AUSTRALIA
HISTORY
Australia is the smallest and least densely populated continent on the Earth. The population of
Australia is about 17 million of inhabitants and extens about 8 milion km2. The official
language is English
It was discovered by the Dutch explorer W. Jansz. He landed on the west coast of the Cape
York Penunsula. During the 17th century Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, New Zealand,
Tonga and Fiji. It was called New South Wales. In 1788 the British government established
the first convict colony. In 19th century many setllers went there because of gold. The second
huge wave of Europian setllers came to Australia since 1945 because of war. But the first and
original inhabitants of Australia are called „Aborginies“ speaking hundred languages, who
are famous with their boomerangs. Many Aborginies died in 18th century protecting their
land before first white settlers. Today only about 100 000 survive. Australian government has
recently given them some land back. It lies between the Pacific Ocean in the east and the
Indian Ocean in the west.
Its nearest neighbour in the north is New Quinea, in the east New Zealand; Tasmania in the
south is an island of the same size as England. Along the east coast we can see the Great
Barrier Reef, the biggest coral reef on the Earth, one of the greatest tourist atraction in
Australia.
GEOGRAPHY
Australia lies in southern hemisphere. The Australian climate varies from warm to
subtropical. Two fifths of Australian continent lie within the tropical belt and three fifths of
Australia lie in the subtropical belt. About 80 % of Australian areas suffer from drought, so
that’s why are many deserts there. There are 4 great deserts in central Australia: the Great
Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert and Simson Desert.
There is one special desert with with red sand – Ayers Rock, the largest piece of the stone in
the world. The North East suffers from heavy rainfalls and Cape York Peninsula is covered
with jungles. The tropical forests in the north and north – east is covered with foersts of
eucalyptus and other evergreen trees. In the Pacific Ocean there is the Great Barrier Reef. It
is on the east of the north coast. The east coast is bordered by Australian Cordilleras. Its
highest point is Mt. Kosciusko (2.228 m) which lies in the Australian Alps. In the cenral
Australian Lowlands there are Great Artesian Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin. In the Lake
Eyre there is the lowest point of the continent. It is 16 metres below the sea – level. This lake
is the largest in Australia. The second largest lake is the Lake Torrens and then Lake
Gairdner. The largest Australian river is Murray and the second one is the Darling, flows to
the Murray.
FAUNA + FLORA
Australian continent was isolated by oceans for many years and it had developed its own
unique flora and fauna:
The spectrum of Australia’s native flowers is enormous and nowadays is a huge interest in
their cultivation (= pěstování) and conservation (= ochranu) with National parks and Reserves
troughout the country growing. Australia’s best known native trees are the gum= eucalypt
and the wattle = acatia.
Australian eucalypts are growing in many other countries: e.g. Central Asia, California. One
species, jarrah (= blahovičník), is among world’s hardest woods and is used for railway ties
(= pražce). The word „ecucalypt“ is derived from the Greek: EU = well, KALYPTO = I
cover.
The wattle or acacia is loved and has become recognized as Australia’s national floral
emblem. There are more than 600 species of wattle, most of them native to Australia and all
produce striking golden blossom.
unique animals for Australia:
Kangaroo is regarded (= považován) as the National Emblem.There are about 45 million
kangoroos in Australia.
Koala bears is the most popular marsupial(= vačnatec) in the world. The koala sleeps a great
deal in the day and in between its snaps (= spánek) it eats about one kilogram of eucalyptus
leaves a day.
Platypusys (= ptakopysk) a small furry animal which has brak and feet like a duck and a flat
tail, it is adapted for life in the water where it feeds mainly on insects, worms (= červ).
Kookaburras (= ledňáček) is the world’s largest kingfisher and everyone’s favourite bird. It is
well – known for its extraordinary laughing call, taken over as the signal of Radio Australia.
Othe Australian animals are phalangers (= kuskus), wombats, dingos, gliders (= vakoplšík),
echidnas (= ježura), emus parrots, black swans, etc. Some animals were brought to
Australia. They are sheep and rabbits. Now rabbits are a big danger for Australian farmers.
The official title of Australia is The Commonwealth of Australia and it is a British
dominion. It has a democratic, federal system and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.
She is represented by the Governor General.
Australia is divided into six states: New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne),
Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adelaide), Western Australia (Perth), Tasmania
(Hobart); and three territories: Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Coral Sea
Islands territory. The capital of Australia is Canberra. Canberra is the seat of the Federal
Parliament. It is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Australian
national flag consists of the British flag symbol and a larger blue field where is 6 stars. But in
Australia there are much larger cities than Canberra. They are for example:
Sydney is the oldest city in Australia and the capital of New South Wales. It is the largest
Australian city, a major port in the South Pacific and major trading centre. Sydney’s bestknown landmark is The Sydney Opera House, which stands on the harbour surrounded by
water on three sides. It was designed by danish architect Utzon. Opera House was completed
in 1973. It contains a concert hall for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a large theathre for
Australian Opera and Ballet and a small theathre for plays, a cinema, a library and
exhibiton halls. It is a real centre of art.
Another very famous thing in Sydney is steel arch bridge designed by Ralph Freeman and
completed in 1932. It is also to climb the Bridge with professional team to the top.
Other cities: Darwin, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart etc.
Austalia belongs to hihgly developed countries of the world. It is rich in gold, silver, iron, oil,
coal etc. It is also the greatest producer of wool in the world.