Australia-The land
Down Under
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Kate Yatskivska
Inna Slukovska
Tanya Tsiopich
Kate Burla
Marina Yaremchuk
Elvira Zhvalyuk
Olha Kozeruk
Olga Lusyuk
• Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square
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kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is on the IndoAustralian Plate. Surrounded by the Indianand
Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by
the Arafura and Timor seas. The world's smallest
continent and sixth largest country by total area,
Australia – owing to its size and isolation – is often
dubbed the 'island continent and variably
considered the world's largest island Australia has
34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline and
claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of
8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi).
By far the largest part of Australia is desert or
semi-arid lands commonly known as the outback.
Australia is the flattest continent, with the oldest
and least fertile soils, and is the driest inhabited
continent. Only the south-east and south-west
corners of the continent have a temperate climate.
The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square
kilometre, is among the lowest in the world,
although a great proportion of the population lives
along the temperate south-eastern coastline.
The landscapes of the northern part of the
country, with a tropical climate, consist of
rainforest, woodland, grassland, mangrove
swamps, and desert. The climate is significantly
influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian
Ocean Dipole and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation,
which is correlated with periodic drought, and the
seasonal tropical low pressure system that
produces cyclones in northern Australia.
Who Discovered Australia ?
The Dutch were the first Europeans to visit
Australia. Many navigators found themselves
on the west coast of Australia. But the Dutch
did not know how far east the land stretched,
and in 1642 Captain Abel Tasman was sent
out to discover what lay in the east. Tasman
sailed too far south and did not see the
mainland, but he visited the island now called
Tasmania in his honour .
No careful explorations of the continent were
made for another century or so. Then in 1770
the English captain James Cook named it New
South Wales and reported back to England
that much of New South Wales looked good
for settlement. In May ,1787 , the first group of
convicts and a few soldiers ( 11 ships and 500
men ) made the trip from England to Australia
.Many convicts earned their freedom and
stayed on in Australia.
A lot of free English settlers saw the
opportunities of the new continent ,several
free colonies were founded at the beginning of
the 19th century . The six early colonies grew
and became states of modern Australia:New
South Wales ,Victoria,Queensland ,South
Australia ,Western Australia , and Tasmania (
the island state ).
The population of Australia is
about 15 million. Most of the
population lives in the cities of the
east since the great deserts of
central Australia occupy 2 million
sqr kilometers.
The aboriginal people represent
not much more than one percent
of the nation’s population but
occupy an important place in its
culture. After all they’ve inhabited
the continent for at least 40,000
years. Some historians even
believe that they came here
100,000 years ago.
Politics of Australia
The Politics of Australia take place
within the framework of parliamentary
democracy. Australia is a federation and
a constitutional monarchy, and
Australians elect state and territory
legislatures based on the Westminster
tradition, as well as a bicameral
Parliament of Australia, which is a
hybrid of Westminster practices with the
uniquely federalist element of the
Australian Senate.
Legislative branch
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of
Australia consists of two chambers:
The House of Representatives has 150
members, elected for a three year term in
single-seat constituencies with a system
of alternative vote known as full
preferential voting.
The Senate has 76 members, elected
through a preferential system in 12-seat
state constituencies and two-seat
territorial constituencies with a system of
single transferable vote. Electors choose
territorial senators for a three-year term.
The state senators serve for a six-year
term, with half of the seats renewed every
three years.
Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Australian Labor Party
The executive branch
Reflecting the influence of the
Westminster tradition of British
government, Australian
government Crown ministers are
drawn from among the elected
members of parliament.[3] The
government is formed by the
party or parties that have the
confidence of the majority of
members of the House of
Representatives. In practice, this
has equated to the party or
coalition of parties that holds a
majority of seats in that chamber.
Political parties in Australia today
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a
social democratic party founded by the
Australian labour movement and
broadly represents the urban working
class, although it increasingly has a
base of middle class support. The
Australian Labor Party currently
governs.
Malcolm Turnbull MP,
Opposition Leader of
Australia and leader of the
Liberal Party
National Symbols
Australian National Dress
An article from Australia's
Culture and Recreation
Portal about modern
Australian national dress.
While Australia has no single
uniform national costume, an
Australian national dress
style, based on specific local
dress styles, has emerged in
response to climate, lifestyle
and identity. Links to online
resources are provided.
Floral Emblem
Australia's national floral emblem is the golden wattle
(Acacia pycnantha Benth). This page contains further
information about the significance, history, proclamation and
use of the national floral emblem.
Australian National Flag
This page describes the
protocol relating to flying
the Australian flag.
Includes how to fly the
flag, half masting,
commercial use of the
flag and the history of the
flag. It also links to
images and templates of
the flag that users can
download.
Canberra
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Canberra is the federal capital of Australia
/1927/. It is also the administrative center
of New South Wales. Its population is
280,000. The city is situated in a wide valley,
scattered wit gum trees on the both sides of
the dark blue Lake Griffin. The city was
planned by an American architect. It is a
“cyclist’s paradise.” Canberra is home of the
Australian National University and the
University of Canberra, Australian’s
Parliament/1988/, a National Gallery, the
National Library, the National Science and
Technology Center, the High Court and the
Old Parliament and 75 embassies.
Cities of Australia
Australia consists of 26 cities, along with the capital city
Canberra. Each cities have their own significance, in
terms of their, locality, population, tourist attractions etc.
Sydney, Australia is the largest populated city in the
world, holds a 4,200,000 number of populace within its
metropolitan area. Melbourne, Victoria, Brisbane and
Sydney are the important Australian cities that posses
cricket grounds, for international tournaments. Australianattraction is incomplete without its beautiful beaches;
especially Queensland beaches are famous for both of its
eye-catching beauty and dangerous marine stingers.
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Some of the important Australian cities include:Sydney
Brisbane
Canterbury
Darebin
Gold coast
Southern Coast
Central Coast
Melbourne
Adelaide
Hobart
Melbourne
Perth
WaggaWagga
Sydney & Melbourne
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Sydney is the capital city of South New
Wales. Population of Sydney is over 3.5
million. It has few thousands of
aborigines. Sydney is Australia’s oldest
city. Sydney also is the most modern
place in Australia. It is one of the world’s
most attractive cities. Its heart is Circular
Quay. The famous Sydney Opera House
looks like waves when they break on the
beach. It was designed by the Danish
architect Jorn Utson. Sydney is a city of
beautiful parks and an outstanding zoo.
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Melbourne is the second largest city of
Australia, is located on the Yarra River
which flows through the city. Melbourne
was the capital of the country till 1917.
There are some places of interest in
Melbourne. They are the House of
Parliament, Melbourne University,
Olympic Stadium, libraries. There are
several parks and often grounds for
public recreation, and among these the
Botanic Garden deserves special notice
because of its beauty.
Economy of
Australia
Australia is an important producer and
exporter of primary product. It leads the
world in wool production and is significant
supplier of grains, diary products, meat,
sugar and fruit. Australia is famous for its
sheep and almost all of Australia’s wool has
traditionally been exported.
Australia is among the major producers of
minerals and metals. It is rich in black coal,
bauxite, ores of iron, copper, nickel, lead,
zinc, marganese, uranium and gold.
Most of the factories are situated near big
cities. There are five big cities in Australia:
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and
Brisbane. These cities are also the country's
main ports.
Australian flora and fauna