Australian dollar
The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. Within Australia it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign ($), with A$ or AU$ sometimes used informally to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents.
The Australian dollar is currently the sixth-most-traded currency in the world foreign exchange markets behind the US dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound sterling, and the Swiss franc, accounting in 2007 for approx. 3.3% of worldwide daily foreign-exchange turnover. The Australian dollar is popular with currency traders due to comparatively high interest rates in Australia, the relative freedom of the foreign exchange market from government intervention, the general stability of Australia's economy and political system, and the prevailing view that the Australian dollar offers diversification benefits in a portfolio containing the major world currencies, especially because of its greater exposure to Asian economies and the commodities cycle.
