Australia and Oceania
Warm-up 5/20
Warm-up 5/20
1. What landmark is this?
1. Sydney Opera house
2. Where is it located?
1. Sydney, Australia
3. Which culture created it?
1. Australians- The Government authorized work to
begin in 1958.
4. Why/when was this landmark created?
1. It is a multi-venue performing arts center. It opened
in 1973.
5. What defining characteristics standout to you?
Geography Facts:
Australia
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Canberra is the National Capital.
Australia is 3 million square miles
Ranks as the 6th largest country
Australia is the smallest continent
The shoreline of Australia is 22,800 miles long.
Australia is the driest and flattest continent.
Landforms
• Great Dividing Range
– They begin in the NE
and stretch to the SE.
– To the west the
mountains create a
rain shadow.
– This rain shadow
region is made of
semiarid plateaus
and deserts.
• Fertile Plains
– Located in the east
and SE.
– Most of Australia’s
population lives in
this region.
– This area is excellent
for farming.
• Ayers Rock
– It is a huge
reddish-brown
• The Outback
rock.
– A huge central
– It rises over 1000
plain region in the
feet and is over 1
middle of the
mile long.
continent.
– It is located in
– Desert and dry
Australia's interior.
grassland
– Home to the Great
Victorian and great
Sandy Desert.
Landforms
Landforms
• Great Barrier Reef
– Near the
northeastern coast of
Australia in the Coral
Sea.
– World’s largest coral
reef.
– Stretches 1500 miles.
– Natural barrier from
the ocean and sea.
• Major Rivers
– Murray and Darling
Rivers
– Most of Australia’s
population and cities
are found along the
two rivers.
– Both located in the
SE portion of
Australia.
Geography Facts: New Zealand
• Consists of three islands
– North Island, South Island,
Stewart Island
 Wide expanses of beaches
 Very green and lush
 Mountainous
Geography Facts: Oceania
 Many volcanic islands spread
throughout the Pacific Ocean
 Part of the Ring of Fire
 Some mountainous, some flat
 Rainforests filled with dense plant
life
 Some dry areas
Landforms
• Mariana Trench
– Deepest part of
any ocean
– Pacific plate
subducted beneath
the Mariana Plate
Climate
 Temperate—
Australia/New Zealand
High levels of
precipitation
Cold winters
Warm to hot summers
 Tropical- Islands
Hot and wet year
round
Trade winds
Tropical Cyclones
Oceania History
Oceania History •
Indigenous peoples
settled into three major
regions
– Micronesia (tiny
islands)
• Mix of people
from Papua and
New Guinea
– Melanesia (black
islands)
• Asian, Indonesian,
Filipino, and
Papuan
• Dark complexion
• Short statured
– Polynesia (many
islands)
Colonization
• 1500s- Europeans explored
the Pacific
• 1800s- Western nations
gained interest in the
region
– Missionaries hoping to
convert to Christianity
– Traders for resources
like coconuts, coffee,
sugar
– Sailors to hunt whales
Australia and New Zealand
History
• Aborigines – natives of Australia
• Maori- natives of New Zealand
– The two are completely unrelated
Colonization
• Europeans explored Southern Pacific during
the 1600 and 1700s
• Australia was colonized by Great Britain
– Originally used as a place to send convicts
and clear populations in prisons
– Eventually became an area to raise sheep
• New Zealand was also settled by England
• Both have rich deposits of gold
Colonization
• Diffusion of many aspects of life
– Religion- Christianity
– Language- English
– Diseases- chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid
– Animals- rabbits
• In 1859 a Brit released 24 rabbits into the
outback so he could hunt them
• Rabbits multiply at a quick rate, by 1900 there
were over 1 billion rabbits in Australia
• Many measures taken to control population
Australia and
Oceania
Politics, Economy, Culture
Australia
• Divided into 6 states and 2 territories
• Parliamentary system of government with a Prime
Minister
• Part of the British Commonwealth
– Recognize Queen of England as monarch
• MDC with a high GDP
• Mostly Christian
New Zealand
• 80% of the population is of
European descent
• Official language is both English
and Maori
• Parliamentary government that is
part of British Commonwealth
• Economy based on industries
– Services, banking, tourism
Melanesia
• Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
Vanatu, New Caledonia, Fiji
• Wide variety of political systems
– Some democratic states
– Fiji has lots of political strife
– New Caledonia is a territory of
France
• Focus on minerals and natural resources
Micronesia
• Palau, Federated States of Micronesia,
Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,
Marshall Islands, Kiribati
• Many government types
– All are linked to the United States in a
Compact of Free Trade or are
territories of the US, except Nauru
and Kiribati
• Economies vary
– Natural resources
– Manufacturing
• Many of these island were used as
nuclear testing sites
Polynesia
• Tuvalu, Tonga, New Zealand Territories, French
Territories, Samoa, American Samoa, technically
Hawaii
• Governing systems vary
– Independent states, constitutional monarchies,
associated nations, democracies
• Economies based heavily on tourism and aid from
outside nations
Other Islands
• Midway Islands- site of
major battle of WWII
• Galapagos Islands- home
of the gigantic tortoises
• Easter Island- known for
the mysterious statues
with big heads and long
ears/noses