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(The Land Down Under) |
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Researched by Brianna
Y. |
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General Info
The Aussie flag has a British flag in the top left corner. It has 5 stars that represent the 5 constellations. It has 1 big star for all of the states. The 5 stars are sort of small and are on the right of the British flag. The 1 big star is under the British flag.
The Aussie coat of arms has an emu and a kangaroo holding a shield with the coat of arms of the six states on it. They are surrounded my golden wattle blossoms.
The national flower is a Wattle blossom. The national bird is the Emu.
The population of Australia is about 20 million. In comparison the US is about 296 million, which is about 15 times as much. The most populous cities in Australia are Sydney (3.5 million), Melbourne (3.0 million), Brisbane (1.3 million), Perth (1.1 million), and Adelaide (1.0 million). The capital of Australia is Canberra. The states in Australia are Northern territory, Victoria, Tasmania, Western
Australia, South Australia, New South Wales (NSW), and Queensland. The total size of Australia is 2,978,147 square miles.
Famous Places
One very important place that you should see if you ever go to Australia is the Opera House. It was built in the year of 1957 in Sydney, Australia and is still here this very day. Jorn Utzon from Denmark designed it. He won a design competition in 1957. Utzon has never seen the finished product himself. It has five halls. The Concert hall and the Opera are the largest. The first opera preformed there was War and Peace.
There is also the Harbor Bridge. The harbor bridge took 8 years to build and opened in 1932. It is on a par with the Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, the Tower Bridge, and the Eiffel Tower. In 1932 its nickname was “The Coat Hanger”, now named “The Bridge.” The Harbor Bridge is located in Sydney, Australia. In 1998 the Harbor Bridge opened the Bridge Climb.
Ayers Rock (Ularu) is another thing you should definently try to see. Ularu is located in Kata Tjuta National Park, 280 miles away from Alice Springs, Australia. Ularu is the world’s largest monolith and an Aboriginal sacred site. That’s why you should go and see all of those wonderful sites.
Famous People
Some of the famous people in Australia are bushrangers. A famous bushranger is Ned Celly. Ned Celly is the bushranger who would always wear a bucket on his head. Another famous person is Captain Cook.
Land and Geography
In Australia the natural hazards are severe droughts and cyclones. Only 0.04 percent of Australia is made up of permanent crops. 6.55 are arable land. 93.41 percent of Australia is other. The terrain in Australia is low plateau with desserts. The lowest point is lake Eyre and the highest point is Mt. Kosciusziko. The total area of Australia is 7,686,850sq.km. the area of water in Australia is 68,920sq.km. And land is 7,617,930sq. Km. Australia is just slightly smaller than the US 48 states. It is the continent between the Indian and Pacific oceans. The natural resouces are nickel, bauxite, coal, uranium, silver, iron ore, gold, copper, tin, and other minerals.
Agriculture
Australia leads the world in wool collection. Grains are the best crops in Australia. Australia’s cropland is along the east coast. Over 60% of Australia is covered in farmland. Over 80% of that farmland is pasture and relatively dry. Mainly for cattle and sheep. Most farmland is private. Australia is an important producer of meat, mutton, and diary products. 5% of workers are in agriculture.
Government
The head of government in Australia is a Prime minister. There are 6 states in Australia all with their own government. There are also additional territories all with their own government.
Australia Time Line
40,000 BC First Aborigines arrived from South East Asia.
20,000BC Aborigines spread through the mainland and Tasmania.
1788 British navy captain Arthur Phillip formed a prison settlement at Sydney. He arrived
there with 11 vessels holding nearly 800 convicts. The Aborigines population numbers a
couple hundred thousand.
1829 Colony of western Australia started at Perth by captain James Sterling.
1837 South Australia started, with Adelaide as its capital.
1850 Gold found, gold rush lasts a decade. Population increases three –times in ten years to
pass the million marks. A lot of Chinese entered and treated the Aboriginals poorly.
1856 Becomes first country to introduce the first ballot or- “Australian Ballot-for elections.
1877 Australia and England play first cricket game in Melbourne.
1901 The country became one on the first of January
1911 Canberra was founded as the capital.
1914 Out break of World War I.
1929 The Great Depression after the Wall Street Crash hit Australia hard.
1939 Australia goes with Britain’s lead and declares war on Nazi Germany.
1941 The USA decides to wage war on Japan. Australia went to USA for help in its time for
need after the Japanese took Singapore. Australia started a plane for immigration from
Europe. In the next 30 Years over 2 million arrived, 1/3 of them were from Britain.
1950 Australia gives troops to the UN forces (in the Korean war)
1956 Olympic games in Melbourne
1967 Australia gives troops to the US war (in Vietnam)
1975 A national vote held to give Aborigines full citizenship
1986 Australia makes new immigration laws
2000 Australia Act separates Australian law from the Britain parliament And legal system.
2000 The most popular Olympic games were hosted in Sydney Australia. January- Celebrates
100 years since the inauguration as the Commonwealth of Australia
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