Australia

If you were asked about the country which occupies the territory of the whole continent you would no doubt answer: Australia. Australia is the world’s smallest, flattest and driest continent.

Australia is located south of Asia, between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The continent is made up of mainland Australia and of island of Tasmania to the south. Its most significant mountain chain is the Great Dividing Range the eastern part of which is known as the Australian Alps. 40 percent of Australia lies in the tropics, one-third is desert, vast areas are arid or semi-desert, unsuitable for settlement. There are few rivers and lakes in Australia. Its best-known river is the Darling.

Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the seasons are the other way round. Summer is from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August, spring from September to November. If you didn’t remember that Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere, you would be surprised to hear that many Australians become sunburnt on the beach in January.

Australia is the least populated of the world’s continents, its population being only 18.3 million people. It is a land of immigrants. Its population is subdivided into “original Australians” (Aborigines), “old Australians” and “new Australians”. During the colonization period the white men killed mercilessly a great many of Aborigines. Today they form about one per cent of the population. “Old Australians” or Aussies are people of Anglo-saxon or Irish descent, born in Australia or Aussienland and speaking English as their native tongue. Then, there are “new Australians” postwar immigrants from various countries.

Australia is sometimes called “The Land of Wattle” or “Kangarooland”. The isolation of the continent has resulted in the development of a distinctive Australian flora and fauna. This is reflected in the country’s coat-of-arms by the symbols of Australia’s native animals and plants: the kangaroo and the emu and a twig of wattle. There are many thousands of plants and animals in Australia. If any specialist were asked to enumerate all the species his attempt would fail.

There are six states: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and two territories: Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, in Australia.

Australia’s people are city dwellers. The most important cities are: Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney.

Sydney and Melbourne are the fourth and fifth largest cities in the Southern Hemisphere, each having more than three million residents and being modern seaports. Sydney has one of the world’s finest natural harbours. Sydney is Australia’s window into the world – a bright cosmopolitan city. Melbourne is contrary to Sydney; its green trams and wide, tree-lined avenues are symbols of an old-fashioned way of life. Melbourne is the nation’s cultural, financial and intellectual capital. Melbourne’s rivalry with Sydney was the driving force behind the creation of the federal compromise, Canberra, the modern capital of Australia, built on farmland between the two cities.

Canberra is not one of Australia’s largest cities, but it is certainly one of the most important. The government of Australia moved from Melbourne, the old capital, to Canberra in 1927. It is a twentieth-century city, the product of a brilliantly planned and executed design.

Australia’s official language is English. Australians speak the same English across the nation – there are no regional dialects. Australians understand each other as easily as they understand a person from another country who speaks English.

It is supposed that Australia’s native inhabitants, the Aborigines, arrived in Australia at least 40000 years ago. The first landing by Europeans took place in 1606. More than a century and a half later an expedition headed by the British explorer James Cook added the land to the possessions of the British Crown.

In 1901 the separate colonies in Australia merged together and became the States of Commonwealth of Australia, which acquired the status of a dominion of Great Britain. Though Australia now is an independent state, according to the Constitution the head of the state is the Monarch of Great Britain, represented by the Governor-General. Only since 1984 it has been required that he must be an Australian – previously it was to be British.

VII. Complete the sentences.

1. Australia is…

a) a small country;

b) the largest country in the world;

c) the sixth largest country in the world

2. Australia’s population is…

a) approximately 18.3 million people;

b) approximately 28.8 million people;

c) approximately 58.5 million people;

d) approximately 3.5 million people

3. The longest Australia’s river is…

a) the Murray; b) the Darling; c) the Murrumbidgee

4. Aborigines constitute…

a) nearly half of the population of Australia;

b) one per cent;

c) five per cent of Australia’s population

VIII. Choose the correct answer.

1. How many states are there in Australia?

a) 50; b) 6; c) 10

2. When did the first Europeans reach Australia?

a) 1606; b) 1770; c) 1788

3. Who claimed New South Wales for Britain?

a) James Cook; b) Abel Tasman; c) William Dampier

4. When was the Commonwealth of Australia formed?

a) 1901; b) 1927; c) 1788

5. Which city is Australia’s capital?

a) Sydney; b) Melbourne; c) Canberra

6. Who is the official head of Australia?

a) the Monarch of Great Britain; b) the Governor-General; c) the Prime Minister