Austraalia kohta inglise keelne referaat (2)

Tallinna Inglise Kolledž
Australia
Referaat
Tallinn
Table of contents:
Introduction 3
Geographical Position 3
Relief 4
Climate & Time Zones 5
Plants 5
Animals 6
Population 6
The Native Australians 6
The Biggest cities 7
Economy 8
Sports 9
Culture 9
History 9
Government 10
Conclusion 11
Materials 11
Australia

Introduction

Australia is the one and only country in the world which fills the whole continent . The continent it fills is called Australia too. So, Australia is both a country and a continent. If you want to make clear that you are speaking about the country, you may call it the Commonwealth of Australia. It’s the official name of the country.
Australia is the smallest continent, but one of the largest countries on Earth. It’s 6th largest country. Its area is about 7.6 million sq km. One third of it is occupied by deserts. It’s both the flattest and, except for Antarctica the driest.
Neighbouring countries include Indonesia , East Timor and Papua New Guinea in the north , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu in the northeast, and New Zealand in the southeast.
Its capital is Canberra . Other big cities are Melbourne, Sydney , and Brisbane. National language in Australia is English . Monetary unit is Australian dollar . Their national holiday is on the 26th of January . In 1788 on the 26th of January the first fleet arrived at Botany Bay and established a penal colony near modern-day Sydney.

Geographical Position

Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s the only continent except for Antarctica that is all south of equator. Sometimes Australia is called the island continent. There is a great reason why. It really is an island. It is 2880 km from the mainland of Asia and is almost half way round the world from Europe . More than 9 600 km separates it from America. Australia lies between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The Timor Sea and the Arafura Sea separate Australia from Indonesia. In the north the coast is washed by Great Australian Bight and the Indian Ocean . In the northeast the Coral Sea washes the coasts and in the southeast there is the Tasman Sea which also separates Australia from New Zealand.
The biggest island is Tasmania which is located to the south of the country.

Relief

Australia is a flat and old continent. Its average height is 274 m above sea level. Its relief is pretty simple – plains cover the greater part of it. Basically one third of its area is covered by deserts and plains. Biggest deserts and plains are: the Great Sandy Desert , the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert and the Nullarbor Plain. They are also called as the Western Australian Shield . The Nullarbor Plain is an uninhabited limestone plateau. It is characterized by amazing cave and tunnel systems, which contain valuable information about ancient Australia.
The east is the mountainous part of the country. There is The Great Dividing Range. It runs along the Pacific coast and finds it end in Tasmania. The mountains are old and worn down. The highest mountains on the Australian mainland are in an area known as the Australian Alps. They are a small part of the Great Dividing Range. The Highest Peak on the mainland is 2228m high – Mt Kosciusko.
One of the largest monoliths – Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, can also be found in Australia. It’s located in the middle of the country. The monolith is 348 m high.
The flat hot centre of Australia is called the outback. The Outback is more then two thirds of Australia, but less than 100 000 people live there.
Between the Western Australian Shield and the Great Dividing Range is the Great Artesian Basin region . It is an area of vast plains. It includes three major basins: The Carpentaria, the Eyre and the Murray basins. Lake Eyre is one of the largest salt lakes and also the lowest point of the country (15 m below seal level). The permanent rivers can be found in eastern Australia, in southwestern Australia and in Tasmania .The biggest river is the Murray River. Approximately 3,370 km in length . It is fed by melting snows. Other rivers are seasonal.
The coastline of Australia is generally regular – with few bays and capes. The largest inlets are the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Great Australian Bight.
In the northeast of the country a few km off the coast there is the Great Barrier Reef. It extends about 2000 km along the coast of Queensland . Made of coral, it is the world’s largest structure created by living organism.

Climate & Time Zones

Australia is the driest continent in the world except Antarctica. It has low average rainfalls. About 70 per cent of the country is arid or semi arid and cannot support agriculture . The north part of the country gets about 300 mm of rain a year . Much of the rain soaks into the ground and does not form any rivers or lakes. Monsoon winds bring moist air during summer . This is the time of high rainfall. It’s known as “the wet “ season . High temperature also means hat a lot of moisture evaporates or is used by plants. In the southern two thirds of the country the climate is temperate to cool. Winter temperatures can be low but not freezing. There are four seasons. The seasons are the opposite of our seasons. When we have summer then in Australia is winter. In Australia droughts and floods are pretty usual. The draught is caused by El Nino, a weather pattern which happens when the Southern Pacific Ocean heats up. This causes the wind direction to reverse. An El Nino occurs every four or five years , causing drought and bushfires. Droughts are followed by floods.
Australia has three time zones. In Western Australia is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 8 hours . In New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania and in Australian Capital Territory time is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 10 hours. In South Australia, Northern Territory, Broken Hill , NSW time is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 9 ½ hours.

Plants

A rich variety of plants can be found in the natural landscapes of Australia. A lot of species can be found in wet tropical forests in the north and in temperate rainforests in the south.
The biggest family of native plants is the myrtles. They include more than 500 species of eucalyptus, or gum trees . Only the big river red gum is seen nearly everywhere. These can be found beside rivers and dry riverbeds. Some gum trees are valuable timber species and have been cut down for many years. Gum tree leaves are full of oils, which evaporate easily.
Another big family of native plants is the acacias. They are also known as wattles. There are about 900 wattle species. The golden wattle is Australia’s native flower . Its gold flowers and green leaves inspired the colours worn by many Australian sporting teams.
In Australia bushfires are very often to happen . Because the trees and shrubs do not lose their leaves in winter, but grow throughout the year. But when the dry leaves and branches fall down, then there is a lot of dry material and that helps bushfires to burn.

Animals

Scientists estimate that the continent is home to more than one million plant and animal species. Many of these are found nowhere else on the planet . Among these animals are kangaroos, wombats, koalas. They carry their babies in pouches. There are platypuses and tiny anteaters (echidna) too, which are the only mammals in the world that lay eggs. Among the birds are emus, lyrebirds and black swans. When a platypus specimen first reached to Europe people thought it was a fake, sewn together from bits of other animals. The platypus, the strangest of Australia’s animals, is a living reminder of ancient, extinct creatures. The best known animal that lives in Australia is the kangaroo of course . There are about 50 species of kangaroo, ranging in size from the big red kangaroo of the outback to wallabies and smaller rat-kangaroos. Kangaroos are marsupials too. Their babies develop inside their mother ’s pouch .
About half of Australia’s 230 mammal species are marsupials. As well as the meat - eating Tasmanian devil, possums, bandicoots and of course kangaroos, wombats and koalas. The large meat eating marsupial, the Tasmanian tiger is probably extinct.
Most of Australian native animals move around at night . But the birds which are very colourful are easy to see. There are about 750 species of birds in Australia.
Two types of crocodiles, the saltwater and the freshwater crocodile can be found in the north.
The dingo or the native dog is not really an Australian native. It was brought from Asia around 3500 years ago. The dingo is an efficient sheep hunter. To protect sheep The Dog fence was built in 1946.

Population

About 20, 2 million people live in Australia. Mainly they live on in the eastern and southeastern part of the country, because the middle part of the country is mainly plains and deserts. The eastern part is the place where the big cities are like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane etc. In Sydney and Melbourne together live about 8 million people.

The Native Australians

The first people who arrived to Australia were the Aborigines. They arrived there about 50 000 years ago. The word aboriginal means the first or earliest known. The word was first used in Italy and Greece to describe people who live there.
More than 30 000 years ago the population of the world was small. People lived in family groups. There were no cities or anything like that. There were no cultivated crops, animals were not herded for food and metalworking was yet to be discovered . It is not known from where the aboriginals bean their journey, but it is certain that they used some kind of a craft to cross the water between the islands to the north and reach the southern continent. This voyage is the earliest evidence of sea travel by prehistoric man.
The firs Aboriginals found an Australia with a better environment than today . Large animals now extinct provided more meat than the animals which we are familiar with. Some parts of the continent were richer in vegetable food, but there were no cultivated crops or animals that could be domesticated such as cattle and sheep.
As Australia was isolated from the rest of the world, Aboriginals had very little contact with other people from whom to borrow techniques, to trade good , to acquire crop seeds, or animals.
Each clan grouping occupied a well-defined area of land . The group belonged with, or to, the land - as well as the animals and plants. They had no idea of being able to buy or sell land. The land was given long ago, in the Dreamtime. Aborigines were limited to the food, which they had growing naturally in their area. But they knew when, where and how to find anything edible. But food was not obtained without effort. Inland, the search for water was a life and death matter . Aborigines survived where the others would have died. They drained dew, and obtained water from certain trees and roots. They even squeezed frogs, which store water in their bodies.

The Biggest cities

The biggest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth , and Adelaide .
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia with a population of over 4.2 million people. Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and is located on the country's south-east coast. Sydney was established in 1788 as the first European colony. It is Australia's largest financial centre and is also an international tourist destination, notable for its beaches and twin landmarks: the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge .
Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia with a population of approximately 3.7 million people. Melbourne is also located in the country's south-east coast. The city is the state capital of Victoria and home for over 70% of the people who live in Victoria. Founded in 1835, some 47 years after Sydney was built. Often referred to as the "sporting capital of Australia", the city has a rich sporting history and is home to most of Australia's major annual sporting events. Both Sydney and Melbourne have held the Olympic Games . Melbourne hosted in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.
Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and is the third largest city in Australia, with a population of just under 2 million. It is a city set close to the Pacific Ocean. It is Named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane. It was established in 1824. In the new millennium, it is Australia's fastest growing city and the second fastest in the developed world.
Perth is the capital of Western Australia. A population of 1,477,800 people makes Perth the largest city in Western Australia. The city is also the fourth most populous urban area in Australia. Its area is 5,386 km².
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1.1 million. It is named in honour of Queen Adelaide
Canberra is the capital city of Australia and with a population of just over 325,000 people. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra was selected for nation 's capital in 1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities. It is an entirely purpose -built, planned city. Canberra is the seat of the government of Australia.

Economy

Australia is an outstanding producer of primary products . The country doesn’t import almost any foods . Australia produces food itself. Australia is a major exporter of wheat, meat, dairy products and of course wool . The country produces more than 25 percent of the world’s yearly output of wool.
Australia is also very rich in minerals. Coal, bauxite, gold, iron ore, diamonds , natural gas, nickel can be found in Australia. Western Australia has become the most important region of mineral production Mining is an important branch of Australia’s industry too. The famous mining area is Broken Hill in New South Wales. It‘s one of the largest producers of lead , zinc copper and uranium. Australia is also rich in precious and semi precious stones. Black opals, pink diamonds are thought to be very valuable.
Tourism is also very important to Australia’s economy. It gives work to half a million people.
Most of Australia’s oil and natural gas comes from fields found in the Bass Strait. Oil has been found in South Australia and in Western Australia.
Agriculture of Australia depends totally on climate. In the eastern part of the Northern Territory peanuts, sugarcanes and fruits re frown. Cattle are raised in all of Australia’s states and territories.
About 7 per cent of the total area of Australia is under crop. Oats, barley, rye, oil seeds and tobacco are grown there.
Tasmania is famous for its fruits, especially apples. Special varieties of grapes are grown in the Murray Valley for the production of raisins.

Sports

In Australia outdoor sports are very popular . Many people enjoy surfing, swimming or boating. Many people play golf and tennis . Australians begin to play team sports in primary school and many continue to play them throughout life. The most popular team sports are cricket, Australian football, rugby and soccer .
Australia has produced many world – famous athletes, especially in tennis, golf and swimming. Australians have won numerous Olympic medals in swimming, athletics, cycling and yachting.
The world famous swimmer Ian James Thorpe was also born in Australia. He has won 5 golden, 3 silver and one bronze medal from the Olympic Games in Sydney and Athens. This is more than any other Australian.

Culture

  Since its discovery by Europeans more than 200 years ago, Australia has seen lots of changes. Just like all other countries in the world, Australia has its own unique culture and lifestyle. People from every corner of the world have moved to Australia and contributed their diversity to the Australian culture.  For a long time, Australia was thought to be a country of sheep farmers and gold miners. But today's Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world. For many years, Australia was a part of the British Empire , and the Anglo-Celtic heritage has greatly influenced the country's lifestyle. The traditional British supper is still very common, and barbecues ("the barbies", as Australians call it) are a typical Australian pastime. There is also the traditional Aboriginal cooking in Australia. It consists of such unique foods as kangaroo, wombat, turtle, eel, emu, and snake meat. Almost all Australians love sports. Soccer, rugby, cricket, cycling, bush walking (hiking), tennis, and golf are very popular among Australians of all ages . Australians love to celebrate their national holidays. Along with New Year's Day, Easter , and Christmas , they celebrate the Australia Day on January 26, the Queen's birthday, and they also have several festivals during a year. Two of the most important festivals are for Easter and Christmas.
Australia has a long history of film production. Notable production includes the matrix and the star wars Episode 2 and 3. Many USA producers have moved their productions to Australian studios.

History

Australia was once part of the giant continent – Gondwana. It included Africa, South America, and Antarctica. First Antarctica and Australia split from Gondwana. Then Australia broke away from Antarctica and began to move north. Aborigines arrived there about 50 000 years ago. They had occupied the whole continent by 30 000 years ago. At that time Tasmania was still part of the mainland. About 20 000 years ago the ice began to melt and the rising water level cut Tasmania off from the mainland.
Traders from what is now Indonesia are thought to have been visiting Australia well before the 17th century . Chinese , Malaysian and Arab sea captains may also have landed in northern Australia after the 15th century. Still Australia remained unexplored until 17th century. One of the reasons Australia remained undiscovered was that it was located off the trading corridor of the Indian and South Pacific.
The first recorded European contact with Australia was in March 1606, when Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon charted the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. The Dutch called it New Holland . In 1642 Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania. The first English explorer was William Dampier in 1688.He was followed by James Cook . In 1768, Captain James Cook left England on a three-year expedition to the Pacific that also took him to Australia. Cook landed at Botany Bay on the eastern coast. He charted the region and named it New South Wales.
Britain decided to use its new outpost as a penal colony; the First Fleet of 11 ships carried about 1500 people - half of them convicts. The fleet arrived at Port Jackson , the site of modern Sydney, on 26th January 1788, and it is on this day every year that Australia Day is celebrated. In all, about 160 000 men and women were brought to Australia as convicts from 1788 until penal transportation ended in 1868.By this time there were established many settlements.(At Hobart, in Queensland, Melbourne)In 1901 all the separate parts of Australia were united into one country.
In 1851 gold was discovered in eastern Australia. This brought along the Great Gold Rush. Thousands of people went to the new land to find fortune. Forty years later again gold was discovered. This time in the west. The gold miners of the east had a hard time. Water was very scarce and the roads were bad. But then a railway was built. The west was joined with the east. In 1903 a water-main was built to support the gold-mining centre with water.
Some of the early settlers had been sheepmen in Britain. They saw that the grasslands
would be a wonderful place for raising sheep. Hey knew that wool stands shipping well,
so many started sheep farms. In some cases cattle were raised on the grassland instead of
sheep.
Many of the people who came to Australia to find gold stayed on to do other kinds of
work. They found that Australia has other riches too, such as coal, copper, lead, iron ore,
nickel, natural gas etc. The forests have good timber. Along seashores pearls and tortoise
shells can be gathered. Other land proved to be good for growing sugar canes and fruit
orchards. Of course they needed to buy and sell what was raised. Others needed to
manufacture such things as butter, cheese, shoes, and clothing . Cities grew.

Government

Australia is divided into 2 territories and 6 states. The territories are Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. The sates are South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia which is the biggest of them. The official name of the country is the Commonwealth of Australia. Type of government in federal parliamentary democracy. The Head of State is the Queen of the United Kingdom. The head of the government is the prime minister. Australia has a British Union flag. It is red, white and blue . Five small stars represent the constellation Southern Cross. The big star represents the country’s states and territories On January 1-s 1901 this flag was chosen from about 30 000 entries in a public contest. It was officially adopted as the Australian flag in 1953.
Australia’s monetary unit is Australian dollar.
Australia’s national anthem is “Advance Australia Fair ”. This replaced “God save the Queen” in 1984. The unofficial anthem is called “Waltzing Matilda”.

Conclusion

Overall Australia is a very big and very beautiful country. It is famous of its great athletes, the production of merino wool and of course the amazing animals. It’s the only continent which is located all south of equator. It’s a dry country and about one third of it is covered by plains and deserts. It has an interesting history about the aborigines and how the Englishmen got there.

Materials

Internet :
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia-13time
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/as.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/history.html
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Native+plants+and+animals
http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_Geography_14_1.html
Books
Sotter , L. Hone - “English step 7”
“ENE” (1)
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