Australia
Australia lies between the Pacific and Indian oceans. Its capital, Canberra, is in
the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) between New South Wales and Victoria. There
is one other Territory: the Northern Territory (Darwin) and six States: New South
Wales (Sydney), Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adelaide), Victoria
(Melbourne), Western Australia (Perth) and the Island of Tasmania (Hobart).
A large proportion of Australia - the interior or the outback - is desert. Although
much of Australia is flat, low-lying and dry the country has its mountain ranges, rivers
(e.g., Murray River), lakes and underground water reserves.
Forty percent of Australia enjoys a tropical climate but snow falls in the
Australian Alps which lie at the south end of the Great Dividing Range. Overall
Australia has low rainfall though the eastern coastline, cut off from the dry centre by
the Great Dividing Range is green and fertile.
Much of Australia's flora and fauna are unique, left to develop in isolation, since
Australia broke away from the ancient giant continent of Gondwanaland.
Among the special types of animals are the marsupials and the monotremes.
Almost half of the Australian mammals are marsupials - animals which carry their
young in pouches: kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and koalas.
The platypus and the spiny anteater are monotremes - egg-laying mammals.
Monotremes are thought to be a stage in the development of the evolution from
reptiles to mammals.
The dingo, Australia's wild dog, was probably brought to the continent by
Indigenous Australians who are believed to have moved down to Australia from
Southeast Asia thousands of years ago. Other Australian animals are crocodiles,
snakes, lizards and turtles. Birds include cockatoos, emus, kookaburras, lyrebirds,
parrots and black swans.
Two common trees in Australia are the eucalyptus and the acacia. There are
many species of eucalyptus trees which have adapted to the varied growing conditions
on the continent. The acacia (known as wattle) has also adapted well to the dry
conditions.
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, is a breeding ground for
green and loggerhead turtles and home to humpback whales, dolphins and dugongs.
Among the many fish which inhabit Australia's surrounding waters are sharks, rays
and lungfish. The lungfish is unusual because it has lungs as well as a gill breathing
system.
The Indigenous Australians had a special relationship with the land and their
environment - a "oneness" and their way of life had little harmful effect on the
environment. With the arrival of Europeans, environmental problems occurred caused
by land clearing, overgrazing and by the introduction to the continent of animals, such
as rabbits, which have bred rapidly and become pests.
Australia is keen to protect its environment and steps are being taken to preserve
the flora and fauna. The government has designated many areas as National Parks and
there are a number of World Heritage sites in Australia.
Indigenous Australians have lived in Australia for over forty thousand years,
originally migrating to Australia from Southeast Asia.
With the arrival of the Europeans in the eighteenth century many of the
Indigenous Australians died from unfamiliar diseases brought to the continent by the
newcomers. Today, many have abandoned their traditional tribal way of life and live
in the towns and cities.
After the Second World War the Australian government promoted an
immigration programme: over half of the migrants were British; others were Greeks,
Germans, Dutch, Italians and Yugoslavs. Today over ninety percent of the population
are of European descent; others are from Asia and the Middle East.
The Australian population was estimated at 20,434,176 in 2007.
English is the national language of Australia. Seventeen percent of the people
speak other languages. The Australian government provides special help to increase
the learning of Asian languages: Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin.
(from © 1997 - 2007 World InfoZone Ltd)
Questions:
1. How will you describe the geography of Australia?
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2. What’s the climate like in Australia? Why?
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3. What role did the immigration program play in the formation of Australian
population?
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