Australia
HISTORY
Australia is the smallest and least densely populated continent on the Earth. The population of
Australia is about 17 million of inhabitants and extens about 8 milion km2. The official language
is English
It was discovered by the Dutch explorer W. Jansz. He landed on the west coast of
the Cape York Penunsula. During the 17th century Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, New
Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. It was called New South Wales. In 1788 the British government established the first convict colony. In 19th
century many setllers went there because of gold. The second huge wave of Europian setllers came to Australia since 1945 because of war. But the first
and original inhabitants of Australia are called „Aborginies“ speaking hundred languages, who are famous with their boomerangs.
Many Aborginies died in 18th century protecting their land before first white settlers. Today only about 100 000 survive. Australian government has
recently given them some land back. It lies between the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Indian Ocean in the west.
Its nearest neighbour
in the north is New Quinea, in the east New Zealand; Tasmania in the
south is an island of the same size as England. Along the east coast we can see the Great Barrier Reef, the biggest coral
reef on the Earth, one of the greatest tourist atraction in Australia.
GEOGRAPHY
Australia
lies in southern hemisphere. The Australian climate varies from warm to subtropical. Two fifths of Australian continent lie within the tropical belt
and three fifths of Australia lie in the subtropical belt. About 80 % of Australian areas suffer from drought, so that’s why are many deserts
there. There are 4 great deserts in central Australia: the Great Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert and
Simson Desert.
There is one special desert with with red sand – Ayers Rock, the largest piece
of the stone in the world. The North East suffers from heavy rainfalls and Cape York Peninsula is covered with jungles. The tropical forests in
the north and north – east is covered with foersts of eucalyptus and other evergreen trees. In the Pacific Ocean there is the Great
Barrier Reef. It is on the east of the north coast. The east coast is bordered by Australian Cordilleras. Its
highest point is Mt. Kosciusko (2.228 m) which lies in the Australian Alps. In the cenral
Australian Lowlands there are Great Artesian Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin. In
the Lake Eyre there is the lowest point of the continent. It is 16 metres below the sea – level. This lake is the largest in
Australia. The second largest lake is the Lake Torrens and then Lake Gairdner. The largest
Australian river is Murray and the second one is the Darling, flows to
the Murray.
FAUNA + FLORA
Australian continent was isolated by oceans for many years and it had developed
its own unique flora and fauna:
The spectrum of Australia’s native flowers is enormous and nowadays is a huge interest in
their cultivation (= pěstování) and conservation (= ochranu) with National parks and Reserves troughout the country growing. Australia’s best
known native trees are the gum= eucalypt and the wattle = acatia.
Australian eucalypts are growing in
many other countries: e.g. Central Asia, California. One species, jarrah (= blahovičník), is among world’s hardest woods and is
used for railway ties (= pražce). The word „ecucalypt“ is derived from the Greek: EU = well, KALYPTO = I cover.
The wattle or acacia is loved and has become recognized as Australia’s national floral emblem. There are
more than 600 species of wattle, most of them native to Australia and all produce striking golden blossom.
unique animals for Australia:
Kangaroo is regarded (= považován) as the National Emblem.There are
about 45 million kangoroos in Australia.
Koala bears is the most popular marsupial(= vačnatec) in the world. The
koala sleeps a great deal in the day and in between its snaps (= spánek) it eats about one kilogram of eucalyptus leaves a day.
Platypusys (= ptakopysk) a small furry animal which has brak and feet like a duck and a flat tail, it is adapted for life in
the water where it feeds mainly on insects, worms (= červ).
Kookaburras (= ledňáček) is the world’s
largest kingfisher and everyone’s favourite bird. It is well – known for its extraordinary laughing call, taken over as the signal of Radio
Australia. Othe Australian animals are phalangers (= kuskus), wombats, dingos, gliders (= vakoplšík),
echidnas (= ježura), emus parrots, black swans, etc. Some animals were brought to Australia. They are
sheep and rabbits. Now rabbits are a big danger for Australian farmers.
The official
title of Australia 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. She is represented by the Governor General.
Australia is divided into six states: New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria
(Melbourne), Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adelaide), Western
Australia (Perth), Tasmania (Hobart); and three territories: Australian
Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Coral Sea Islands territory. The capital of Australia is
Canberra. Canberra is the seat of the Federal Parliament. It is divided into the Senate and the
House of Representatives. The Australian national flag consists of the British flag symbol and a larger blue field where is 6 stars.
But in Australia there are much larger cities than Canberra.
They are for example:
Sydney
is the oldest city in Australia and the capital of New South Wales. It is the largest Australian city, a major port in the South Pacific and major
trading centre. Sydney’s best-known landmark is The Sydney Opera House, which stands on the harbour surrounded by water on
three sides. It was designed by danish architect Utzon. Opera House was completed in 1973. It contains a concert hall for
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a large theathre for Australian Opera and Ballet and a
small theathre for plays, a cinema, a library and exhibiton
halls. It is a real centre of art.
Another very famous thing in Sydney is steel arch bridge designed by
Ralph Freeman and completed in 1932. It is also to climb the Bridge with professional team to the top.
Other
cities: Darwin, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart etc.
Austalia belongs to hihgly
developed countries of the world. It is rich in gold, silver, iron, oil, coal etc. It is also the greatest producer of wool in the world.
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