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Presented by AysinaAlina 8B Australia
Australia • Australia (officially the Commonwealth of Australia), is a country consisting of the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous small islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area.Theneighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. • For at least 40,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century,Australiawas inhabited by indigenous Australians,whobelonged to about one or more than250 language groups.Afterdiscovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed the part ofGreat Britain in 1770 and became the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
It is a highly developed country and one of the richest one, Australia is the world's 12th-largest economy and has the world's fifth-highest per capita income. Australia's military expenditure is on the world's 13th-place. Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.
History • The name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern". The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz since the early 20th century.Aussieis a common colloquial term for "Australian". In neighbouring New Zealand the term "Aussie" is sometimes applied toa noun ofthe nation as well as its residents.
The inhabitants of the Australian continent are estimated to 42,000 or 48,000 years ago, possibly ,with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now South-East Asia. These first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians.MostIndigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally hunter-gatherers.Thenorthern coasts and waters of Australia were visited by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia.
Aboriginal paintings in Kakadu National Park, which is about 30,000 years old
Demograhics of Australia. For almost two centuries the majority of settlers, and later immigrants, came from the British Isles. As a result the people of Australia are primarily of British and/or Irish ethnic origin. The 2011 Census asked respondents to provide a maximum of two ancestries with which they most closely identify. The most commonly nominated ancestry was English (36.1 per cent), followed by Australian (35.4 per cent),[225] Irish (10.4 per cent), Scottish (8.9 per cent), Italian (4.6 per cent), German (4.5 per cent), Chinese (4.3 per cent), Indian (2.0 per cent), Greek (1.9 per cent), and Dutch (1.7 per cent).Asian Australians make up 12% of the population. • )
Flag of Australia • The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton (upper leftquarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the low left quarter. The flag contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, large seven-pointed stars.
The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Flag, the Commonwealth Star (also the Federation Star) and the Southern Cross (or Crux). • The Union Flag is thought locally to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based,also it resembeles the flag of the British Empire.
The emblem of Australia • It is divided into six quartes:the first quarter Argent a Cross Gules charged with a Lion passant guardant between on each limb a Mullet of eight points ; the second Azure five Mullets the third of the first a Maltese Cross of the fourth, surmounted by a like Imperial Crown; the fourth of the third, on a Perch wreathed Vert and Gules an Australian Piping Shrike; the fifth also Or a Swan naiant to the sinister Sable; the sixth a Lion, the whole within a Bordure Ermine; for the Crest on a Wreath Or and Azure A Seven-pointed Star, and for Supporters given a Kangaroo, sinister an Emu.
States and territories. • Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides state legislation only in areas that are set out in Section 51 of the Australian Constitution. State parliaments retain all residual legislative powers, including those over schools, state police, the state judiciary, roads, public transport and local government, since these do not fall under the provisions listed in Section 51.
Climate. • The climate ofthe largest part of Australia is arid or semi-arid. A total of 18% of Australia's mainland is a desert. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert. • Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Occasionally a dust storm will blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas areravaging the landscape. • Australia's tropical/subtropical location and cold waters off the western coast make most of western Australia a hot desert with aridity, a marked feature of the great part of the continent. These cold waters produce little moisture needed on the mainland.
Flora of Australia. • Australia's terrestrial flora can be collected into characteristic vegetation groups. The most important determinant is rainfall, followed by temperature which affects water availability.Themost recent scheme developed by the Natural Heritage Trust divides Australia's terrestrial flora into 30 Major Vegetation Groups, and 67 Major Vegetation Subgroups.
A further 39% of native vegetation is covered by a combination of: • Eucalypt woodlands • Acacia forests • Acacia shrublands in semi arid and arid regions. • Tussock grasslands that occur in semi-arid and some temperateparts of Australia. • Chenopod/samphire shrubs and forblands that are widespread in the near-estuarine, arid and semi-arid areas • Other groups with restricted areas of less than 70,000 square kilometres include tropical or temperate rainforest and vine thickets, tall or open eucalypt forests, callitris and Casuarina forests, and woodlands and heath.
Fauna of Australia. • Thee fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia. This high level of endemism can be attributed to the continent's long geographic isolation, tectonic stability, and the effects of an unusual pattern of climate change on the soil and flora over geological time. A unique feature of Australia's fauna is the relative scarcity of native placental mammals. Consequently the marsupials—a group of mammals that raise their young in a pouch, including the macropods, possums and dasyuromorphs—occupy many of the ecological richest .Australia is home to two of the 5 known extant species of monotremes and has numerous venomous species, which include the Platypus, spiders, scorpions, octopus, jellyfish, molluscs, stonefish, and stingrays. Uniquely, Australia has more venomous than non-venomous species of snakes.
The Red Kangaroo is the largest macropod and is one of Australia's heraldic animals, appearing with the Emu on the emblem of Australia.
The Spotted Quoll is the largest Australian’s carnivorous marsupial and an endangered specie
The Dingo was the first placental mammal introduced to Australia, around 4000 years ago.
The Emu is the second largest surviving species of birds. It is a heraldic bird, appearing on the emblemof Australia.
The weedy sea dragon, a fish related to pipefish and seahorses, is found in the waters around southern Australia
Largest cities or towns of Australia. • 1.Sydney (population:4,605,992) • 2.Melbourne (population: 4,169,103) • 3.Brisbane (population:2,146,577) • 4.Perth (population:1,832,114) • 5.Adelide (population:1,262,940) • 6.Gold Coast –Tweeded Heads (population: 576,747) • 7.Newcastle (population:540,002) • 8.Canberra (population:418,292) • 9.Wollongong (population:288,101) • 10.Launceston (population:241,643
Languages of Australia. • Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as the de facto national language.AustralianEnglish is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[252] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.GeneralAustralian serves as the standard dialect. According to the 2011 census, English is the only home language for close to 81% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%), Greek (1.3%), and Vietnamese (1.2%); a considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. A 2010–2011 study by the Australia Early Development Index found the most common language spoken by children after English was Arabic, followed by Vietnamese, Greek, Chinese, and Hindi.
