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119-549: Currently home to IKEA it is home to over 200 international brands, and the world's largest Monoprix Hypermarket. It is also home to the Middle East's first NBA Store . Doha Festival City is a destination with a world-class entertainment complex, and will be home to indoor and outdoor attractions unique to Qatar. This comprehensive mix of entertainment – from Qatar’s first VOX 4D cinema complex with 18 digital screens to an Outdoor Leisure Trail space for exercise and cycling –

238-479: A Mediterranean climate . The south-east ranges from oceanic (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to humid subtropical (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates . The interior is arid to semi-arid . Driven by climate change , average temperatures have risen more than 1°C since 1960 . Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires . 2019

357-525: A belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland. These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula . The landscapes of the Top End and

476-465: A jocular campaign named "Discover the Originals", which invited tourists to visit the physical locations which have received such unfortunate associations with IKEA products. In March 2021, IKEA launched IKEA Studio in partnership with Apple Inc. , an app enabling customers to design full-scale rooms with IKEA furniture using augmented reality on an iPhone . In 2016, IKEA started a move into

595-824: A large wave of immigration from across Europe , with such immigrants referred to as " New Australians ". This required a relaxation of the white Australia policy , which was justified to Australians using the slogan "populate or perish". A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War , Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972. During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by

714-528: A workbench called fartfull ("speedy", "quick"), and a table called lyckhem (pronounced roughly as " look-em "), meaning "bliss" or a "happy home". Due to several products being named after real places, some locales have ended-up sharing names with objects considered generally unpleasant, such as a toilet brush being named after the lake of Bolmen , or a rubbish bin named after the Norwegian village of Tofte . In November 2021, VisitSweden.com launched

833-464: A cash register. Not all furniture is stocked at the store level, such as particular sofa colours needing to be shipped from a warehouse to the customer's home or the store. Most stores follow the layout of having the showroom upstairs with the marketplace and self-service warehouse downstairs. Some stores are single level, while others have separate warehouses to allow more stock to be kept on-site. Single-level stores are found predominantly in areas where

952-694: A complicated corporate structure. Within this structure, all IKEA stores are operated under franchise from Inter IKEA Systems B.V. which handles branding, design, manufacturing, and supply. Another part of the IKEA group, Ingka Group, operates the majority of IKEA stores as a franchisee and pays royalties to Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Some IKEA stores are also operated by independent franchises. The IKEA website contains about 12,000 products and there were over 4.6   billion visitors to IKEA's websites in FY2024. In 1943, then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA as

1071-461: A date which later became Australia's national day . Most early settlers were convicts , transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to "free settlers" (willing immigrants). Once emancipated , convicts tended to integrate into colonial society. Convict rebellions and uprisings were suppressed under martial law, which lasted for two years following the 1808 Rum Rebellion , Australia's only successful coup d'état . During

1190-515: A different flow from other IKEA stores; however, it closed down in 2020 due to the site being deemed unsuitable for future business. IKEA's Southampton store that opened in February 2009 is also in the city centre and built in an urban style similar to the Coventry store. IKEA built these stores in response to UK government restrictions on large retail establishment outside city centres. Japan

1309-423: A few years of use. This was at a time when especially younger buyers said they wanted to minimize their impact on the environment. The company understood this view. In an interview, Jesper Brodin, the chief executive of Ingka Group (the largest franchisee of IKEA stores), commented that "climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society". The other strategic objectives of

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1428-695: A first-time buyer's home. The IKEA product, named BoKlok was launched in Sweden in 1996 in a joint venture with Skanska . Now working in the Nordic countries and in the UK, sites confirmed in England include London, Ashton-under-Lyne , Leeds , Gateshead , Warrington , Bristol and Liverpool . At the end of September 2013, the company announced that solar panel packages, so-called "residential kits", for houses will be sold at 17 UK stores by mid-2014. The decision followed

1547-620: A full-size store. In 2020, IKEA opened at Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , which, at 2,137 m (23,002 sq ft), was one of the smallest IKEA stores to-date. The company also opened at 360 Mall in Kuwait and in Harajuku , a trendy part of Tokyo , that same year. The size of the Kuwaiti 360 Mall store was slightly larger than Al Wahda's (despite bringing

1666-409: A gate to the playground, and pick them up after they arrive at another entrance. In some stores, parents are given free pagers by the on-site staff, which the staff can use to summon parents whose children need them earlier than expected; in others, staff summon parents through announcements over the in-store public address system or by calling them on their mobile phones. The largest Småland play area

1785-566: A joint venture with TCL to provide Uppleva integrated HDTV and entertainment system products. In mid-August 2012, the company announced that it would establish a chain of 100 economy hotels in Europe but, unlike its few existing hotels in Scandinavia, they would not carry the IKEA name, nor would they use IKEA furniture and furnishings – they would be operated by an unnamed international group of hoteliers. As of 30 April 2018, however,

1904-479: A mail-order sales business, and began to resell furniture five years later. The first store was opened in Älmhult , Småland , in 1958, under the name Möbel-IKÉA (Möbel means "furniture" in Swedish). The name IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The acronym is composed of the initials of the founder's name as well as Elmtaryd, which is the farm on which he grew up, and Agunnaryd, which

2023-419: A one-way layout, leading customers counter-clockwise along what IKEA calls "the long natural way" designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a customer to go directly to the section where the desired goods and services are displayed). There are often shortcuts to other parts of the showroom. The sequence first involves going through

2142-581: A settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania ), and in 1813, Gregory Blaxland , William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement. The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany ). The Swan River Colony (present-day Perth )

2261-413: A shopping cart and proceeds to an open-shelf "Market Hall" warehouse for smaller items. Lastly, the self-service furniture warehouse stores the showroom products in flat pack form for the customer to collect the ones previously noted. Sometimes, they are directed to collect products from an external warehouse on the same site or at a site nearby after purchase. Finally, customers pay for their products at

2380-562: A short distance off the north-east coast and extends for more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Mount Augustus , claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak , at 2,745 m (9,006 ft), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island , and, in

2499-589: A significant discount. In March 2022, IKEA swiftly exited the Russian market, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine , leading to a surplus of items that were earmarked for the Russian market in IKEA's warehouses. To get rid of these items quickly, IKEA has been reselling these in a number of non-Russian IKEA stores near the bargain corner at a discount. The majority of IKEA stores are located outside of city centres, primarily because of land cost and traffic access. Smaller store formats have been unsuccessfully tested in

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2618-908: A significant hit from the pandemic. Because of strict COVID-19 lockdowns in China , IKEA has closed another store in Shanghai by July 2022. On 10 August 2022, IKEA opened its first store in Chile , the first store in South America . Another store opened in Colombia in September 2023 in Bogotá , soon to be followed by a store in Peru . IKEA stores are typically blue buildings with yellow accents — Sweden's national colours . They are often designed in

2737-526: A similar concept), at 3,000 m (32,000 sq ft), built as an extension of the mall. As for IKEA Harajuku, the 2,500 m (26,910 sq ft), 7-storey store houses the chain's first and only konbini concept. In 2021, IKEA opened another one of its smallest stores, located at the JEM Mall in Jurong East , Singapore . Replacing liquidated department store Robinsons , IKEA Jurong

2856-882: A store was opened in Mexico City . In August 2018, IKEA opened its first store in India , in Hyderabad . There are now stores in Bengaluru and Mumbai. In November 2021, IKEA opened its largest store in the world, measuring 65,000 square metres (700,000 sq ft), in the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City . In March 2022, IKEA announced the closing of all 17 stores in Russia , resulting from

2975-769: A successful pilot project at the Lakeside IKEA store, whereby one photovoltaic system was sold almost every day. The solar CIGS panels are manufactured by Solibro , a German-based subsidiary of the Chinese company Hanergy . By the end of 2014, IKEA began to sell Solibro's solar residential kits in the Netherlands and in Switzerland. In November 2015, IKEA ended its contract with Hanergy and in April 2016 started working with Solarcentury to sell solar panels in

3094-625: A variety of items including chocolates, meatballs, jams, pancakes, salmon and various drinks. Although the cafes primarily serve Swedish food, the menu varies based on the culture, food and location of each store. With restaurants in 38 countries, the menu often incorporates local dishes, including shawarma in Saudi Arabia, poutine in Canada, macarons in France, and gelato in Italy. In Indonesia,

3213-411: A wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre. The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm. The population density

3332-436: Is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne. In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland. Forest cover is around 17% of Australia's total land area. The Great Barrier Reef , the world's largest coral reef, lies

3451-413: Is a constitutional monarchy , a parliamentary democracy and a federation . The country has maintained its mostly unchanged constitution alongside a stable liberal democratic political system since Federation in 1901. It is one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and state governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from

3570-909: Is a middle power , and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure . It is a member of international groups including the United Nations; the G20 ; the OECD ; the World Trade Organization ; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ; the Pacific Islands Forum ; the Pacific Community ; the Commonwealth of Nations ; and the defence and security organisations ANZUS , AUKUS , and the Five Eyes . It

3689-550: Is a multinational conglomerate , founded in Sweden but now headquartered in the Netherlands , that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad , IKEA has been the world's largest furniture retailer since 2008. The brand name is an acronym of founder Ingvar Kamprad's initials; Elmtaryd,

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3808-753: Is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States. The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə / in Australian English ) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ( ' southern land ' ), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. Several 16th-century cartographers used the word Australia on maps, but not to identify modern Australia. When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in

3927-562: Is designed to appeal to all ages. Doha Festival City is Qatar's first fully certified sustainable mall (Certification by GORD), receiving a 3-star GSAS Design & Build certification by the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD). The mall was built at a cost of QR 6 billion (~ $ 1.6 billion), and opened on 5 April 2017. IKEA Inter IKEA Systems B.V. , trading as IKEA ( / aɪ ˈ k iː ə / eye- KEE -ə , Swedish: [ɪˈkêːa] ),

4046-438: Is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world . It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally . Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. Australia

4165-498: Is limited and costly, IKEA has opened 4 stores, all in multi-storey commercial buildings. They are smaller than other IKEA stores but large by Hong Kong standards. In addition to tailoring store sizes for specific countries, IKEA alters the sizes of products to accommodate cultural differences. In 2015, IKEA announced it would attempt smaller store design at locations in Canada. IKEA claimed this new model would allow them to expand quickly into new markets rather than spending years opening

4284-583: Is located at the IKEA store in Navi Mumbai , India. Some of these were closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2024, Ikea announced it would be trialing an on-line marketplace where customers can connect to buy and sell pre-owned items made by Ikea. The marketplace, called Ikea Preowned, would run from August until December 2024 and be centred on the cities of Oslo, Norway and Madrid, Spain. Until 28 September 2023, IKEA owned & operated

4403-437: Is named after islands. A number of IKEA's products bearing Swedish names have (or have had) pronunciations that are humorous to some and offensive to others (but no less " lost-in-translation "), by not only English-speakers but speakers of many different languages. At times, this product-identification has resulted in certain names being changed, or withdrawn completely from certain markets. More often than not, this confusion

4522-629: Is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.6–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth. Having been part of all major supercontinents , the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian , with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent. It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in

4641-552: Is only 6,500 m (70,000 sq ft), encompassing three levels; it was the first location in Southeast Asia that did not provide the "Market Hall" warehouse in its store. Also during 2021, IKEA opened a small-store-format location on Bali, Indonesia , replacing the liquidated former Giant hypermarket. IKEA Bali is dubbed "Customer Meeting Point", and is the smallest store to open thus far, at 1,200 m (13,000 sq ft). In 2022, another smaller store

4760-489: Is simply a result of the Swedish language not being executed correctly, let alone understood, by the reader; nonetheless, this has resulted in potentially "naughty"—or even gravely offensive—connotations, depending on the area in question. Notable examples (for English-speakers) include a since-discontinued (2013) computer desk called jerker (referring to "the jerks" or "jerks"), a foliar plant spray called fukta ("moisten"),

4879-535: Is the village close to Elmtaryd. The first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). The stores spread to other parts of Europe in the 1970s, with the first store outside Scandinavia opening in Switzerland (1973), followed by West Germany (1974), Japan (1974), Australia , Hong Kong (1975), Canada (1976), Singapore and the Netherlands (1978). IKEA further expanded in

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4998-617: Is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is possibly the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia. The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains , which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. At

5117-411: Is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds , and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic . Australia has at least 755 species of reptile, more than any other country in the world. Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species. Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in

5236-658: The MEGA chain of 14 supermarkets, then owned by Ingka, was bought by the Russian Gazprombank . IKEA was hit hard by COVID-19 because of lockdowns in various countries, like in the UK and Canada. Because demand had fallen, its annual catalogue ceased publication after 70 years in print. The prices of their products have risen significantly in 2022 because of rising costs and inflation. In April 2022, IKEA has shut down one of its stores in Guiyang when sales took

5355-452: The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Because of the ongoing war and unimproved situation in Russia, IKEA said on 15 June that it would sell factories, close offices and reduce its workforce. Later it became known that IKEA does not plan to sell its business, but expected to return to Russia within two years. By October 2022, IKEA laid off about 10,000 Russian employees. In September 2023,

5474-661: The Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name. The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office . Colloquial names for Australia include " Oz ", " Straya " and " Down Under ". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country" (from the 1964 book of

5593-500: The Australia Acts of 1986. Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne , both with a population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture

5712-571: The Billy bookcase and the Klippan sofa, all of which have sold by the tens of millions since the late 1970s and early 1980s. The IKEA and LEGO brands teamed up to create a range of simple storage solutions for children and adults. In June 2021, IKEA Canada unveiled a series of 10 "Love Seats" inspired by different Pride flags, created by four LGBTQ designers. IKEA products are identified by one-word (occasionally, two-word) names, predominantly in

5831-595: The Gulf Country —with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley , and below that the Pilbara . The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts. At

5950-551: The Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation , which is correlated with periodic drought , and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall ( monsoon ). The south-west corner of the country has

6069-429: The Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , several of Australia's largest cities were locked down for extended periods and free movement across the national and state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow

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6188-419: The MEGA Family Shopping Centre chain in Russia. Its operations have since been sold to Gazprombank . On 8 August 2008, IKEA UK launched a virtual mobile phone network called IKEA Family Mobile , which ran on T-Mobile . At launch it was the cheapest pay-as-you-go network in the UK. In June 2015 the network announced that its services would cease to operate from 31 August 2015. As of 2012 , IKEA has

6307-416: The Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia , and a bitter split in the Labor Party in 1955. As a result of a 1967 referendum , the federal government gained the power to legislate with regard to Indigenous Australians, and Indigenous Australians were fully included in the census . Pre-colonial land interests (referred to as native title in Australia) was recognised in law for

6426-415: The Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous . When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait , separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands , and the mainland of Australia. The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at

6545-602: The Swedish language (or otherwise Scandinavian in origin). With few exceptions, most product names are based on a special naming system developed by the company. The company founder Kamprad was dyslexic , and found that naming the furniture with proper names and words, rather than a long product code, made the products easier to identify and remember. Products are usually named after locations in Scandinavian countries, using names of places in Sweden for sofas and coffee tables, Denmark for textiles, and Norway for beds. Lamps get their names from seas and lakes, while outdoor furniture

6664-451: The Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975. In 1914, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War, and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front . Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in 1915 as

6783-403: The Torres Strait Islands . The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent " New Holland " during the 17th century, and although no attempt at settlement was made, a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or, as in the case of the Batavia in 1629, marooned for mutiny and murder, thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit

6902-519: The bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil , led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent , and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia's principal ally and security partner. Since 1951, Australia has been allied with the United States under the ANZUS treaty. In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development. Governments encouraged

7021-426: The emu and the kookaburra . Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE . Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna ; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them

7140-401: The explosion of human population and material expectations in the 20th and 21st centuries, the company implements economies of scale , capturing material streams and creating manufacturing processes that hold costs and resource use down, such as the extensive use of medium-density fibreboard ("MDF"), also called "particle board". Notable items of IKEA furniture include the Poäng armchair,

7259-479: The governor-general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level, who by section 63 of the Constitution and convention act on the advice of their ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The governor-general may in some situations exercise reserve powers : powers exercisable in the absence or contrary to ministerial advice. When these powers may be exercised

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7378-409: The last glacial period . By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had the oldest living culture in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of

7497-483: The "baptism of fire" that forged the new nation's identity . The beginning of the campaign is commemorated annually on Anzac Day , a date which rivals Australia Day as the nation's most important. From 1939 to 1945, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War. Australia's armed forces fought in the Pacific , European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres . The shock of Britain's defeat in Singapore in 1942, followed soon after by

7616-503: The "island continent" and is sometimes considered the world's largest island . Australia has 34,218 km (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands), and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory . Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44° south , and longitudes 112° and 154° east . Australia's size gives it

7735-634: The 'inner-city' format for expansion in China, unlike other countries where IKEA stores for economic and planning restriction reasons tends to be just outside city centres due to planning restrictions. In China, planning restrictions are less of an issue due to the lack of cars for much of its customer base. Accordingly, in store design alternatives, IKEA has had to offer store locations and formats closer to public transportation. The store design alternative thinking and strategy in China has been to locate stores to facilitate access for non-car owning customers. In some locations in China, IKEA stores can be found not in

7854-443: The 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories. Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland , a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland ) and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts. The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders , who said it

7973-428: The 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species. Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age—perhaps 4000 years ago—and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets, contributing to the demise of thylacines on

8092-436: The 1980s, opening stores in countries such as France and Spain (1981), Belgium (1984), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), and Italy (1989). Germany , with 55 stores, is IKEA's biggest market, followed by the United States, with 55 stores (three in Puerto Rico) IKEA entered Latin America in February 2010, opening in the Dominican Republic . As for the region's largest markets, on 8 April 2021,

8211-416: The 2018 Environmental Performance Index . There are more than 1,800 animals and plants on Australia's threatened species list, including more than 500 animals. Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat , in South Australia, that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland / grassland was once home to an abundance of life. Australia

8330-500: The Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies , at 3,492 m (11,457 ft) and 3,355 m (11,007 ft) respectively. Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range , which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in height. The coastal uplands and

8449-438: The Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken , captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon . He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated

8568-611: The Japanese market in 2006, IKEA management did extensive local market research in more effective store layouts. One area of local adaptation was the room displays common to every IKEA store worldwide. Rather than just replicate a European room layout, the Japan management was careful to set up room displays more closely resembling Japanese apartment rooms, such as one for "a typical Japanese teenage boy who likes baseball and computer games ". IKEA adapted its store location and services to

8687-725: The Swedish meatballs recipe is changed to accommodate the country's halal requirements. Stores in Israel sell kosher food under rabbinical supervision. The kosher restaurants are separated into dairy and meat areas. In many locations, the IKEA restaurants open daily before the rest of the store and serve breakfast. All food products are based on Swedish recipes and traditions. Food accounted for 5% of IKEA's sales by 2019. IKEA sells plant-based meatballs made from potatoes, apples, pea protein, and oats in all of its stores. According to United States journalist Avery Yale Kamila , IKEA began testing its plant-based meatballs in 2014, then launched

8806-497: The United Kingdom. The deal would allow customers to be able to order panels online and at three stores before being expanded to all United Kingdom stores by the end of summer. In April 2019, the company announced that it would begin test marketing a new concept, renting furniture to customers. One of the motivating factors was that inexpensive IKEA products were viewed as "disposable" and often ended up being scrapped after

8925-632: The centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins , metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east. The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes, but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot , recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene , in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Volcanism also occurs in

9044-545: The colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, constitutional conventions and referendums , resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation under the new Australian Constitution . After the 1907 Imperial Conference , Australia and several other self-governing British settler colonies were given the status of self-governing dominions within the British Empire. Australia

9163-462: The company owned only a single hotel, the IKEA Hotell in Älmhult, Sweden. Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in

9282-455: The continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in

9401-847: The continent. In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named " New South Wales " and claimed for Great Britain. Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the First Fleet , under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip , to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales . A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove , Port Jackson , on 26 January 1788,

9520-594: The convict system culminated in its abolition in the eastern colonies by the 1850s. Initially a free colony, Western Australia practised penal transportation from 1850 to 1868. The six colonies individually gained responsible government between 1855 and 1890, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire . The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs. In

9639-471: The cost of land would be less than the cost of building a 2-level store. Some stores have dual-level warehouses with machine-controlled silos to allow large quantities of stock to be accessed throughout the selling day. Most IKEA stores offer an "as-is" or "bargain corner" (recently rebranded as "re-shop and re-use") area at the end of the warehouse, just before the cash registers. Returned, damaged, and formerly showcased products are displayed here and sold with

9758-459: The early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought . Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests . Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota

9877-456: The family farm where Kamprad was born; and the nearby village of Agunnaryd , Kamprad's hometown in Småland , southern Sweden . The group is primarily known for its modernist furniture designs, simple approach to interior design , and its immersive shopping concept, based around decorated room settings within big-box stores , where customers can interact with products onsite. In addition,

9996-466: The firm is known for its attention to cost control and continuous product development, notably, the ready-to-assemble model of furniture sales, and other elements which have allowed IKEA to establish lower prices than its competitors. As of September 2024 , there are 473 IKEA stores operating in 63 countries and in fiscal year 2024, €45.1   billion worth of IKEA goods were sold. For multiple reasons, including lowering taxes payable, IKEA uses

10115-772: The first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that Australia was neither terra nullius ( ' land belonging to no one ' ) or "desert and uncultivated land" at the time of European settlement. Following the abolition of the last vestiges of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia. The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations. The Australia Acts severed

10234-482: The furniture showrooms making note of selected items. The showroom usually consists of simulated room settings where customers can see the actual furniture in use, e.g.: a living-room with a sofa, a TV set, a bookcase and a dining table, accessorized with plants, cushions, rugs, lamps, plates, glasses and cutlery. Showroom sections are usually displayed in the order of the rooms of a house: living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, kids' rooms. The customer then collects

10353-412: The heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia . Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson , Tirari and Sturt Stony , Gibson , Great Sandy, Tanami , and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast. The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between

10472-479: The interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia . Lying on the Indo-Australian Plate , the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history. The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning more than 3.8 billion years of the Earth's history. The Pilbara Craton

10591-417: The island of New Guinea (considered geologically as part of the Australian continent), and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands . Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low, with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake . The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including

10710-550: The location for the future federal capital of Canberra . While it was being constructed, Melbourne served as the temporary capital from 1901 to 1927. The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of South Australia to the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883) in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea ) in 1920. The two were unified as

10829-448: The mainland. Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries. Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna ); a host of marsupials , including the kangaroo , koala , and wombat , and birds such as

10948-474: The mid-19th century, explorers such as Burke and Wills charted Australia's interior. A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China , North America and continental Europe, as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees. The 1860s saw

11067-602: The next two decades, social and economic reforms, together with the establishment of a Legislative Council and Supreme Court , saw the penal colony transition to a civil society. The indigenous population declined for 150 years following European settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. British colonial authorities did not sign any treaties with Aboriginal groups . As settlement expanded, tens of thousands of Indigenous people and thousands of settlers were killed in frontier conflicts while settlers dispossessed surviving Indigenous peoples of most of their land. In 1803,

11186-755: The past (the "midi" concept in the early 1990s, which was tested in Ottawa and Heerlen with 9,300 m (100,000 sq ft), or a "boutique" shop in Manhattan ). A new format for a full-size, city centre store was introduced with the opening of the Manchester store, situated in Ashton-under-Lyne in 2006. Another store, in Coventry , opened in December 2007. The store had seven floors and

11305-552: The plan were to be more affordable and more convenient. The company said it would test the rental concept in all 30 markets by 2020, expecting it to increase the number of times a piece of furniture would be used before recycling. The first IKEA store opened in 1958 with a small cafe that transitioned into a full-blown restaurant in 1960 that, until 2011, sold branded Swedish prepared specialist foods, such as meatballs, packages of gravy , lingonberry jam , various biscuits and crackers, and salmon and fish roe spread . The new label has

11424-461: The plant-based meatballs in 2015 and began testing vegan hot dogs in 2018. In 2019, journalist James Hansen reported in Eater London that IKEA would only sell vegetarian food at Christmas time. Every store has a children's play area , named Småland (Swedish for small lands ; it is also the Swedish province of Småland where founder Kamprad was born). Parents drop off their children at

11543-428: The political systems of the United Kingdom (a fused executive , constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline ) and the United States ( federalism , a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), resulting in a distinct hybrid. Federal government power is partially separated between three groups: Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by

11662-594: The protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention , and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on

11781-537: The purpose of mounting the bookshelf speakers have gone on sale worldwide on 1 August. From the start, IKEA SYMFONISK can only be controlled from the Sonos app, but IKEA added support for the speakers in their own Home Smart app to be paired with scenes that control both the lights, air purifiers, smart plugs and smart blinds together with the speakers. IKEA has also expanded its product base to include flat-pack houses and apartments, in an effort to cut prices involved in

11900-480: The rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year. The Australian mainland's continental crust , excluding the thinned margins, has an average thickness of 38   km, with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km. Australia's geology can be divided into several main sections, showcasing that the continent grew from west to east: the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west, Proterozoic fold belts in

12019-545: The remaining constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom while maintaining the monarch in her independent capacity as Queen of Australia . In a 1999 constitutional referendum , 55% of voters rejected abolishing the monarchy and becoming a republic. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and

12138-419: The resources of their reefs and seas. Agriculture also developed on some islands and villages appeared by the 1300s. By the mid-18th century in northern Australia, contact, trade and cross-cultural engagement had been established between local Aboriginal groups and Makassan trepangers , visiting from present-day Indonesia. The Dutch are the first Europeans that recorded sighting and making landfall on

12257-491: The rise of blackbirding , where South Sea Islanders were coerced or abducted into indentured labour, mainly by Queensland colonists. From 1886, Australian colonial governments began removing many Aboriginal children from their families and communities, justified on the grounds of child protection and forced assimilation policies. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) marked the largest overseas deployment of Australia's colonial forces . On 1 January 1901, federation of

12376-549: The same name ), "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land". The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar 's 1908 poem " My Country ". Indigenous Australians comprise two broad groups: Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. It

12495-403: The smart home business. The IKEA TRÅDFRI smart lighting kit was one of the first ranges signalling this change. IKEA has also started a partnership with Philips Hue . The wireless charging furniture, integrating wireless Qi charging into everyday furniture, is another strategy for the smart home business. A collaboration to build Sonos smart speaker technology into furniture sold by IKEA

12614-741: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus . Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent and sixth-largest country by total area , Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed

12733-399: The then second largest economy in the world, IKEA did not adapt its store layout strategy to the Japanese consumer. Japanese consumers did not have a culture of DIY furniture assembly, and many in the early days had no way to haul flat-packs home to their small apartments. Nor did the store layouts familiar to European customers initially make sense to Japanese consumers, so prior to re-entering

12852-406: The thylacine. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan , fungal and plant species. All these factors have led to Australia's having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for

12971-1029: The time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians belonged to wide range of societies, with diverse economies spread across at least 250 different language groups . Estimates of the Aboriginal population before British settlement range from 300,000 to 3 million. Aboriginal Australians cultures were (and remain) deeply connected with the land and the environment, with stories of The Dreaming maintained through oral tradition , songs , dance and paintings. Certain groups engaged in fire-stick farming , fish farming , and built semi-permanent shelters . These practices have variously been characterised as " hunter-gatherer ", " agricultural ", "natural cultivation" and "intensification". Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands at least 2,500 years ago. Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and

13090-467: The usual suburban or near airport locations like other countries, but rather places such as downtown shopping centres with a 'mini-IKEA' store to attract shoppers. One store design alternative trend IKEA has implemented has been 'pop-up' stores along social media platforms in their advertising strategy, for the first-time as a company, to reach new customers demographics while still reinforcing its global brand locally in China. In Hong Kong, where shop space

13209-516: The volume of a bookcase, for example, is considerably less if it is shipped unassembled rather than assembled. This is also more practical for European customers using public transport, because flat packs can be more easily carried. IKEA contends that it has been a pioneering force in sustainable approaches to mass consumer culture . Kamprad calls this "democratic design", meaning that the company applies an integrated approach to manufacturing and design (see also environmental design ). In response to

13328-518: The world and the largest country by area in Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast . The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during

13447-479: Was "more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst . In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824,

13566-615: Was Australia's warmest recorded year, and the 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country's worst on record . Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world. Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought. Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in

13685-545: Was announced in December 2017. The first products resulting from the collaboration launched in August 2019. Under the product name SYMFONISK, IKEA and Sonos have made two distinct wireless speakers that integrate with existing Sonos households or can be used to start with the Sonos-ecosystem, one that's also a lamp and another that's a more traditional looking bookshelf speaker. Both products as well as accessories for

13804-406: Was another market where IKEA performed badly, exited the market completely and then re-entered with an alternative store design and layout with which it finally found success. IKEA entered the Japanese market in 1974 through a franchise arrangement with a local partner, only to withdraw in failure in 1986. Japan was one of the first markets outside its original core European market. Despite Japan being

13923-413: Was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, Western Australia . In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1841, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. South Australia was founded as a free colony—it never accepted transported convicts. Growing opposition to

14042-531: Was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920, and the United Nations in 1945. The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended the ability of the UK to pass federal laws without Australia's consent. Australia adopted it in 1942, but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed during World War II. The Australian Capital Territory was formed in 1911 as

14161-437: Was opened inside Livat Hammersmith , London , at 4,600 m (50,000 sq ft), followed by a 9,400 m (101,000 sq ft) store inside Mall Taman Anggrek , Jakarta , which was opened on 7 April 2022. Rather than being sold pre-assembled, much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be assembled by the customer . The company claims that this helps reduce costs and use of packaging by not shipping air;

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