Let's start to travel around Australia?
Australia
is the smallest continent in the world. It is also the 6th
largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, China, USA, and Brazil.
There are over
20 million people living in Australia. Australia is divided into six states
and two territories. The capital city is Canberra, which is in the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
A little description of the
geography
Australia is an island with most
of its population living
around its coastline. The coastline has many beaches and reefs that
are popular with surfers and divers such as the Great Barrier Reef, Bondi Beach and Surfers Paradise.
The centre of Australia is mostly desert with very
little water. The famous Ayres Rock or
Uluru is found
here and is a popular tourist attraction.
The Australian Alps are
on the south-east side of Australia. The highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko is
a great place to go during the summer for hiking and skiing during the winter
months.
In the North of Australia you can
find rainforests and
warmer weather as
it is close to the tropics. The Daintree Rainforest is famous for its beauty
and hiking trails.
Australia has a long history of farming and crop growing. In
the outback, there are many farms that grow rice, wheat, and many vegetables.
There are also many dairy and cattle farms that produce milk and beef for local
use and to send overseas.
How is the weather?
Australian seasons are the reverse
of the Europeans but the same of the Latin Americans. The summer months in Australia are from December to February and the Autumn months are during March till May. Winter is from June to August with Spring in Australia from September till November.
Queensland and the Northern
Territory are located closer to the tropics
and generally have warmer and humid weather all year round. New South Wales,
Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia and Perth all
experience the four seasons during the year. In Tasmania, the weather is colder than the rest of Australia because it
is closer to Antarctica.
How many people live there?
Australia has about 21 million people, with the main population living in
the South-East and East of Australia. 70 % of Australia’s populations live
less than one hour from the coast. Australians love the beach and
surfing. They have a wonderful relaxed lifestyle.
Culture and life style - What is
to be an Australian?
Australia is a multicultural country. People from around the world have
migrated to Australia for many years and have brought with them their culture
and wonderful food.
In Australia, the main language is English and
the official currency is the Australian dollar
(AU$).
A bit of history
Australia was firstly discovered
by a Dutch explorer who named it New Holland. The Dutch explorer did not think
the land was very interesting and did not explore it any further. It wasn’t
until 1770 when Captain James Cook came and started
using and exploring the land that he renamed it ‘New England’.
After 18 years, prisoners were
sent to Australia from Britain to be used as a convict colony. Because there
were so many prisoners,
the land from the coast to the Blue Mountains was not enough and they needed to search for more land to fit them. This was when the first
started to explore the other side of the Blue Mountains.
Between 1851 and 1852, goldfields were discovered in Victoria and New South Wales. This
discovery attracted thousands
of people that came to
Australia to try their luck at finding gold.
In 1901, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia was started. The parliament was
established as a federation of six states and two territories.
Canberra was chosen as the capital of Australia as they could not decide between
Sydney and Melbourne.
Did you know?
There are more than 40 millions of kangaroos in Australia now. This is more than the total population of Australia!
We have more sheep
than kangaroos! There are about 140 million sheep. That's why
Australia is worldwide famous for their wool quality.
Australia has the longest fence in
the world. The
fence is called the ‘Dingo Fence’ and is 5,531 kilometres long! The fence is
only 1.8 meters tall with no gaps. It runs through the middle of Queensland and
was built to protect the sheep from the dingo, an Australia dog
In Western Australia, they have the longest straight road in the world. It
is 148 kilometres long!
