1. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

3. AUSTRALIA • Smallest continent • Largest island • Original inhabitants-Oboriginal people lived on the continent 40-60,000 yr ago • First european settlement by British 1788 • World’s driest inhabited continent • Vast areas are arid or semi-desert and virtually uninhabited • One of the most urbanized countries in world with 70% of population living in 10 cities

4. FACTS • Standard of living is high by world stand. • Flag of Australia is only flag to fly over a whole continent • Flag represents the historical link with UK • Flag has large star with 6 points for each of the states and one star for the territories and the small stars form the Southern Cross which is a prominent feature of sky • National anthem-revised version of Advance Australia Fair • Motto-Advance Australia • National day –January 26 (date of European settlement)

5. AUSTRALIA • One of oldest land masses • Flattest of continents • After Anartica lowest precipitation • Small population in relation to size • About size of U.S. minus Alaska • Only country occupy a whole continent • Almost twice the size of India&Pakistan 2x • Off E coast Great Barrier Reef 207,000 km marine ecosystem rare marine life • Average elevation less 300m/world mean 700m

6. Clear skies low rainfall most of continent • Mid summer(jan) 29c-17c n-s • Mid winter(july) 25c-9c n-s • Summer is Dec-Feb • Autumn Mar-may • Winter is june-august • Spring is Sept to Nov • Population 17 million

7. Most people live SE corner • Most of rest of continent too rugged or arid for people to live in • Multicultural society with 25% foreign born • Most work 35-40 hrs per week/5 days • Most have 4 weeks paid vacation, sick leave with about 10 days paid holidays

8. Most retire at 60 or 65 • Women life expectancy of 79/men 73 • Most marry in late 20’s and have 2.1 chd. • Most couples own or are buying homes • Most households have ref, c tv’s, telep,1+c • Immigration began w/transportation of convicts from England in 1788 • Large numbers of students from abroad

9. HISTORY • Original people, the Aborigines hunter/gathers moving with seasons and taking only possessions for hunting, collecting and preparing food • European settlements brought conflict of cultures-taking land of Aboriginal people, destruction of A. culture and social disintegration • A. pop. Decreased because of clashes and diseases they lacked imunity • Some animals introduced caused food sources to be destroyed • First english visitor was William Dampier 1688 • 1770 Capt. James Cook of British navy claimed possession for e. part of continent and named it “Possession Island” • Gold discovered in 1851 • Federation of six former colonies as states “The Commonwealth of Australia – Janurary 1, 1901

10. STATES AND TERRITORIES • 6 STATES: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania • 3 INTERNAL TERRITORIES: The Northern Territory, The Australian Capital Territory and The Jervis Bay Territory • 7 EXTERNAL TERRITORIES • W. Australia enormous mineral wealth makes up ¼ of nations income exports • W. Australia is largest state • Tasmania is the smallest state • National capital is Canberra

11. GOVERNMENT • A. Political institutions and practices follow Western democratic tradition • A. federation has a 3 tier systme of gov. 1.the A. parliament (the legislature) and Government which responsible for all matters of national interest 2.six state governments and their legislatures, complementing activities NG 3.About 900 local gov. bodies cities, towns • A. is independent but retains constitutional links with Britian • Queen Elizabeth ll is formally Queen of Australia • Federal houses of Parliament HoRep. And Senate • House divided among states on pop. Basis • Senate has 12 senators from ea. State and 2 ea. From territories • Prime minister elected by party that has most MP’s • Many political parties with largest are Liberal Party, National Party, A. Labor Party & A. Democrats

12. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS • Relationships with Britain, Europe and U.S. forged by history • Growing awareness of importance of politically, economically, strategically significant countries of Asia and S. Pacific nations have led A. to intensify it’s friendly and cooperative relations with them. • Japan is A. larges trading partner • Relations with China have been marked diplomatic links est. 1972 • China is a significant market for A. • A. technical cooperation program with China is designed to help China’s development • A. has very close relationship with New Zealand across all areas of political, economic and social activities

13. THE ECONOMY • The complexion of A. economy has changed in less than 50 yrs. From one which relied heavily on primary production to a mature, divers one in which nearly of production is in the service sector 2/3’s • Although the rural and mining sectors account for a small part of A. production, they account for ¾’s of total exports • A. leads world in wool production and a major supplier of iron ore, gold, bauxite and alumina • Exports that leads world are alumina, wool, beef and veal, coal, mineral sands and refined lead • A. has a dynamic economy with political stability, abundant natural resources, a skilled workforce, steady pop. Growth and substantial domestic and foreign capital investment

14. EDUCATION AND HEALTH • Schooling is compulsory between the ages of 6-15 (Tasmania 6-16) • Health care is both private and public but predominantly private • Fight against AIDS, Australia has concentrated it’s efforts on education

16. NEW ZEALAND • Located in SW Pacific Ocean NZ is a large, long group of islands with two main land masses seperated by Cook Strait and many smaller islands. • Nearest large neighbor is Australia some 2000 km away • Similar in size to Japan or the British Isles • The North Island has a spectacular cluster of four active volcanoes • The South Island has the southern alps, a massive mountain chain which runs almost the full length of the island and is an outstanding scenic beauty • NZ seasons are like Australia’s which are the opposite of China and US because they are “down under” the equator

17. NZ long isolation from other land masses has allowed the many florra and fauna to be only found here as well as many insects like spiders and snails. There are no snakes. • Before the Europeans came there were no animals on the Islands • Population has grown steadly over the past 150years reaching some 3.59 million in 1994 • Many Chinese and Indian people have lived in NZ for generations and almost every country in the world is represented • Religion is a matter of choice with Christianity the most widely professed

18. First country to give women the right to vote in 1893 • Standard of living is relatively high when measured by education, health, infant mortality, life expectancy and price stability • Life is comparable to that of Australia, Canada, Japan, Sweden, UK and US • Form of Government is similar to Australia’s