Australia is an island continent located in the Southern Hemisphere between 10°S and 44°S latitude and 112°E and 154°E longitude. It was first sighted by Dutch navigator William Janszoon in 1606 and claimed for Britain by Captain James Cook in 1770, who named it New South Wales. The six colonies federated in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Physically, Australia is mostly flat lowlands with the highest point only 300 meters. It can be divided into the Western Plateau of hard rocks and deserts rich in minerals, the Central Low Lands containing the Great Artesian Basin, and the Eastern High Lands.

1. AUSTRALIA – LAND, CLIMATE AND
NATURAL VEGETATION

2. INTRODUCTION
• It is an island continent.
• Located in S.H.
• World smallest continent occupied by
one singe country.
• 6th largest country.
• Almost double size of the India

3. Discovery
• First sighted by Dutch navigator William
Janszoon in 1606.
• Captain James Cook a British sea man
reached Eastern Coast of Australia. In 1770
he named as new south wales.
• 1829 first colonial settlement in the country
.
• Many European started to migrate to
Australia as gold was found in this
continent.
• On January 01 1901 a federation of six of
six colonies were formed and the
COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA was
established as a Domain of British.
Captain James Cook

4. LOCATION
• Lies entirely in S.H.
• The continent Stretches from 10°S
to 44°S latitude and from 112°E to
154°E longitude.
• The tropic of Capricorn pass
through the middle of this continent
• The neighbouring countries of
Australia – In north it is separated
from East Timor, from Indonesia by
Arafura Sea, in the south east, the
Tasman sea lies between Australia
and New Zeland

5. PoliticalDivision(SixGoverning
StatesandtwoCentralAdministrated)
Self Governing State
Queensland, New South Whales,
Victoria, South Australia,
Western Australia and Tasmania
Central Administrator
Norther Territory and Australian
Capital Territory

7. Physical Features
• The entire continent presents a flat low land topography.
• Does not have mountains like the Himalayas.
• The main elevation of land in Australia is only 300 meters.
• 34,218 KM long coastline.
• There are two major indentations – Gulf of Carpentaria, in north and the great
Australian Bight.

8. Three major
Physical
Division
Western
Plateau
Central Low
Lands
Eastern High
Lands

10. Western Plateau
• The western part of Australia is a vast plateau made up of hard rocks.
• There are few mountain ranges that rise from the flat plateau.
Mountain
Ranges
Hamersley Macdonnel Musgrave
Darling

11. Western Plateau
• Much of the interior plateau is desert.
• The western plateau is rich in mineral resource. It has deposits of iron ores,
uranium and copper.
Desert
The Gibson
Desert
The Great
Victoria Desert
West Australian
Desert
Great Sandy
Desert

12. The Central Low Lands
• The low lying regions between the western plateau and the eastern high lands is
known as the central low lands.
Central Low
Lands
Artesian Basin
Lake Eyre
Basin
Murray –
Darling Basing

13. • The Great Artesian Basin is mainly located in the states of Queensland and New
South Whales.
• It is the world’s largest Artesian Basin known for ground water reserves.
• It is a flat where a layer of preamble or porous rock is sandwiched in a saucer like
formation.