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1. The Commonweaith of Austrelia is a self govering federal state. It is situated in the south-west of the Pasific ocean, ocuping the continent of Australia and a great number of islands of which Tasmania is the most important. Australia is a continent-island washed by the Indian and the Pasific Oceans.
2. The country consists of 6 (six) states and 2 (two) territories. 16 million people live in Australia. The capital is Canberra. The offical language is English.
3. Australia has a Parlament has two chambers, the house of Representatives and the Senate. the governmant of the country is headed by the Prime Minister.
4. Australia is not only far from the rest of the world, it has a bad climet, too. The climet is better in the east and south-east, where most big cities have grown-up. But the northen coast has too much rain, and the westen coast is too dry.
5. The highest part of Australia, and almost all the mountains are near the coast. The whole central part of the country is dry; it never rains, there are no large rivers and no water there. So there is no very rich plant life in Australia, except in the east and south-east.
6. Australia is an important producer and exporter of primary products: wool, meat, sugar, fruit, black, coal, iron, copper, lead, gold and so on.
7. Most of the factories are situated near big cities. There are 5 (five) big cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and bris bane. These cities are also the country's main ports.
8. Canberra was specially planned as a capital. It is a quriet city. All the goverment buildings are situated there. There no industrial plants in the city. About 300000
people live in Canberra.
9. Sydney is the oldest and largest city in Australia. It was founded in 1788. Sydney
is a big industrial centre. About 3 million people now live in the city.
Australia, officially COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, the smallest continent and one of the largest countries on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The capital is Canberra. The continent is bounded by latitudes 10 and 44 S (about 2,450 miles [3,940 km] from Cape York Peninsula in the north to Tasmania in the south) and by longitudes 112 and 154 E (about 2,700 miles [4,350 km] from east to west). Australia is separated from Indonesia in the northwest by the Timor and the Arafura seas; from Papua New Guinea in the northeast by the Torres Strait; from the Coral Sea Islands Territory (in the Coral Sea), also in the northeast, by the Great Barrier Reef; from New Zealand in the southeast by the Tasman Sea; and from Antarctica to the south by the Indian Ocean. Area (including Tasmania) 2,966,200 square miles (7,682,300 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 17,562,000.
The land
The largest of Australia's four major physiographic regions, more than half of its land area, is the Western Australian Shield. Its elevation averages between 1,300 and 2,000 feet (400 and 600 m) above sea level, with plateaus rising above the generally level landscape to heights of about 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The most conspicuous of these outcrops are Arnhem Land and the Kimberleys in the northwest, the Pilbara in the west, and the Macdonnell Ranges in the east. A second region, the Great Artesian Basin, lies east of the shield region and extends from the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north to the mouth of the Murray River in the south. This platform area consists of three smaller basins, the Carpentaria Basin along the northern coast; the Eyre Basin, the largest, near the centre of the country; and the Murray Basin in the extreme south. The third major region, the Eastern Uplands, which includes the Great Dividing Range, is a complex series of high ridges, high plains, plateaus, and basins extending from Cape York Peninsula in the north to Bass Strait in the south and extending into Tasmania. Australia's relief is generally low. Only 7,362 feet (2,244 m) separates the elevation of its highest peak, Mount Kosciusko (rising to only 7,310 feet [2,228 m]), from that of its lowest point at Lake Eyre (51 feet [15.5 m] below sea level). The country's fourth region, sandwiched between the Western Australian Shield and the basin regions along the southern coast, is the Flinders-Mount Lofty ranges, a minor divide between the Murray River basin to the south and the Lake Eyre basin to the north. Australia's volcanoes are no longer active, but there is much seismic activity in the eastern and the western highland areas. Most of the Western Australian Shield and the Great Artesian Basin regions receive annual rainfall of less than 17 inches (425 mm), with less than 10 inches (250 mm) falling in the interior deserts, which make up more than a third of the country's area. In the extreme southwest, in western Tasmania, and along the northern and eastern coasts, there are generally ample supplies of water, with annual rainfall averaging as much as 80 inches (2,000 mm). Between the extremely arid interior and the well-watered coasts lies a wide belt with average annual precipitation (though unreliable from year to year) of about 30 inches (760 mm). The catchment area of the Murray-Darling basin and its water supply for irrigation purposes were greatly increased in 1974 with the diversion of the Snowy River from its normal southeastward course to flow northwestward into the Murray River. In the Great Artesian Basin, local water supplies are provided by thousands of wells. Tasmania and the Mount Kosciusko area have snowfields in winter. Elsewhere, Australia is generally warm year-round and, in summer (December through February), has frequent heat waves with daytime temperatures exceeding 100 F (38 C). Most of Australia's arable land is situated along the eastern coast (where sugarcane and cotton are grown) and in the southwest and southeast (where wheat is a major crop). Only about 14 percent of Australia is forested; the majority of the forested land is restricted to areas of high and reliable rainfall. A great deal of the continent's animal life is unique; best known are its distinctive marsupials, such as the koala and kangaroo, and its even more distinctive monotremes (egg-laying mammals), the duck-billed platypus and echidna. Australia is rich in several mineral resources, its bauxite and high-grade iron-ore reserves being among the world's largest. Energy resources include substantial reserves of coal (more than half is high-quality black coal), petroleum, natural gas, and uranium. A vast diamond deposit was found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 1979.
The people
Until the late 20th century the Australian population was remarkably homogeneous, as a result of a previous policy of restricting non-European immigration. The restrictive policies were gradually abandoned in the 1960s and '70s, and there has been much immigration from areas outside of Europe, particularly from Asia. The largest nonwhite minority is still the Aborigines. Official policy is to help the Aborigines become an integral part of Australian community life. Nevertheless, many remain poorly trained and educated, caught at the lowest socioeconomic level of Australian society. In the late 20th century, however, public opinion became more concerned at the plight of the Aborigines, and the federal and state governments, from the mid-1960s, took several measures, including granting full rights of Australian citizenship and improved educational facilities, that gave some hope of improvement. The principal religion is Christianity, with Roman Catholics and Anglicans predominating. English is the official language. Australia's substantial population growth during the post-World War II period has been in large measure attributable to immigration. The country's low birth and death rates, comparable to those of other developed countries, have contributed only a modest natural increase to the population. Life expectancy, at 73 years for males and 79 years for females, is among the highest in the world. More than 85 percent of the population is urban.
The economy
Australia's economy is basically free-enterprise in structure, and its largest components are finance, manufacturing, services, and trade. The gross national product (GNP) is increasing more rapidly than the population, and the GNP per capita is comparable to those of other industrialized countries. Arable land totals approximately 6 percent of the total area; of that, about one-third requires irrigation. Agriculture produces 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and occupies an almost equal proportion of the labour force. Wheat and sugarcane are the leading crops, followed by barley, oats, rice, potatoes, cotton, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes. Fruits include grapes, primarily for wine, and oranges, apples, pineapples, and bananas. Rangeland and pastures occupy about 55 percent of the total land area; on this are raised the world's largest number of sheep, producing more wool than any other country. Other livestock include cattle, about one-twelfth for dairying, and pigs. Beef and cattle hides are important products. Australia is almost self-sufficient in lumber production. Most of roundwood production is broadleaved, and timber plantations account for about one-fifth of the lumber output. Most fishing in Australia is marine, three-fifths from the Indian Ocean and two-fifths from the Pacific Ocean. More than two-thirds of the annual catch consists of crustaceans; tuna is also important. Mining and quarrying account for about 4 percent of the GDP and employ about 1 percent of the labour force. Bituminous and lignite coal are the leading energy minerals, followed by petroleum and natural gas. Australia leads the world in the production of bauxite, industrial diamond, and lead; other metallic minerals include iron ore, manganese ore, titanium oxide, zinc, copper, nickel, tin, silver, gold, platinum, cobalt, cadmium, antimony, zircon, bismuth, and tungsten. The principal nonmetallic minerals include limestone, sand and gravel, brick clay, shale, salt, and sulfur. Manufacturing is well diversified and comprises more than 17 percent of the GDP; it employs about 15 percent of the labour force. The principal manufactures include cement, crude steel, pig iron, metal manufactured products, refined-petroleum products, chemicals, wheat flour, plastics, newsprint, beef and mutton, and textiles. More than four-fifths of electrical production is from thermal power plants, the rest from hydroelectric plants. Tourist attractions include beaches and deep-sea fishing, diving along the Great Barrier Reef, and winter sports in the mountains. Australia's labour force was a little less than half of the population in the late 20th century. Unemployment rose to 7 percent in the late 1980s, but some industries reported a shortage of skilled labour. Most unions, organized by industry, are affiliated to the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Except for part of the railway system, industry is privately owned; many of Australia's large companies are subsidiaries of multinational corporations. The government regulates the economy mainly through monetary policy and taxation. Government spending cuts achieved a balanced budget in 1981 after deficits throughout the 1970s, and surplus budgets were achieved in the late 1980s. The principal revenue sources are income taxes, excise and sales taxes, corporate taxes, and nontax revenue. The principal expenditures are for social security and welfare, state-government transfers, health, interest on the public debt, and defense. The Reserve Bank of Australia, located in Sydney, is the central bank, with a separate department for commodity-market finance. The Commonwealth Banking Corporation controls its member development, savings, and trading banks. There are branch banks throughout Australia. The Australian Stock Exchange, located in Sydney, has member exchanges in the six state capitals. The Australian National Railways Commission incorporates the Commonwealth railways and the South Australian (nonmetropolitan) and Tasmanian state railways; other railways are operated by the state governments. About two-fifths of the road network is paved. Major port facilities are located in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Fremantle, Gladstone, Gove (Melville Bay), Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney, Townsville, and Westernport. Most of the nation's inland waterways are accessible only to small, shallow-draft vessels. The busiest international airports are at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Australia achieved a foreign-trade balance or slight surplus annually from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. In the late 1980s the country experienced a small foreign-trade deficit annually. Major exports are metal ores and scrap, wheat, coal, meat, and wool, principally to Japan and the United States. Major imports are machinery, miscellaneous manufactured products (textiles, paper, and nonferrous metals), transport equipment, and crude petroleum, primarily from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Government and social conditions. Australia is a federal state governed by a constitution adopted in 1900, entrusting the central government with power over defense, external affairs, foreign trade, immigration, customs and excise, and the Post Office. All residual powers are left to the country's states and territories. Symbolic executive power is vested in the British monarch, who is represented throughout Australia by the governor-general. The highest political authority rests with the democratically elected Parliament, which consists of a 147-member House of Representatives and a 76-member Senate. The leader of the party or coalition that wins a majority in the House becomes the prime minister and appoints a cabinet. Both the prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament. Three political parties usually dominate parliamentary elections: the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party, and the National Party. The country's judicial system is headed by the seven-member High Court of Australia, which has the power of constitutional review. Australia's social-welfare system provides family allowances, work injury and unemployment benefits, and old-age, disability, and widow's pensions. In addition, the federal government operates a health insurance program that covers all residents. Health conditions in Australia compare favourably with those found in the most advanced Western nations. High levels of nutrition, sanitation, disease control, and medical technology prevent the development and spread of infectious diseases. The country has a high proportion of doctors and hospital beds to population and a low infant mortality rate. Responsibility for education lies primarily with the states; the federal government administers education in the national territories. Free education at government schools is provided at the primary and secondary levels, though there are numerous schools run by the churches and a few private grammar schools. Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Australia has numerous universities, the largest of which include the universities of Melbourne, New South Wales, Sydney, and Queensland. The press in Australia is free from direct government censorship. The constitution does not guarantee press freedom, however, and the existence of a number of federal and state laws regulating the press sometimes has the effect of forcing Australian newspapers and magazines to practice self-censorship.
Cultural life
The figures and motifs of an ancient Aboriginal art are seen throughout Australia, and the oral art of the Aboriginal storyteller reaches back to the dimmest times of the Dreaming, before the white man arrived. A number of Australian artists have gained international renown. Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale, and Arthur Boyd are famous for having developed an original school of Australian painting. Major writers include Thomas Keneally, Mudrooroo Narogin (Colin Johnson), and Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White, author of Voss (1957), The Vivisector (1970), and The Eye of the Storm (1973). During the late 1970s and early '80s, several Australian filmmakers established themselves as world-class artists: Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, Gillian Armstrong, George Miller, and Fred Schepisi. The history of music in Australia includes world figures such as Dame Nellie Melba, Percy Grainger, and Dame Joan Sutherland; the most visible monument to the musical arts is the astonishing Sydney Opera House, dominating that city's skyline. Although Australia reserves some of its strongest enthusiasms for sports (including football, horse racing, swimming and surfing, tennis), relatively few sports are professionalized, and gambling, though it is widespread, has had little effect on a long tradition of amateurism. History. Australia has been inhabited by Aborigines for at least 40,000--and perhaps as many as 60,000--years. They immigrated from Southeast Asia, and estimates of the size of the Aboriginal population at the time of European settlement in 1788 range from 300,000 to more than 1,000,000. There is some evidence of a Chinese landing at the site of Darwin in 1432, and Makasarese seamen began to fish the waters off Arnhem Land sometime before the 18th century. Widespread European knowledge of Australia, however, began only with the explorations of the 17th century. The Dutch landed in Australia in 1616 and, under such notable seamen as Abel Tasman, continued their explorations until 1644, when Australia became known as New Holland. The British arrived in 1688 under William Dampier, but they did not launch a large-scale expedition until James Cook's historic voyage of 1770 that resulted in Britain's claim to Australia and formal possession of New South Wales with the establishment of the small colony of Sydney Cove within Port Jackson (1788). From the outset, British convicts were transported to the colony. Tasmania, the next settlement, received settlers from Sydney as early as 1803, and colonists arrived in Western Australia in 1827. By 1859 the colonial nuclei of all of Australia's six states had been formed. Convict transportation continued well into the 19th century. The discovery of copper in 1842 and of payable gold deposits in 1851 spurred economic development. The development of sheep grazing helped establish Australia's wool industry but caused widespread displacement among the Aborigines whose native habitats fell into the hands of pastoralists. A concern for national defense and intercolonial free trade and a desire to control European and Asian immigration (Australian-born made up 64.5 percent of the population in 1901) led to the federation movement of the late 1800s. Popular referenda were held in 1898-99, and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on Jan. 1, 1901. Canberra was designated the federal capital in 1908. Australia fought alongside Britain in World War I, notably with the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the Dardanelles campaign (1915). The date of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli--April 25--was declared a national holiday in 1920. Prosperous years followed the end of the war until the worldwide depression of the 1930s brought deteriorating trading conditions. Also during this time, reserves were established for Aborigines. World War II brought Australia closer to the United States; ties with Britain diminished, and, after 1942, the British Royal Navy ceased defending Australia. The Labor government was voted out in 1949; there followed Liberal-Country Party coalition rule. In 1972 Labor returned to power. A constitutional crisis came in 1975, when in an attempt to force new elections the Senate opposition blocked the government's budget proposals. The governor-general then intervened and dismissed the Labor government, appointing a Liberal prime minister. Labor returned to power in 1983 and retained its majority in elections held in 1984, 1987, and 1990. Since World War II Australia has assumed a leading role in Asian and Pacific affairs. Although it experienced some setbacks, the Aboriginal movement grew in strength from the 1960s, and Aborigines succeeded in obtaining rights to some tribal lands. Environmentalists also began to exercise considerable political influence.
