Discover Australia
Part 1
When people speak of Australia they can mean three things: 1) Australia as a continent; 2) Australia as an island and 3) Australia as an independent country. Australia is the world's largest island and its smallest continent. Australia is a land of striking differences. In the centre of the continent and in the west more than 50% of the land is desert. There are three deserts there — the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Victoria Desert and the Gibson Desert. Most of the dry land is uninhabited, which explains Australia’s small population – about 24 mln people. Most of the population lives on the narrow coasts of the east and southeast. Main cities, automobile plants and busy factories, are also situated there.
Australia is divided into six states and two territories.
New South Wales is Australia's leading industrial state. Most people live along the east coast, and most of them are in Sydney. Sydney is also the largest city in Australia.
In Victoria most people live in the south. Melbourne is the capital of the state and the largest city. Sheep and wheat are the main products here. Citrus fruits, grapes, peaches and apricots are grown along the Murray River.
Queensland is Australia's second largest state. Brisbane, its capital, is situated on the east coast. Queensland has long beautiful sandy beaches. Its coast is a popular place for holiday-makers. Bananas and other tropical fruits are grown here. But the bigger part of the state is occupied by Australia's most unproductive desert lands.
The state of Western Australia is dry and inhospitable except the southwestern corner of the state. Nearly all of the state's farms, sheep stations and fruit gardens are situated there. The rest of the state is dry desert land with very few towns or lonely cattle stations.
South Australia is the third largest state. Adelaide is the capital and the largest city. Most of South Australia is too dry for farming. Farming very much depends on irrigation or underground water. Wheat and fruit (apricots, pears, peaches, nectarines and grapes) are grown along the lower part of the Murray River.
Tasmania, the island state, is sometimes called the apple isle because it produces most of Australia's apples. Tasmania is one of the few places in Australia that have enough rain all year. Tasmania is Australia's leading producer of pears and berries of different kinds. Potatoes are also grown in some areas.
Northern Territory is the least populated and least developed part of Australia. Crocodiles, still live in some of the swamps along the coast. Darwin is its capital and the only large settlement in the north. Alice Springs, generally called Alice of the Alice, is the only town in the south.
The capital of Australia is Canberra. The city doesn't belong to any state. It is situated on the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which occupies an area of 2,432 square kilometres.
Part 2
Sometimes Australia is called “the upside down world”. It is because Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere, where winter comes in July and summer begins in December. During the Christmas holidays people sunbathe on the beach or swim and surf in the ocean.
Australia has an extraordinary collection of birds and animals. Many of them are found only there. Early explores were so surprised by the emu and the kangaroo. They described the continent as the land where birds “ran instead of flying and animals hopped instead o running”.
Australia is the home of the duckbill and the anteater. They are the only mammals that lay eggs. The kangaroo is perhaps the best known of Australian animals. There are more than 40 different kinds of kangaroos in Australia, in many colours and sizes. The big red kangaroo and the grey kangaroo may be as tall as grown-up man. The smallest kangaroo is the rat kangaroo. Another well known Australian animal is the koala that resembles a teddy-bear. It spends most time of its life in eucalyptus trees and eats the leaves of only these trees. Among the other animals found in Australia is the dingo, a wild dog which is yellowish brown and has a bushy tail.
The emu, Australia’s largest bird is also one of the largest in the world. It cannot fly but it is good runner. Another curios bird is kookaburra that is often called the “laughing jackass”. The bushy country rings with its laugher. Australians like this bird so much that they made up a song about kookaburra. Other Australian birds are graceful lyrebirds, brilliantly coloured parrots and the great white cockatoo.
2 animals were brought to the country by the Europeans and have become wild in Australia. These are the buffalo, brought from India, and the European rabbit. Buffaloes were brought as work animals early in the 19th sentry. They escaped and multiplied and now inhabit the swampy river valleys around Darwin. Rabbits were brought more than 100 years ago. There are so many of them now and they destroy much grass.
Australia is such an extraordinary place to explore!