Australia is shaped by its colonial legacy, vast Outback interior, and Great Barrier Reef. Aboriginal settlers arrived over 40,000 years ago, followed by British colonization in the 18th century who used Australia as a penal colony. Today most Australians live in urban southeast coastal areas, while the sparsely populated Outback interior covers much of the continent, which is home to unique flora and fauna like kangaroos and the world's largest coral reef.

3. Factors Which Shaped Australia:
 1. The Colonial Legacy
 2. The Outback
 3. The Great Barrier Reef

4. The Continent
 It’s the only country that’s also a
continent
 It’s the smallest continent
 It’s the flattest continent
 It’s a tectonically active continent

6. Natives of
Australia

7. From Colonization to Urbanization
 Aboriginal settlers arrived on the
continent from Southeast Asia about
40,000 years before the first Europeans
began exploration in the 17th century.
No formal claims were made until 1770,
when Capt. James Cook took
possession in the name of Great Britain.

8. Colonization and Urbanization
 The British first used Australia as a
prison colony because of the lack of
prison space in the United Kingdom.
 British posts were set up around the
perimeter of the “Outback”; which was
where prisoners were kept. These
posts grew into cities as more British
ventured to Australia (gold was found
there). Eventually, these developed
into the major cities of Australia.

9. The Outback
 The Outback is a physical “no-mans land”. Also
called “The Bush”, the environment is not as
human friendly as Australia’s coasts are.
 Population numbers of the Outback are very
low.
 And because of the physically rugged land,
there are few towns.

10. Ayres Rock in Uluru Park

11. Outback campground at night

12. Crystal Shower Falls, Dorrigo National Park

13. Animals & Vegetation
 Rainforests in the northeast
 Steppe & deserts in the Outback
 More than 130 species of marsupials
(kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabys)
 Great Barrier Reef is home to diverse
species as well

18. People
 Aborigines: native peoples of Australia
(517,000 live in Australia now)
 Most people live in southeast Australia
near Sydney and Melbourne (it rains
there)
 85% of population lives in urban areas
 Very high standard of living

19. Aborigines

20. Sydney’s Opera House

21. Melbourne’s Cricket Stadium

22. Uluru Aboriginal Art
(Ayers Rock)

23. Outback Roads

24. Great Barrier Reef
 The Great Barrier Reef off the northeast
coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is
threatened by increased shipping and its
popularity as tourist site. Has numerous
species of fish, marine mammals, as well as
aquatic plants and corals.
 One section of the reef, Dangerous Reef, has
one of worlds greatest population of great
white sharks.

25. Great Barrier Reef
 Almost the size of Montana
 Over 2,000 species of fish, 4,000
species of mollusk, 250 species of
shrimp, 400 species of coral are in the
reef
 New species found EVERY YEAR!

26. Great
Barrier
Reef

27. Great
Barrier
Reef

28. Vocab Game