Australia
The Land Down Under
Ayers Rock
The Outback
Sydney, Australia
Australia is made up of six states and
two territories.
The 2 territories are The Australian Capital Territory
and the Northern Territory
Australia is about the size of the United States.
18.3 million people
live there, about as
many people as in
New York.
Canberra is the capital of Australia.
Unlike other cities in Australia, Canberra is a planned city.
SS6G12
The student will be able to
locate selected features of
Australia.
a. Locate on a world and regional
political-physical map: the Great
Barrier Reef, Coral Sea. Ayers Rock,
and the Great Victoria Desert
Physical Features of Australia
huge desert plains stretching across the
country’s middle
largest part has semi-arid (dry land) called the
Outback
milder climates along the
southeastern and southwestern
Coasts
larger population in the southern
coastal regions, esp. on the east
coast.
Northern Australia has a tropical climate,
rain forests, mangrove swamps,
grasslands
Gondwana Rainforest,
Australia
Evergreen tree that are can
survive in saltwater
It is the world’s smallest and flattest continent
The Indian Ocean and
Pacific Oceans surround
Australia
Coral Sea
Great Barrier Reef
Physical Regions of Australia
Ayers Rock
Great Victorian Desert
Great Barrier Reef
and the Coral Sea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wbNeIn3vVKM
Great Barrier Reef and
the Coral Sea
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s large Coral
Reef, running more 1200 miles. It lies a short
distance off the northeast coast of Queensland. The
reef is in waters known as the Coral Sea. The reef
contains the world’s largest collection of coral and a
large variety of marine life. There are 400 types of
coral, 1500+ species of fish, and 400 types of
mollusks (snails, clams, octopi, and squid), and rare
animals including the “sea cow” or dugong, and the
large green turtle.
• The Aborigines call it Uluru
• A large monolith rock (a single
large rock sticking out of the
ground) in the flatlands in Uluru-Kata
National Park in the Northern Territory,
in the center of the continent. It is gray
but it appears reddish because its iron
content “rusts” at the surface.
• 12 stories tall
• Six miles around the base
• Named after Sir Henry Ayers, a gov’t
official in the South Australia
Ex. Stone Mountain, Georgia
A
Y
E
R
S
R
O
C
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• Located in the states of South
Australia and Western Australia
• Only get 8-10 inches or rain each
year (no snow)
• Some grasslands with sandhills,
and salt lakes
• Europeans named it after
Britain’s Queen Victoria in 1875
• 160,000 square miles
• Very few people live in there
because it is too hot and dry
GREAT VICTORIA DESERT
Who were the 1st settlers to Australia?
• The first people to live in Australia were
Aborigines who came from Southeast
Asia thousands of years ago.
Australia becomes a colony
• Captain James Cook claimed Australia for
England in 1770.
• It was first used as a prison colony by the
English.
• 6 colonies were created during the 18th &19th
centuries.
Australia becomes a country!!!
• Australia is a member of the Commonwealth
of Nations.
• The Commonwealth, is an organization of
fifty-three independent member states.
• Most of them were formerly parts of the
British Empire.
Government
• Australia is a Constitutional monarchy.
• They are a parliamentary democracy with a
prime minister as head of the government.
• Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the head
of state.
Flag of Australia
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFGvNxBqYF