some small and medium-sized countries.

In today's industrialized world, it may not be a problem for Australia to raise a population of 1 million. But it is completely impossible to go back dozens or hundreds of years. Therefore, the fatal weakness of water shortage alone is doomed that Australia cannot accumulate the population like the United States, and certainly cannot develop into a world power like the United States.