About Australia

Australia’s Unique History
Captain James Cook discovered Australia in 1770.He was sent to discover the huge land that many people believed was south of the equator.He landed south of present day Sydney in New South Wales.He claimed this part of the land for the King of England.
At this time England was having many social problems. Unemployment was high.Crime was one of the greatest problems.The government punished people by sending them to prison.England’s solution to crowded prisons was to send priso- ners to far colonies .They could work off their prison sentences as labou- rers in the new colonies and eventually earn their freedom.Therefere, in 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip commanded eleven ships to Australia.About 750 of the 1000 people on the ships were convicts.These first settlers were greeted by the Aboriginers, the first inhabitants of Australia.There were an estimated 300000 Aborigines living in Australia at that time.
Great Britain claimed all of Australia in 1827.In 1851 gold was discovered about 300 km west of Sydney.People rushed to the gold fields to find their fortunes.This attracted robbers called bushrangers.Ned Kelly was a famous bushranger.He was a very clever outlaw.
In 1901 Australia become a nation within the British Empire under Queen Victoria’s rule.It was called the Commonwealth of Australia.Australia had a very limited constitution.Great Britain continued to make decisions re- garding all of Australia’s foreign affairs.
In 1931 Australia gained independense from Great Britain.

The land
Australia is the only nation that occupies a whole continent.It’s an island of 7.7 million square kilometers.It is the sixth largest country in the world after Russia Canada China the United States of America and Brasil.It’s located to the south of Asia between the Pasific and Indian oceans. Australia is the flattest continent after Antarctica.It is also the world’s driest continent.

The people
Australia has a population of about 18 million people.70 per cent of the population live in its 10 largest cities.Canberra is the capital of Australia. It is not the biggest city.Sydney and Melbourne are much bigger.Australia is a multicultural socie- ty.People from about 200 nations live there.The Aborigines,the Australian natives represent about 1.5 per cent of the population.

Language and climate.
Australia’s official language is English.Australian English does not differ significantly from other forms of England although some expressions are unique to Australia.
The climate in Australia is varied from tropical in the north to temperate in the south-east. Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere. That’s why it has summer when we have winter.

Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo the koala and the dingo ( a wild dog ).The emu is the most interesting bird in Australia.It is big and cannot fly.The kangaroo and emu can be seen on Australia’s coat of arms.The kookaburra is another interesting Australian bird.It cannot sing but laughs like human!