Political & Physical Features of Australia

1. Political & Physical Features of Australia

2. Australia’s Political Features

3. Australian Territories and States (8 total) States: Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland Territories: Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

5. Tasmania • Island off the southeast coast of the mainland • Almost half of Tasmania is unspoiled land that is protected by the government

7. Tasmanian Devil?

9. Victoria • State closest to Tasmania in the Southeast part of the mainland • Capital is Melbourne; it’s the most urban state in Australia! • The many rivers of the region are a good source of fresh water for farming

12. South Australia • State in south-central Australia • The Great Victoria Desert is located here…

15. Western Australia • Largest state; makes up 1/3 of the mainland • Most of Western Australia is desert (Great Victoria Desert & Great Sandy Desert are located here)

16. Great Sandy Desert

17. New South Wales • North of Victoria, on the eastern coast • Has more people than any other Australian state. The capital, Sydney, is the most populated city in Australia – 3.5 million people live there! • Australian Capital Territory is located here

18. Sydney, New South Wales

19. Queensland • Second largest state; 7 times the size of England! • In the northeastern part of the mainland • Great Barrier Reef is located off its coast in the Coral Sea • More than half of Queensland’s population lives in the capital: Brisbane

20. Brisbane

22. Northern Territory • Northern coast of the mainland, between Western Australia and Queensland • Largest population of Aborigines in Australia

25. Australian Capital Territory • Located in New South Wales • The national capital, Canberra, is located here

26. Canberra (Australia’s Capital)

27. Australia’s Physical Features

28. Australia… • The only country on the world’s smallest and flattest continent • Has Earth’s oldest and least fertile soils • Includes Tasmania, an island south of the mainland • Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans

29. Huge desert plains stretch across the country’s middle--central Australia’s climate is hot and dry (Only Antarctica get less rainfall per year!) • Milder climates along the southeastern and southwestern coasts • Most Australians live in the southeastern coastal region

30. Great Barrier Reef • World’s largest coral reef! • Lies off the northeast coast of Queensland--over 1,200 miles long • Contains an amazing variety of marine life including: • 400 types of coral • 1,500 species of fish • 4,000 mollusks (snails, clams, octopi, & squid) • Also includes rare species like the sea cow and the large green turtle

31. Great Barrier Reef from satellite

34. Coral Sea • An important source of coral for the Great Barrier Reef • Part of the Pacific Ocean • Off the northeast coast of Australia • When the earth’s crust moved millions of years ago, it created the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range (largest mountain range in Australia) • Coral Sea islands are scattered over thousands of miles of ocean where no one lives except for a small group of weather specialists

36. Ayers Rock • A huge, reddish rock located in the center of Australia • It’s a monolith, which is a single, large rock sticking out of the earth • Appears reddish because its iron content “rusts” at the surface • Nearly 12 stories high and almost 6 miles wide!

38. Ayers Rock • Aborigines call it “Uluru”, which is its official name • European surveyor visited the rock in 1873 and named it after Sir Henry Ayers, an English government official in South Australia • In 1950, Australia created Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park around Ayers Rock in the southwest corner of the state called Northern Territory

40. Great Victoria Desert • Stretches through the states of South Australia and Western Australia • Receives only 8 to 10 inches of rain each year, and it never snows! • Some grasslands in the desert along with sandhills and salt

42. Great Victoria Desert • First Europeans to cross the desert named it after British Queen Victoria in 1875 • 160,000 miles long protected wilderness area • Very few Australians live here because it’s too hot and dry