Australia
Geography
Northern
Teritory
Queensland
Western
Australia
New South
Wales
South Australia
political system
Australia is a constitutional monarchy
and Queen Elizabeth II is the symbolic head
of state.
People
Today Australia is an independent Western
democracy with a population of around 18.5 million
people. Aborigines, the native Australians, are
Australia´s most notable minority group.
Land regions
They are, from west to east,
the Western Plateau, the
Central Lowlands and the
Eastern H ighlands. The
Western Plateau is mostly
a vast desert, it covers
approximately two-thirds of
Australia. The Central
Lowlands occupies almost
one third of Australia´s
land mass. Some crops are
grown in the south, but
much of this area is also
quite hot, dry and flat. The
Eastern H ighlands covers
the eastern edge of
Australia.
Great Barrier Reef
One of the most popular tourist attractions is the Great Barrier
Reef, a collection of a chain of more than 2,500 reefs, the world
´s largest coral reef. It extends for just over 23,000 km along
Australia´s north-east and is composed of about 400 species of
corals of many shapes and colours.
Ayers Rock
Ayers Rock , located in central Australia, is also a popular tourist
attraction. I t is called the world´s biggest rock. I t is about 2,4 km
long and 300 m high and has many small caves. The walls of these
caves are covered with rock paintings made long ago by Aboriginal
artists. I t is a spiritual site that belongs to the Aborigines. They
have a lot of stories explaining the shape of the rock.
Animals
Australia is rich in wildlife. The animals are very different from animals in other parts of the
world. Many of them are endangered. Before the white people came and brought European
animals with them, the original animals had few enemies and could live in peace. Today the
situation is different, Australia calls for help. Koala bear is a marsupial, animal with
a pouch for babies. It lives in the woodlands of eastern Australia and moves very slowly.By
destroying eucalyptus forests the koalas are losing their food and are in danger. Another
typical Australian animal is the kangaroo. They are primitive mammals with very strong
hind legs and a tail that helps them to jump up to 5 m and run at 40km per hour.They also
have a pouch for their babies. Baby kangaroo stays in the pouch for about 8 months.The
duckbilled platypus is maybe the strangest creature living in Australia. It lays eggs but it is
a mammal.It is one of the few poisonous mammals. Next animals are the dingo,
kookaburra, the lyrebird, the emu.
By David Šimončič