5_The_commonwealth_countries

Australia has two big rivers, the Murray and the Darling, and three great lakes: Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner. The highest mountain is Mount Kosciusko (2,228 m) in the Australian Alps.

Australia has many different kinds of climate: the tropical in the north, continental in the interior and subtropical in the rest of the continent. The south-east coast has pleasantly warm summers and mild winters, the Australian Alps have snow for almost half the year. A long line of mountains in the east, known as the Great Dividing Range, divides the wet coast of eastern Australia from the dry lands in the centre.

The nature in Australia is very different from the other world, especially the fauna and flora. We can find there many species that live only in Australia, such as the kangaroos, wombats, dingos, koala bears, emus and many more. And the platypus is probably the world’s strangest animal. It has a bill and webbed feet like a duck and lays eggs like a hen, but it is a mammal suckling its young. One of the special natural sights is the Great Barrier Reef, the biggest coral reef in the world very popular for the scuba divers.

Australia was firstly discovered by the Dutch in the 17th century. Later captain James Cook explored the coasts of the island and landed there in 1770. The settlement of Australia began in 1788 when the penal colony for convicts from Britain was established there. When the first white people from Europe came to Australia, about 300,000 Australian Aborigines were living there. They originally lived as hunters using boomerangs and other similiar weapons for hunting. They understood and loved their land. But the Europeans wanted it, and to get it they persecuted the Aborigines. Many of them died. Now there are about 200,000 Aborigines. They live in government reserves or missions, but also in some cities.

Nowadays, Australia is a constitutional monarchy composed of 6 states and two territories. Each state has its own government and its own capital city. The head of whole the state is the Queen Elizabeth II represented by the governor general. The official language is English, known for the special Australian words and accent. In Australian English a lot of words are made by shortening everyday words: Oz – Australia, Aussie – Australian, footy – football or barbie – barbecue. Australian prefer short words.

The population is over 21 million people and approximately 60% are concetrated in the eastern-coast cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, and in Perth in the west. The capital city is Canberra. However, Sydney is the oldest, largest, the most beautiful and the most modern city. It is the main port with the population of 3.7 million people. Sydney is dominated by the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the harbour.

Sheep and cattle famers live on isolated farms called stations in Australia. The farmers usually contact their friends, business partners and other people by the means of radio. Radio is also very important for their children because they can’t go to schools in faraway places so they study at home. And they listen, talk to their teachers and ask questions over the radio. They write exercises and do homework which is sent off by post to be corrected. They usuallly meet their teacher only once a year, at a summer camp.