Commonwealth of Australia
It is situated south east from Asia.
Australia occupies whole continent, whose area is about 8 million km2. It is the smallest continent; and one of the oldest and flattest.
It is surrounded by Pacific ocean and Indian ocean.
The capital is Canberra. The largest city is Sydney, second largest is Melbourne.
Australia has 6 states and 2 territories.
States: Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
Territories: Northern territory and Australian Capital Territory.
It is a part of Commonwealth.
Population:
Its population is about 21 million inhabitants.
There live mostly British, but there are also Aborigines (original inhabitants) – about 228 000.
They live mainly to 200 m from coast on south-east. Because at the rest of continent are jungles, grasslands and desserts (so there is low density).
Their official language is English.
Geography:
The longest river is Darling (2 736 km).
The rivers there are getting drier – Georgina, Diamantina, Thomson, Barcoo.
Lakes (in the south): Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens, Lake Gaidner, …
The highest mountains are the Australian Alps with the highest mountain Mt. Kosciusko.
Along east coast there is the Great Barrier Reef – there are many corals.
In the middle of continent there are many desserts: the Great Sandy Dessert, the Gibson Dessert, the Great Victoria, …
Nature:
There are living some exotic original animals. For example platypus (ptakopysk), echidna (ježura), anteater (mravenečník), emu, dingo, koala, kangaroo, kiwi, …
Agriculture:
Some of the most important products of Australia are beef, lamb, pool and wheat.
Politics:
The head of government is Prime Minister.
The head of state – British Queen – is represented by governor-general.
Heads of government are Prime Minister and Cabinet.
It is federal parliamentary state with two legislative houses (Senate and House of Commons)
As currency they have Australian dollar.
Their national anthem is “Advance Australia Fair”.
Flag:
Their flag is blue, it has six white stars (represent 6 states) and British flag in the left upper corner.
History:
The coast was explored by James Cook in 1770. The first people that came there were British prisoners. It was going to be a British prisoner colony. But in the middle of the 19th century there were found gold, so there came new people.