Australia

• Australia is the smallest continent in the world. Sometimes it is also called the biggest island.

• It lies wholly within the southern hemisphere

• The total area of Australia is 9 mln sq km.

• There four extreme points in Australia:

• North – cape York;

• South – cape South –Eastern;

• West – cape Steep Point;

• East – cape Byron.

• Australia is washed by:

• the Indian Ocean in the west,

• the Pacific Ocean in the south - east,

• the Coral Sea in the north - east,

• the Arafur Sea in the north

• the Tasmanian Sea in the south.

• The coastlines of the continent are rather smooth with few peninsulas and bays.

• Cape York peninsula• Arnemland

peninsula • the Gulf of

Carpentaria• the Great Australian

Bight• The length of the

coastlines without islands is 19.7 thousand km.

• Near Australia we can find some big islands as Tasmania, New Guinea and New Zealand.

• Australia is a low continent consisting mainly of plains and lowlands.

• There are only two mountain ranges there: the Great Dividing Range Mountains in the east and the Australian Alps in the west.

• There is one big plain in Australia - the Central Lowland. We can also find two deserts there – the Great Victoria Desert and the Great Sand Desert.

• It is rich in coal, iron and polymetallic ores, gas, oil, gold and aluminum.

• Most of the continent is influenced by trade winds. In the north monsoons blowing from the Indian Ocean, cause heavy rains. The extreme south-west and south receive rain mainly in winter when western winds are blowing from the Indian Ocean. In summer the temperature is very high in Australia. In winter the continent is cool.

• There are three natural zones in Australia:

• Monsoon forests

• Savannahs and rare forests

• Deserts and semi-deserts.

• A lot of unique animals live in Australia.

• Australia is the least populated continent. Over 14 mln people live here. The average density of population is a little over one person to the square km. The greater part of the inhabitants live in the east, south-east and south-west of the continent. All large cities are situated here. North and west are almost unpopulated.

• There is only one country on the continent. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Australia.

• The capital of Australia is Canberra.

• Another big and famous city is Sydney. Some people think Sydney to be the capital of the country, because it is the biggest and the most beautiful city of Australia. About 3 mln people live here.

• There are some more big cities in Australia.

• Melbourne is among them. It is a capital of the state of Victoria. It is a very beautiful and green town, where past and present live together.

• Brisbane is a capital city of the state of Queensland. It is famous for its Gold Coast, which is the most beautiful place for tourism and rest.