Australia summary notes 34846

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Australia

Etymology

• The name Australia is derived from the Latin ?Australis? meaning ?southern?.

Few Facts

• A. Is an independent Western democracy with a population of more than 20 million.

• It is one of the most urbanised countries in the world.

• About 70% of the population living in the 10 largest cities.

• Population is concentrated along the eastern and south eastern coasts.

• Australia is the smallest continent in the world.

• It is also the driest land after Antarctica.

• 70% of the country is unsuitable for commercial cultivation.

• Australia is a safe and friendly country.

• There are about 6 million international visitors every year; half of them come from Japan and East Asia.

• The flag is the only one for the continent.

The history

• The first Australians were possibly the ancestors of the Aborigines.

• Most of these people were hunter-gatherers.

• They had a complex oral culture and spiritual values and believe in the Dreamtime (that the world was created by reptiles).

• The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon.

• In the 18^th century, Australia was undertaken by the Welsh Captain James Cook and made his historic landing at Botany Bay (Sidney) which named New South Wales.

• Indigenous Australian population decline because of infectious disease combined with forced re-settlement and cultural disintegration.

Geography

• Australia lies in the Southern hemisphere.

• It is the only single country to occupy an entire continent.

• It is the sixt largest nations after russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil.

• It’s largest state, Western Australia is about the same size as Westren Europe.

• Australia is surrounded byIndian and Pacific oceans.

• There are typical landscapes.

• The center of australia is flat but there are numerous mountain ranges.

• There are some individual mountains of which Uluru is the best know.

• The Great Barrier Reef to the northeast is the largest coral reef in the world.

• Australia is divided into six state and two territories, each with a capital city.