2. Official Name: Commonwealth of Australia
Capital: Canberra
Largest City: Sydney
Main Cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth,
Hobart, Darwin.
Area: 7,692,024 km2(6th), 2,969,907 sq mi (7,692,024 sq km)
Population: 2013 estimate-> 23,016,141. 2011 census->
21,507,717 density->2.8/km2(233rd) 7.3/sq mi
Official Language: None
National Language: English
Money: Australian dollar
Major Mountain Ranges: Great Dividing Range, Macdonnell
Ranges
Major Rivers: Murray-Darling, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan
Telephone Australia's country code is 61
3. About Australia
Australia is the only country that is also a
continent. In area, Australia rank as the sixth
largest country and the smallest continent.
And the name Australia com from the Latin
word. Australia, which means southern. THe
official m=name of the country is the
commonwealth of Australia
4. Government
The commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states governed
under a written constitusion gives certain power to the federal
government and leaves all other powers to the states. Australia
has six states, each with its own government. These states are
New south wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and
Western Australia. Australia also has two mainland territories.
The Australia capital Territory and the Northern and the
Northern Territory. Each territory is responsible for its own
admini stration, the first step toward statehood. But the federal
government must approve major policy changes for the
terrifories
5. GEOGRAPHY
Australia is the only country in the world that covers an entire
continent. It is one of the largest countries on Earth. Although it
is rich in natural resources and has a lot of fertile land, more
than one-third of Australia is desert. Most Australian cities and
farms are located in the southwest and southeast, where the
climate is more comfortable. There are dense rain forests in the
northeast. The famous outback (remote rural areas) contains
the country's largest deserts, where there are scorching
temperatures, little water, and almost no vegetation. Running
around the eastern and southeastern edge of Australia is the
Great Dividing Range. This 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) stretch
of mountain sends water down into Australia's most important
rivers and the Great Artesian Basin, the largest groundwater
source in the world
6. NATURE
Australia's ecosystem is an unusual one because of its remote location. As a
result, there are many animal species that occur here and nowhere else in
the world, such as the platypus, kangaroo, echidna, and koala. Australia has
516 national parks to protect its unique plants and animals. One of
Australia's most amazing sites rises like an enormous whale's back from a
flat red-soil desert called the Red Center. This site is called Uluru, and it is a
sacred natural formation at the heart of the country. Rising 1,100 feet (335
meters) tall, it is the largest rock in the world! There are several types of rain
forests in Australia. Tropical rain forests, mainly found in the northeast, are
the richest in plant and animal species. Subtropical rain forests are found
near the mid-eastern coast, and broadleaf rain forests grow in the southeast
and on the island of Tasmania.
7. Culture
Australia is a product of a unique blend of
established traditions and new influences.
The country’s original inhabitants, the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,
are the custodians of one of the world’s
oldest continuing cultural traditions. They
have been living in Australia for at least 40
000 years and possibly up to 60,000 years.
8. Famous place in Australia
The two largest cities in Australia are Sydney and Melbourne.
Sydney has about 3 million people, and Melbourne, about 2-2/3
million.
Both are state capital and the major commercial, industrial, and
cultural centers of their states. Each city was laid out near the
mouth of a river and close to a good ocean harbor. The rivers
provided drinking water and the harbors enabled the settlements
to develop into centers of trade and immigration
Today, both Sydney and Melbourne have problem common to big
cities everywhere. Poor inner-hour traffic jams plague the city's
residents.
9. Famous place in Australia (Sydney)
The oldest city in Australia, Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales. The city and its
suburbs cover about 4,700 square miles (12,000 square kilometers) on the country's
southeastern coast. The British founded Sydney as a prison colony in 1788. The city's mild
climate enables the people of Sydney, called "Sydneysiders", to enjoy the outdoors during most
of the year. Sydney's vast harbor makes the area famous for water sport, Such as sailing. Most
Sydneysiders have British ancestors, but many other Europeans and smaller numbers of Asian
have settled in the city since the mid-1900's. Sydney also has a few thousand Aborigines. Most
Sydney families own a house and garden in one of the suburbs. Sydney has almost no slums,
but some of the Aborigines live in substandard housing
High -rise buildings dominate the skyline of Sydney's central business district. Sydney Harbor, one
of the world's major ports, is also Australia's most important port for shipping farm products.
The city has about 12,000 manufacturing plants, which employ a total of over a million workers.
Leading factory products include chemical and paper goods, food products, and machinery
equipment . Sydney also serves as the banking and business center of New South Wales.
Sydney’s famous Opera House, completed in 1973, includes facilities for concerts, opera, and
theater. Many architects consider it one of the finest buildings constructed during the 1900's.
10. Famous place in Australia
(Sydney)2
Sydney Harbor is one of the world's major ports. Its white shell-like Opera House and the
Sydney Harbor Bridge are kad-marks recognized around the world. The bridge links the
city center with suburbs on the north shore of the harbor
Bondi Beach, below, a beautiful stretch of sand close to the center of bustling downtown
Sydney, provides a peaceful refuge for many Sydneysiders.
Sydney and its suburbs cover about 4,700 square miles (12,000 square kilometers.) Downtown
Sydney stands on the south side of Sydney Harbor. East of the downtown area lies a series
of parks, including the Royal Botanic Gardens. The parliament house for New South Wales
is also in this area. Suburbs spread out in every direction from the city. Two large
recreation areas-Royal National Park and Ku-Ring-Gai Chase-lie within 25 miles (40
kilometers) of downtown Sydney
11. Famous place in Australia (Melbourne)
Melbourne lies on Port Phillip Bay on Australia's southeastern coast. John Batman, an Australian
farmer, founded Melbourne in 1835. He came from the nearby island of Tasmania, seeking land
for sheep farms. He brought 600,000 acres (240,000 hectares) from the Aborigines and paid
them with blankets, tomahawks, and other goods. Today, the city and its suburbs cover more
than 2,300 square miles (5,960 square kilometers).
Melbourne has only about 2,700 people who are descended from the Aborigines. Almost one-fourth
of Melbourne's population was born outside Australia. About one-third of all immigrants came
from Great Britain and Ireland . Other immigrants include those from Italy, Greece, and
Yugoslavia. Australia's small Asian community consists mostly of descendants of Chinese
immigrants who arrived during the gold rush of the 1800's. Each ethnic group has introduced its
own type of food, entertainment, and clothing, making Melbourne a truly cosmopolitan city.
More than 10,000 factories in Melbourne employ a total of about 400,000 workers. The city's chief
manufactured products include automobiles, chemicals, food products, machinery, and textiles.
Wholesale and retail trading and important financial institutions make Melbourne a major
commercial center.
12. Famous place in Australia
(Melbourne)2
Old meets new in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, left
Christmas celebrations under the summer skies remind visitors that
the country lies in the Southern Hemisphere
