Australia

Australia , the country, is divided into six states.

Physical Australia

• The major area of hills and mountains in Australia is the Great Dividing Range.

The Outback

• A low area of land called the Western Plateau covers nearly 2/3 of the country. Australians call this area the Outback.

• Three deserts cover much of the Outback: The Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy Desert, and the Gibson Desert.

• These deserts include mammoth rock formations, some as old as 6 billion years.

Great Barrier Reef

• One of the world’s most famous natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef, lies just off Australia’s northeastern coast.

Natural Resources

Australia is one of the world’s leading producers of:

•Wheat•Cattle•Sheep

Australia is one of the world’s leading exporters of:

•Beef•Mutton•Lamb•Wool

Other natural resources include:

• Uranium• Iron ore• Copper• Lead• Gold• Diamonds• Silver

Climate and Vegetation

• Desert: A vast desert region covers the majority of the continent.

• Steppe: A ring of steppe climate surrounds Australia’s desert region. Acacia and eucalyptus trees dominate this region.

• Humid Subtropical: A moister climate found along the northeast coast

Climate and Weather

• Doldrums: frequently windless areas near the equator.

• Typhoons are also common. These are hurricanes that form in the Pacific Ocean.

Vegetation

• Acacia: called wattles by early settlers

Vegetation

• Eucalyptus Trees: Where you will find koalas.

Vegetation

• Manuka: shrubs found in New Zealand

Human Characteristics

• Early Peoples: Aborigines

What Happened to these People?

• Much like the Native Americans, the Aborigines were greatly affected by white settlement.

• The British brought many diseases that the Aborigines were not immune to.

• The Aborigines attempted to resist the taking over of their land by the British.

• As a result, many Aborigines died in skirmishes with the colonists.

• As settlements expanded, the colonists destroyed natural resources to the point that Aboriginal groups could not survive practicing their traditional hunting and gathering ways.

• Aboriginal populations declined drastically, and the remaining groups began to live on the fringes of the settlements.

Ethnic Groups Living in Australia

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

European

Asian

Aborigine

Human Characteristics

• Population: Population for Australia is about 18.7 million people.

• 85% of Australia’s people live in cities or towns.

• Very few people choose to live in the Outback.

Human Characteristics

• Population:

Religious Beliefs

80%

1%

12%

7%

Christian

Hindu

Nonreligious

Other

Languages• English is the predominant language spoken in Australia.

• Strine is the name for the English spoken in Australia.

Ranching• Australian sheep herders are called graziers.

• Australian ranches are called stations.

• Some stations are as large as 6,000 square miles.

Transportation and Communication

• Large parts of the Australian outback are without any roads.

• Desert and mountainous terrain make travel difficult

• The rail gauges, width between the rails, do not match from state to state. This also makes travel difficult.

Animal Life• The Europeans introduced

camels, rabbits, and sheep to Australia.

• Australia’s most well-known native animals are all marsupials, meaning they are mammals that give birth to offspring who mature in the mothers’ pouches.

• Kangaroos, koalas, and wallabies are marsupials.

The End