AUSTRALI A
BASIC INFORMATION
Official name Commonwealth of Australia
Population 19.7 million
Total area 7,686,850 sq km
Capital Canberra
Federal parliamentary state
Form of government
(formally a constitutional monarchy)
Head of state and government Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (Labour Party)
Official languages English
Date of independence January 1st, 1901
Monetary unit Australian dollar
National anthem Advance Australia Fair
GEOGRAPHY
Australia is the smallest continent, situated in the Southern Hemisphere between the Pacific
and the Indian Oceans. Its nearest neighbour in the north is New Guinea from which Australia is
separated by 85 km wide Torres Strait. Australia is the only country that occupies a whole continent
and it is the sixth largest country of the world after Russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil -
7,682,300 sq km.
The oval shape of Australia is broken by the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north and by the Great
Australian Bight in the south. Along the east coast we can see the Great Barrier Reef, which is the
biggest coral reef on the Earth.
The nearest islands are - besides Tasmania which lies 240 km to the south - King Island and
Flinders Island in the Bass Strait, Kangaroo Island in the Gulf of St. Vincent, Melville Island in the
north and Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The surface of Australia is mostly flat, only one twentieth of the whole continent is higher than
600 m above the sea level. The Great Western Plateau occupies nearly half of the continent. In
central Australia there are three deserts - the Great Sandy Desert, the Gibson Desert and the Great
Victoria Desert. The highest parts of this area are just over 1,000 m (Mt. Meharry 1,251 m high).
The second part is the Central-Eastern Lowland - a flat area lower than 100 m above the sea
level. It is mostly covered by tropic forest and savannah with occasional creeks and rivers, which flow
into lakes such as Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner (large lakes which become dry in
the dry seasons). The eastern part of the Central-Eastern Lowland is made up of lowland with the
biggest river system (the Murray and the Darling rivers) in Australia.
The third basic Australian area are the Australian Cordilleras which are along the eastern
coast of Australia (and continue to Tasmania). Their northern part - the Great Dividing Range -
begins on the York Peninsula. The New England Range and the Blue Mountains continue to the
Australian Alps with the highest mountain of the whole continent (Mt. Kosciusko 2,228 m high).
The biggest towns and cities are mostly along the coast of Australia, the two biggest - Sydney
and Melbourne - on the south-east coast.
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT
Spending Christmas at the beach or skiing in August may seem strange but the fact is,
Australia's seasons are the opposite of the northern hemisphere - summer starts in December,
autumn in March, winter in June and spring in September. Due to its size, geographical location and
the lack of high mountain ranges Australia has a wide range of climates but generally no extremes.
The average temperature ranges from 23-26ºC above the Tropic of Capricorn with the southern areas
more temperate.
Australia has more than 2,000 national parks and nature reserves, protected wilderness areas
of natural and environmental importance - desert landscapes, high mountains, coastal dunes and
rainforests. Beyond the big cities the air is so clean that it is rarely experienced elsewhere in the
world. There are still areas of Australia that have not been explored. Australia has many national
parks - Kakadu NP, Uluru, the Wet Tropics of north Queensland.
POPULATION
The population of Australia is some 19 million. 95 per cent of inhabitants are of British origin, 3
per cent are made by other European ethnic groups and 1.5 per cent are Aborigines.
The density is one of the lowest in the world - only 2 people to 1 sq. km. Around 85 per cent
people live in urban areas mainly along the south-east coast. Deserts and the tropical northern part
are practically uninhabited.
Until the late 20th century the population of Australia was remarkably homogeneous because
of restrictions to non-European immigration. In fact, most Australians were of British and white
Commonwealth origin. The principal religion was and remains Christianity (76%), with Roman
Catholics and Anglicans predominating.
Australia's racist admission policy was officially terminated in 1973, and now there is a much
more cosmopolitan mix, with many new immigrants from Asia. There are also small communities from
Greece, Germany and the former Yugoslavia. Life expectancy is 75 for male and 80 for female.
LANGUAGE
Australian English (called "Strine") and aboriginal languages are spoken here. In Australian English
a lot of words are made by shortening everyday words because Australians prefer short words: Oz -
Australia
postie - postman
Aussie - Australian
surfie - person who loves surfing
footy - football.
barbie – barbecue
ABORIGINES
When the first white people from Europe came to Australia, about 300,000 Australian Aborigines (or
Aboriginals) were living there. It is generally thought that Aborigines have been living on the continent
for the last 50,000 years, originally migrating from Indonesia. The oldest skeleton found in Australia
was at Lake Mungo in south-west New South Wales, believed to be 38,000 years old and bears
traces of ceremonial ochre.
Aborigines did not develop a sense of land ownership, although Aboriginal children were taught
from an early age that they belonged to the land and must respect tribal boundaries. Tribes returned
to particular sites to bury their dead. Some areas were designated sacred sites because of their
association with the Dreamtime, the time when the earth was formed and cycles of life and nature
were initiated.
Aboriginal legends, songs and dances tell us about powerful spirits who created the land and
people during the Dreamtime. There was no written Aboriginal language and, in fact, most of the 600
tribes spoke different dialects and rarely met except on ceremonial occasions. The tradition of the
Dreamtime was a unifying force and rock paintings depicting this creation period can be found dotted
throughout the country. Some of the most striking and best preserved of these can be seen at rock
galleries in Kakadu National Park and other parts of northern Australia.
The Aborigines originally lived as hunters using boomerangs and other similar instruments for
hunting. They understood and loved their land. But the Europeans wanted it, and to get it they
persecuted the Aborigines. Many of them died. Now there are about 228,000 Aborigines. They live in
government reserves or missions, but also in some cities and few continue their nomadic ways. They
remain on the fringes of society: they are poor and often have the lowest paid job.
Since the 1980s they have been granted some areas, mostly in the centre of the country. In
recent years, white Australians have become more sensitive to the difficult situation of Aborigines,
resulting in increased health and educational services, greater recognition of Aboriginal land rights
and a growing appreciation of Aboriginal culture. Specialised galleries display Aboriginal art, tools,
musical instruments and artefacts. These are highly valued by collectors all over the world.
HISTORY
The first Europeans - the Dutch ship Duyfken ("little dove") under the command of Willem
Jansz - sighted the western coast of Cape York in 1606. The Spanish ship of Luis Vaez de Torres
sailed north of Cape York and through the Torres Strait. Later voyagers include Abel Tasman,
William Dampier, and Dirk Hartog.
The wave of immigration began in 1788, after Captain James Cook
had claimed New South Wales as a British colony in 1770. The continent
was inhabited by a variety of different tribes.
The first immigration was a special one. On May 13, 1787, the "First
Fleet" set out from England on the way to Australia, having on the board
1,030 people, of whom 700 were convicts. The commander of this fleet -
Arthur Philip - landed in Botany Bay and became the first governor of this
colony. For 40 years the region around Sydney and Tasmania Island were
the only parts of Australia which were colonized. The convict system lasted
till 1866, when it was officially abolished in the last colony in Australia - in
Western Australia.
The creation of other separate colonies followed the first settlement
in New South Wales at Sydney in 1788: Tasmania in 1825, Western
Australia in 1829, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The convicts'
contribution to the economic foundation of the country as well as to the language spoken in Australia
was considerable.
The gold rushes of the 1850s (Bathurst near Sydney and Ballarat and Bendigo in the state of
Victoria) and 1890s (Coolgardie in Western Australia and Kalgoorlie, where the gold mines are until
now) contributed to the exploration as well as to the economic and constitutional growth of Australia.
The idea of independence appeared as early as in the first half of the 19th century. The
proposition of a federal constitution was made in 1891. The British Parliament agreed with this
constitutional law and on September 17, 1900, Queen Victoria proclaimed the Commonwealth of
Australia to be founded from January 1, 1901. The first capital was Melbourne.
Australia played an important role in both World Wars. After WW I Australia had a strongly
developed economy. The economic crisis in the 1930s lasted relatively shortly. In World War II
Australian troops fought e.g. in the Near East.
About 3 million Europeans had entered Australia since 1945. Aborigines and part-aborigines are
mostly detribalised but there are several preserves in the Northwest Territory. They remain
economically disadvantaged.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
The official title is the Commonwealth of Australia and it is an independent sovereign state
within The British Commonwealth of Nations. It has a democratic, federal system and the head of
state is the British King or Queen (Elizabeth II at present) represented by the Governor-General. The
head of government is the Prime Minister. The constitution came into effect on January 1, 1901.
The Commonwealth of Australia consists of 6 states and 2 territories:
New South Wales (capital Sydney)
Victoria (capital Melbourne)
Queensland (capital Brisbane)
South Australia (capital Adelaide)
Western Australia (capital Perth)
Tasmania (capital Hobart)
Australian Capital Territory - it is a part of the country surrounding Australia's capital Canberra,
which had been chosen and built up as the capital of the whole country.
Northern Territory is thinly populated, however there is a strong urge now to change it into the
seventh state (about 140,000 people live here).
Each state has its own constitution, governor (the monarch's representative), executive,
legislative and judicial system. Each territory has its own legislative assembly.
Legislativepower
The Federal Parliament has its seat in Canberra and consists of two chambers: the elected Senate of
76 members (12 for each state and 2 for each territory); and the House of Representatives of 148
members. Senators serve for six years, and members of the House for three years. The main political
parties are the Liberal Party, the National Party (normally in coalition), the Australian Labour Party,
and the Australian Democrats.
Nationalsymbols
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 symbolizes 6 Australian states and 1 territory.
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Basically we can say that school attendance is compulsory from the age of five or six until the
age of fifteen (sixteen in Tasmania). About 72 per cent of school children attend free, government-
funded schools, mostly coeducational. Australia also has private fee-paying schools, many of them
run by religious bodies.
Pre-school education The pre-school centres are attended by children from the age of four
and provide 2.5-3 hours of education a day. The children in isolated areas may use the services of
mobile kindergartens. In bigger towns there are day nurseries and day-care centres providing whole-
day care.
Primary education Primary schools provide education for children up to the age of 12 (or 13).
Secondary schools The primary schools are followed by secondary schools which are mostly
in the form of co-educational comprehensive high school. Some states have specialized secondary
schools. Students have the choice of leaving school at 15 or continuing on to 17 or 18 to seek a
certificate qualifying them for entry into university or a college of further education. Other possibilities
are area and rural schools which last 3 years. After 3 or 4 years of attending the secondary school the
children may either take a job or continue studying for two more years and pass a school-leaving
exam, which gives them the right to enter university or other forms of tertiary education. Primary and
secondary education is free of charge.
Tertiary education The tertiary education in financed by the Federal Government. In Australia
there are 19 universities - the biggest one is the Australian National University in Canberra. The
University of Sydney ranks among the oldest in Australia. Colleges of Advanced Education provide
specialized education following the needs of industry, trade etc. The students are supported by the
government in the form of various scholarships and grants but they also contribute to the cost of their
education either by paying in advance or applying for a government loan that must be repaid when
they enter the workforce.
Correspondence school Children living far from school or disabled children may be excused
from school attendance, but they are educated through Correspondence School and School of the Air
(mutual communication of the school children and teachers in the centres through radio and TV).
Children listen, talk to their teachers and ask questions over the radio. They write exercises and do
homework which is sent off by post to be corrected. They meet their teachers only once a year, at a
summer camp.
The school year The school year starts at the end of January or the beginning of February
and finishes in the middle of December, being interrupted by two shorter holidays which divide the
school year into three parts.
NATIONAL ECONOMY AND TRANSPORTATION
Australia belongs to the highly developed countries of the world. The living standard there is
very high.Main industries are iron, steel, textiles, electrical equipment, chemicals, car, aircraft, ship
and machinery.Australia belongs to the top exporters of beef, lamb, wool and wheat, although only 9
per cent of land is arable. Other agricultural items are barley, oats, hay, sugar, wine, fruit and
vegetables.Sheep and cattle farmers live on isolated farms called stations in Australia. The farmers
do not often go to the towns or see their neighbours who live more than one hundred miles away.
They contact their friends, business partners and shopkeepers by means of radio. Radio is very
important for them.
Australia is well known for the mineral deposits there - bauxite (the first in the world, 32% of the
world production), coal, copper, iron, lead, nickel, silver, tin, uranium and zinc ores.
Only 7 per cent of the population work in agriculture, 30 per cent in industry and trade and 32.6
per cent in services. The main trading partners are Japan, the USA, the UK and New Zealand.
Currency used in Australia is Australian Dollar.
Also Australia is a vast country it is easily explored by plane, rail and coach. The need to
overcome long distances contributed to the development of transport that has evolved rapidly and
Australia has made many advances in this field. About 810,000 km of roads and 40,000 km rail
networks span the continent.
About 9 million vehicles use Australian roads. The wearing of seatbelts, safety helmets, strict
drink-driving laws, random breath testing of motorists and constant improvement of roads have
contributed to the reduction of road accidents.
Trains operate in all states except Tasmania and there are interstate lines offering exciting
journeys into the Outback or along the east coast. On the Indian Pacific, a trans-continental railway
journey, that bridges the distance between Sydney and Perth, you can experience the famous "Long
Straight", 478.4 kilometres of unbending track between Ooldea and Nurina on the Nullarbor Plain.
This is the world's longest straight stretch of railway.
CITIES
Sydney
Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is Australia's oldest and
largest city with a population of around 4 million. Sydney is built
around a huge harbour and has many tourist attractions as well as a
number of beaches, bays and a couple of national parks. The city is
divided into North and South by the Sydney Harbour, with both
Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel connecting them.
Most of the tourist attractions are in the South part of the city.The
best known attraction is probably The Opera House. A shopper's
dream, Sydney's Central Business District is home to some of the
best shopping centres in the city. There is something for everyone
with over 400 specialty stores in just 8 retail centres. Pitt Street Mall
is where you will find the popular re-branded Myer Store.
There are a number of Southern beaches good for surfing, the main
and most famous being Bondi Beach.
The Blue Mountains, near Sydney, offer spectacular scenery, plantlife and wildlife. The
mountains reach a height of 1100m, and have their name due to
the blue haze that is above the mountains produced by the oil
from the Eucalyptus trees. The Blue Mountains National Park
offers great walking trails and is still relatively untouched
similar to the other national parks in the Blue Mountains.
Melbourne
Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria, is set around the shores of Victoria's Port
Phillip Bay and has a lively and cosmopolitan atmosphere, with chic boutiques, buzzy cafés
and bars, perfect gardens and festivals and popular sporting events (Melbourne Cup, the
Australian Open Tennis). Waves of immigration from all over the world – mostly from the
United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, China, Vietnam and Eastern Europe - have turned Melbourne
into an exciting, cosmopolitan city.
Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive
tram network and Victorian parks and gardens. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer
Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Alice
Springs
In Brisbane, the capital of the state Queensland, you
can still find stilt houses – wooden houses on tall posts
which let cool air underneath the house.
Canberra – an Aboriginal word for „meeting place“ is the newest city. It is also different
from the other cities because it is a long way from the sea, about 120 km. It was designed by
an American, Walter Friffin in 1912 and became the capital in 1927.
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, has a famous festival of music, theatre and film
every two years.
Alice Springs, located in Northern Territory, is famous
for its unusual boat race, which is every year on the Todd
River. The river is nearly always dry, so special boats
without bottoms are prepared for the race. The boatsmen
stand inside them and carry the boats as they run along
the dry river bed.
The outback
The flat, hot centre of Australia is called the outback. It comprises more than two thirds of
Australia, but its population is less than 100,000. Many people live on sheep or cattle
stations, which are enormous farms. The distance between them can be 100 km and so many
things happen through the air. There are the Flying Doctors, who fly to their patients in
helicopters. There is the School of the Air for about 20,000 children. The teachers speak to
them by radio and they send them their homework by post or email. Popular tourist locations
include Alice Springs, Uluru and Darwin. But travel is not easy here due to the vast
distances between places and also the permission which is sometimes required by the
Aborigines to pass through.
Strange and wonderful
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
One of the most beautiful things in Australia is Uluru. It is an
enormous rock, alone in the middle of the desert south-west of
Alice Springs. It is 3 km long and 348 metres high, but there are
another 2,100 metres under the ground. It is 600 million years old
and it is the largest monolite in the world. Thousands of tourists
come to see it every year. the best time to see it is at the end of the
day, when its colour changes from yellow to gold, red and purple.
uluru is a special place for Aborigines and it belongs to the Pitjantjatjara people.
The Great Barrier Reef
It is the longest coral reef with 2,000 km in length.Parts of the
reef are 15,000 years old and 1,500 different kinds of fish live
here. Due to the reefs amazing and spectacular natural beauty the
Great Barrier Reef was declared as a World Heritage Area in
1981. The coral is made by Polyps which are marine animals
from the Cindaria family. When the Polyps die, their skeletons
turn white (which is how you know if coral is alive or dead) and then more Polyps grow on
top of them. It is very popular with tourists, and many tours offer glass bottom boats and
semi-submersible boats, the best way to see the reef is by snorkeling or diving.
Coober Pedy
This place, which is about 960 km north-west of Adelaide, and
which is called „Opal capital of the world“, is a really
extraordinary place. Opals were first found here in 1915, and
now 90 % of the world´s opals come from here. But it is very
dry and hot – between 40 and 50 degrees of Celsius. So most
people live under the ground in houses which are dug out of the
rock. Aboriginal name „Coober Peddy“ actually means „man
who lives in a hole“.
Animals, birds and plants
The kangaroo is an animal that everybody knows. there are about 50 different kinds, the red
kangaroo being the biggest of them . It can measure 2.4 m and run
at 70 km per hour.
Everyone loves the sleepy grey koalas. Like kangaroos they have a
pouch for their babies. they live in eucalyptus trees and sleep for
eighteen hours a day. They drink almost nothing, the word koala
means „no water“.
The echidna and the platypus are found only in Australia. Their
babies are born from eggs but drink milk, no other animal in the
world does anything like this. The echidna eats ants, which it
catches with its long tongue. the platypus has a wide bill like a
duck and a wide flat tail. It is a good swimmer, but it can stay
under water for a few minutes.
There are more than 800 kinds of birds here, but the emu is the best known.. It is 2m tall and
is the second largest bird in the world.It cannot fly but can run at 50 km an hour. Sometimes
people ride on their back and have races!
The kookaburra is known for its cry which sounds like someone
laughing.
Eucalyptus trees are found everywhere in Australia, and one kind, the great
mountain ash, can grow to 120 metres in length.
Last but not least, there are the sheep and the cattle. They are not the original inhabitants of
Australia, they were brought here by the immigrants. They bring Australia a lot of money –
wool, meat and milk are the most important exports.
