Discover Australia

Australia is an island and the only nation to occupy almost an entire continent. It’s the 6^th largest country in the world.

It lies between the Indian Ocean to the West and to the South, the Coral Sea to the North East and the Tasman Sea to the South West.

It is composed of six states: New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA); and two territories: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (represented as a star on the map opposite) and the Northern Territory (NT).

It is the flattest and the driest continent in the world, except for Antarctica.

The flag of Australia has a navy blue background with 

• the Union Jack in the top left-hand corner,
• the Commonwealth or Federation Star just below it (a large white seven-pointed star)  and 
• a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars on the right as it can be seen in the sky of the Southern hemisphere.

Its capital is Canberra but the most famous cities are Sydney and Melbourne.

70% of the population live in the 10 largest towns, mostly in the south-eastern part of the country.

Today, Australians are 25 million.

Western Australia is the least populated state and New South Wales is the most populated.

AIR TRAVEL DISTANCES 

(1 mile = 1.6 km)

Perth - Sydney: 2,049 miles

Darwin – Sydney: 1,954 miles

Perth - Darwin: 1,645 miles

Brisbane – Sydney: 454 miles

Darwin - Alice Springs: 938 miles

Sydney – Melbourne: 443 miles

Over the past 60 years, over 7 million immigrants, coming from about 200 nations, have made Australia a multicultural country.

The first peoples in Australia  date back  to around 100,000 years ago.

At the time when the British settled, the population of Indigenous Australians has been estimated between 400,000 and 1,000,000 with the majority living in the south-east.

But after, their population collapsed mainly because of disease brought by European explorers (smallpox epidemic), massacres and frontier conflicts with the British.

Today, the Aborigines represent only 1.5% of the population.

The country is composed of a huge desert in the centre: it’s called the Outback and it’s uninhabited. 

It's also known as the Red Centre.

There, the famous Ayers Rock or Uluru attracts lots of tourists.

There are lots of different species of kangaroos everywhere in Australia.Today, the kangaroos are twice as numerous as the inhabitants, that's to say 50 million! In 2010, they were only 27 million!

There are also koalas, dingoes, emus, camels and crocodiles.

The great barrier reef is famous all over the world with its paradisiacal islands, corals and fish. 

It’s in Queensland.

Australia National Day is on January 26^th, the day when the 1^st fleet arrived in Sydney harbour with over 700 convicts.

It’s not always very hot everywhere because people living in Tasmania do have winter temperatures.

The seasons are reversed since it is in the Southern hemisphere.

Average temperatures

in January             in August

 min/max                min/max

Darwin            25 / 32              21 / 31

Brisbane          21 / 29             10 / 22

Sydney           18 / 26              9 / 18

Melbourne       14 / 26              7 / 15

Perth              18 / 30              9 / 18

Alice Springs    21 / 36             6 / 22

At the very beginning of the 17th century European explorers landed in Australia.

The 1^st English settlers, led by Captain James Cook, arrived in 1788 in Sydney Harbour. They brought English convicts and established a penal colony, the first colony ever in Australia.

The money is the Australian dollar.   

1 AUD = 0,6 €

Australia's most famous sport is Rugby and the National team is called the Wallabies, from the name of a small kangaroo.

The players always wear yellow and green clothes.

They also practise cricket, football and hockey.

If you are looking for a good way to go on an adventure and learn English, why not try your luck on a gap year in Australia picking up vegetables or fruit or being an au-pair?

Describe the Australian coat of arm with all its symbols!

Ask someone to correct your exercise.