Australia

AUSTRALIA

Australia is the only country in the world that is also a continent. It is the largest island in the world and the smallest continent. Australia is situated in the south-west of the Pacific Ocean. The Australian continent is washed by the Arafura and Timor Seas in the north, by the Tasman and Coral Seas in the east and by the Indian Ocean in the south.
The official name ofthe country is the Commonwealth of Australia. The country has an area of about 8 million square kilometers. It consists of Australia, Tasmania and a number of smaller islands (Cocos Islands, Kangaroo Island and others).
Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere (Южное полушарие) and that is why it has summer when we have winter and winter when we have summer.
Australia hasseveral different climatic regions, from tropical (hot and wet) in the North, to cool temperate in the south-east where it even often snows in winter. In the centre the climate is very dry. It never rains, there are no large rivers and no water there.
In the centre of the continent there are three deserts: Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert and Simpson Desert. Deserts occupy 1/3 of itsterritory.
There are not so many rivers and lakes in Australia. Its longest rivers are: the Murray (2,600 km long) and the Darling (2,740 km). The largest lake is Lake Eyre in South Australia.
Australia is the flattest continent of all. But it has some mountains. Its main mountain chain is the Great Dividing Range (Большой Водораздельный хребет) which is known as “the Australian Alps”.It runs along the western coast and divides the green, wet coast of eastern Australia from the hot dry lands in the centre. Australia’s highest point is Mount Kosciuszko (гора Косцюшко) in the Australian Alps which is only about 2,230 metres high. Other mountains include the Kimberly Range, the Hamersley Range and the Flinders Range in South Australia.

History of Australia
Australia’sfirst settlers were the Aboriginal. About the time of European settlement they had a primitive life-style. The directions in which Aboriginal society could develop were limited by their environment and lack of contact with other peoples.
Because of its position Australia was the last continent discovered by the Europeans. The continent was discovered by the Dutch in 1606, who called it NewHolland. In 1770 the English captain James Cook discovered the East Coast of Australia.
The name of the country comes from the Latin word “australis” which means “southern”. Captain Matthew Flinders in 1804 proposed the name of Australia, but the term did not come into general use until the 1820s.
While America was a British colony the British convicts (осужденный) were transported there.But in 1776 the American colonies declared themselves independent. That’s why the British needed the new territories to transport criminals. At first convicts and their guards landed in Australia on January 26, 1788. It was the so-called “First Fleet” (Первый флот). Australia became a part of the British Empire. Now January 26 is Australia Day in honour of the “First Fleet” arrival.
FirstlyAustralia was the big colony for prisoners. The early settlers were very cruel (жестокий) to the aborigines. They were killed or driven away from their lands. The discovery of gold in 1851 brought many people to Australia and the character of the colony began to change.
In 1901 the separate Australian colonies united and proclaimed themselves the Commonwealth of Australia – a federation ofsix states. The new constitution was introduced on January 1, 1901. The first governor-general, the Earl of Hopetoun, convened (созывать) the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia on April 29, 1901.


















The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states. The country consists of 6 states (Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales,...