New Zealand and Australia (Anglický jazyk)

New Zealand and Australia (Anglický jazyk) 

Téma: Australia and New Zealand

Predmet: Angličtina

Australia

Australia is a continent, which can be found between the India and the Southern Pacific Ocean. It is the smallest continent in the world, but the world’s sixth largest country. It has around 20 million of inhabitants living on total area 8 million square kilometers. Australia is made up of 6 states (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia) and 2 territories (Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory).

The main and official language in Australia is English. The capital of Australia is Canberra, even though it isn’t the largest. The name of Australia is derived from latin word Australis, which means “In the south”. Australia was discovered in the 1770 by the English Captain James Cook. Australia was settled as British prison colony.

First people here

The first original inhabitants of Australia were Aborigines They are known for their art, spiritual beliefs and the music- played on a didgeridoo (a wind instrument).The lives of Aboriginal people changed dramatically with the arrival of Europeans.

Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere; it means that the Australians has summer when we have winter. Along the eastern coast are the Australian Alps. Here is the highest top of the continent – Mount Kosciusko. The longest river is the Murray Rivers. There are three big lakes here: Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner. The nearest islands are Tasmania and King Island.

The animals of Australia are numerous and some of them like the kangaroo which is also the emblem of Australia, koala bear, dingo or Tasmanian devil can’t be found elsewhere. This continent is often visited by destructive hurricanes.

The official title is The Commonwealth of Australia and it is a dominion of the United Kingdom. It has a democratic, federal system. The official head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor General. Actual power is exercised by the Parliament and the Prime Minister. The Federal Parliament has its seat in the capital city of Canberra and is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives.

About the cities

The capital of Australia is Canberra, but the oldest and biggest one is Sydney. The Olympic Games took place there. There are two interesting and very well known places in Sydney: The Sydney Opera House and The Harbour Bridge. The third largest city is Brisbane. Melbourne is one of the most beautiful cities and you can swim with dolphins there and there are a lot of museums, galleries and parks.

New Zealand

New Zealand consists of two big islands that are located south-east of Australia in the South Pacific. Both islands are well-known for their beautiful scenery. There are active volcanoes, caves, deep glacial lakes, amazing fjords, and long sandy beaches. The population is something about 4 million inhabitants.

The North Island is famous for its hot springs, geysers and watering places. The South Island has high mountains, the Southern Alps. The typical animals are kiwi, birds, and mountain parrots. Kakapo is the world´s largest parrot and brown emu.

First people here

The first inhabitants were the Maoris. The two official languages are English and Maori.

The capital town is Wellington. The head of state is the British queen. The parliament has only one chamber – the House of Representatives.
The majority of the population (74%) is made up of those of European origin. The Maoris form the second largest group (14%). New Zealanders are known for being friendly and easygoing. It is a country with high living standard.

Its primary export industries are agriculture, fisheries, forestry and information technology. Also important is tourism and export education.