Australia is the smallest, flattest, driest and least populated continent after Antarctica. It was discovered by James Cook. It consists of six states and two territories. Australia is the only nation to cover the whole continent.
Location: It is situated on the southern hemisphere, surrounded by the Indian and Pacific ocean.
Population: over 23 million people.
Most Australians live in cities along the coast (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide etc.). There are large Greek and Italian communities. Australians are considered to be the greatest consumers of alcohol in the English speaking world.
Original inhabitants: Aborigines - native people in Australia, living in tribes, people with special culture and traditions, religion, (dark skin, curly hair, white teeth)
The largest city is Sydney
The capitalcity is Canberra – meaning “meeting place”.
National flag: blue field with the British Union Jack in the upper left corner, a white federal star and 5 stars of southern cross
Official symbol: kangaroo
Sport: rugby, Australian football, cricket, tennis, swimming
Free time: large number of beaches (New South Wales, Queensland) - people go surfing, swimming, skateboarding etc. There are lots of cinemas, operas, museums, fun parks, exciting nightlife...
Food: mixture of many cuisines
- Australian cooking: outdoor grill, barbecues
Industry and agriculture: rich in raw materials - gold, silver, coal, copper...
mining, breeding of sheep and cattle
textile and engineering industry, machine building, wood working
Main products: wool, dairy products, meat (the biggest explorer of beef), butter, wheat
Main trade partners: Japan, USA, UK
Climate: It has tropical, subtropical, temperate climate. Tropical in the north, continental in the interior and subtropical in the rest of the continent. Seasons are opposite to ours. Two thirds of Australia is desert. It has most extreme climate changes (from extremely wet to extremely dry).
Deserts: The Great Sandy Desert, The Great Victoria Desert
The highest peak: Mt Kosciuszko
The longest river: Murray, Darling
Lakes: the Lake Eyre, the Lake Torrens, the Lake Gairdner
Due to its isolation, Australia has a unique wildlife - you cannot find it anywhere else in the world.
Animals: dolphins, penguins, whales, corals, platypus, koalas, red kangaroos, cockatoos, lyrebirds, most poisonous snakes, crocodiles, poisonous spiders, kiwis and emus, duck-bills, dingoes...
Plants: evergreen plants, eucalyptus, palm trees
Koalas are protected by law. They live in the eucalyptus tree and eat its leaves, containing drug, which makes them sleepy. They sleep 18 hours a day.
Kangaroos - strange animals whose females carry their children in a pouch until they are able to live alone.
Official name: The Commonwealth of Australia
- it is an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations. The head of the state is the British monarch (Queen Elizabeth II.)
Each part of Australia has its own parliament with its own local laws. However, the Parliament of Australia sits in Canberra and makes the laws valid for the whole country.
There are two most important positions within the political sphere:
Parliament: consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives
Other interesting place: Uluru (Ayers Rock) - listed in UNESCO World Heritage - sacred place for Aborigines
Important Dates/Holidays: January 26 | Australia Day | To remember the arrival of the 1st fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales - called even Invasion Day |
May 26 | National Sorry Day | To remember the mistreatment of the continent´s original population |
June 6 |
Queensland Day | In 1859 Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales |