Australia

Australia 

Geography

Australia is the smallest continent in the world and lying in the Southern Hemisphere between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. It covers an area of 7.7 million sq km. It is a lonely and it is often said that Australia lies at the edge of the world, divided from other continents by long distances. We also sometimes called Australia as a country of antipodes. There are Coral and Tasman Seas and many large islands such as Tasmania (on the south), Papua-New Guinea (on the east-west, separated by Torres Strait) Fiji and New Zealand (on east) over Australia.

Along the east coast there is Great Barrier Reef, it’s the biggest coral reef on the Earth. East part occupies the Great Dividing Range in the and south-east are the Australian Alps which have the highest Australian mountain, Mt.Kosciusko. There are three big deserts - the Great Sandy Desert, the Gibson Desert and the Great Victoria Desert in central part.They are red, orange and brown, and strange rock can be found there. Ayers Rock, the largest piece of rock in the world, is the most famous of them.

Many of Australia’s rivers are fill with water only during the rainy season. The largest rivers are The Murray and the Darling. Also most of Australian’s lakes are dry for months. There are 3 big lakes: Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner. The Australian climate varies from warm to subtropical. Australia has summer when we have winter and vice versa. In the north and north west there is extremely hot and dry weather, but on the other side north-east has heavy rainfalls because of trade-winds. There are tropical forests, savanna or grassland. Australia is one and only continent where grow rare eucalyptus.

Australia is famous for its remarkable animals. The kangaroo is a national emblem and female has a punch in which its young are carried. The koala bear looks like a children’s toy. They sleep a great deal in the day and eat about one kilogram eucalyptus leaves a day. The Emu is a large bird that runs well but can’t fly. The platypus is it a furred egg-laying mammal, it has a duck-bill a flat fail and webbed feet. Australia is also home of Tasmania devil, dingo, wombat and many lizards (such as Hatteria with one eye on the top of head). This animals cannot be found elsewhere in the world. It is mainly due to the fact that for long prehistoric periods this continent was isolated from the others. Sheep and rabbits were brought from England.

Population

The population of Australia is some 18 million. Australia has one of the lowest density in the world - only 2 people per 1 sq km. The majority of people live in the big cities in the south-east coast - in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. The capital city is Canberra. Canberra is sometimes said to be one of the most beautiful capitals in the world because of its natural scenery and architecture. The rest of the country is thinly inhabited (grasslands, deserts).

The main ethnic groups are: British (90%), other Europeans (5%) and Aborigines (about 200 000). Official language is English. Australian English is called Strine. It has expression, which is used only in Australia. - billabong (a pool in a dried-up river), jumbuck (a sheep)…

The original inhabitants of this country were the Australian Aborigines, who lived there for over 40,000 years.. Aborigines are one of the oldest civilisations in the world. Men used to catch birds, snakes, crocodiles, and women with children used to pick fruits, caterpillars, ants, eggs and dig for roots. The dingo, a wild dog, was the sole animal that became domesticated. The Australians were divided into about 650 tribes that spoke about 500 different languages. Each tribe usually had its own dialect, name and customs, its own territory and hunting grounds. Many of them died in the wars against the English to protect their land.

They have no written history and from their culture there remain only fragments like ground sculpture, body painting, woodcarving and bark painting, combined with rich oral tradition. Some of them still live their traditional life in the desert areas of the Australian outback. The government has recently given some land back to them. This includes Uluru (Ayers Rock), a huge rock in the middle of Australia. It is the holy place of all Australian Aborigines. It is the most spectacular to observe this rock during all the day because it changes its colour in each day’s time from pink to brown to silver-grey.

Kurssi australian dollari (AUD) - Australia

History

The existence of this continent was believed long ago in the Ancient (by the Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy) and its acquired the name from the Latin term „Terra Australis“ - South Land. Australia was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman in 1642. In 1770 Captain James Cook explored eastern coast and Australia become a British colony.

At first it was a penalty colony, because in Britain there were a lot of prisoners and not enough prisons. In the 19th century population rapidly has increased because gold was found here. In 1901 the six colonies became an independent member of the British dominion, when was proclaimed the Commonwealth of Australia.

Political system

The official title is The Commonwealth of Australia and it is a British dominion. It has a democratic, federal system and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. represented by the Governor – General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states: New South Wales, Victoria, Qeensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmanian and two territories (The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory (thinly populated)). The Federal Parliament has its seat in Canberra and is divided into the Senate and the House of Commons. Australia is a member of the important international organisations: UN, OECD and the Commonwealth. The Australian national flag consists of the British Flag symbol and a larger blue field in which 5 stars are arranged in the form of the Southern Cross constellation. The large white star under the British Union Jack symbolises 6 Australian states.

Economy

Main industries are iron, steel, textiles, electrical equipment, chemicals, cars, aircraft, ship and machinery. Australia belongs to the top exporters of beef, lamb, wool (the biggest producer in the world) and wheat, although only 9% of land is arable. Other agricultural items are barley, oats, hay, sugar, wine, fruit and vegetables. Natural riches contain mainly bauxite, coal, zinc, but deposits of gold have been completely exploited. Among the main trading partners belong Japan, the USA, the UK, New Zealand. Currency used in Australia is the Australian Dollar.

Places of interest

In Australia there are many big cities. Sydney is the largest Australian city, founded by English settlers. The business centre of this city is in Port Jackson, the biggest market with wool. We can recognised here old houses, which were built in Victorian style as well as big glass modern skyscrapers in Downtown. The most famous attraction in Sydney are The Opera House with its fascinating roof construction, which looks like a large white sailing-ship or the Harbour Bridge, 140 meters.

Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and the second largest city in the Australia. Now it is a modern city with a well developed industry. You can see there a lot of modern skyscrapers, parks and botanical gardens.