Australia Geography

History:


The earliest European explorers who knew about this country were the
Portuguese, namely Luis Vaes de Torres who sailed between Cape of York and New
Giunea in the 16th century. After him Dutch navigators Dirk Hartog,
Van Diemen and Abel Tasman who mapped much of the coast, but they don\' t try
settling this continent.



No until 1770 landed near today’s Botany bay southerly from Sydney captain
James Cook of the British Royal Navy. His ship was named Endeavour. Scientists
and Botanists during their stay there made many discoveries. After Cook left
Botany Bay he traveled north to the Australian coast suitable for settlement. He
named this land New South Wales. During his stop in Queensland Cook even made
contact with Aborigines.



Geography:


Australia is the only country occupying the whole continent. Covering
area is about 7,6 millions square kilometers. It is the sixth largest country in
the world after Russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil. The coastline is 36
000 kilometers long. Australia is bounded by Pacific Ocean to the east, the
Arafura sea to the north and the Indian Ocean to the west.



The highest mountain is Mt. Kosciusko (2 228 meters) and is situated between
South Wales and Victoria. The fertile coastline surround dry and inhospitable
center - the Outback. On this place are many salt lakes but beautiful mountains
like McDonnel Ranges near Alice Springs, Flinders Ranges in South Australia and
mysterious rock formations Ayers Rock, Mt. Olga or Mt. Augustus. The longest
river is Darling measuring 1736 km and originating in Queenland.



Climate:



Australian seasons are the opposite to ours. Summer starts in December,
Autumn in March and so on. Australia has a wide range of climates but without
extremes (the average temperatures are from 23 to 26 ° C). Except southern
areas.



Flora and Fauna:


It\' s possible to see various kinds of animals and flowers, thanks to
isolation of Australia for more than 55 million years. The character of
Australia’s fauna and flora could not be found anywhere else in the world. You
can meet there egg lying mammals (platypus, echidna or spiny anteater). Other
typical animals are wombats, koalas, kangaroos or carnivorous Tasmanian Devil.
The Great Barrier Reef along the east coast of Queenland is the longest and the
biggest complex of living coral system in the world.



Cities


Nearly 90 per cent of the population live in the cities along the coast. The
largest and the most populous is Sydney (3,8 million people), followed by
Melbourne (3 mil.). The third largest is Brisbane (1,5 mil.), followed by Perth
(1,2 mil.), Adelaide (1,07 mil.), Canberra (is main city with 300 000 peoples),
Hobart (195 000) and Darwin (82 000).There are tendencies to build multistory
office blocks in central business districts, and gleaming glass and concrete
towers dominate the skyline in most capital cities. All state capital cities are
built either on or very near the water, even Canberra, although an inland city,
is dominated by lake Burley Griffin.



Aboriginal history and culture:


Aborigines have been living on the continent for last 50 million years,
originally migrating from Indonesia. The oldest skeleton found in Australia was
38 000 years old. Aborigines from Torres Islands are one of the oldest
civilization in the world. They have no written history and from their culture
there remain only fragments like ground sculpture, body painting, wood carving
and bark painting, combined with rich oral tradition.



Art and Culture:


The Australians are a nation of festival-goers. You can open any city
paper and you will find performances by chamber orchestras, opera, avant-garde
plays, Shakespearean classics, world music, the big hits from Broadway, dance,
Aboriginal culture, comedy cabaret, art shows and many others.



Australia literature is one of the vital branches and authors have won many
awards. Australians are one of the nations buying most books and magazines in
the world.



Australian films are making a big international impact (great success of
movie named Crocodile Dundee).



An architectural masterpiece and Australia’s foremost tourist attraction,
the Sydney Opera House is one of the busiest performing arts centers in the
world. All forms of performing arts are represented. Around 3000 events and
performances are staged each year in four venues, attracting audiences of
approximately two million.



Transport:


Althought Australia is a vast country it is easily explored by plane,
sail and coach. The oldest airline service is Quantas - they have in sign a
flying kangaroo on its red tail.



Trains operate in all states except Tasmania. The longest straight stretch of
railway in the world is Sydney-Pertham (478,4 km).



Australia has about 70 ports of commercial significance and it trades with
more than 200 countries around the world.



Communications and Media:


There are more than 1200 magazines and newspapers. The oldest was
printed in 1831.



First Radio began operating in 1912, and the first television station working
from 1956. Now there are 41 TV stations and 3 satellite stations and something
aboot 260 radio stations.



Education:


The first school in Australia was set up in Sydney in 1789 and the
University of Sydney was established in 1850. Education is compulsory for
children from 5 to 15 years. Even Children in Australia Outback are educated by
radio station School of the Air and their homework is sent by post



Political system:


Australia is an independent state in British Commonwealth of Nations. The
head of state is Governor.



Australia is a federal state consisting of six states, two territories and
each state has its own government and its own capital city, is it: Western
Australia (Perth), Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne),
South Australia (Adelaide), Tasmania (Hobart) and the Northern Territory and
Australian Capital Territory. The capital city is Canberra. However, Sydney is
the oldest, largest, the most beautiful and the most modern city. It is the main
port and the capital of New South Wales. Its population is 3,7 million people.
Sydney is dominated by the Harbor Bridge whose arch is 134 meters over water
level. The next interest is a Opera House designed by a Danish architect. It
stands it the harbor and looks exceptional.



Economy:


Australia is a rich country: iron ore, oil, natural gas, and coal are found
there, but also gold, silver and other precious metals. Is a greatest producer
of the wool in the world. Its second biggest export is wheat, other exports are
beef, mutton, and minerals.