Australia
In the late 18th century James Cook discovered Australia. English settlers came
soon afterwards. At first Australia consisted of several prisoners` camps for
dangerous criminals (murderers, arsonists, rapists...). The prisoners built barracks
and they had to live there. But there were many dangerous animals (poisonous
snakes and spiders) and diseases.
Australia is the world's smallest continent and the largest island. It is as
large as the USA but there are only 18 million inhabitants.
In the year 1901 Australia became an independent country but the English
monarch is still the nominal head of state.
Australia is the driest of all continents. And Australia consists of several
areas:
The Northern Territory is a big area but there live only 1% of the Australian
population.
The Western Territory is the biggest part of Australia and there are many
deserts, for example: the Great Sand Desert or Victoria Desert.
The Southern Territory is the driest part
In Queens Land there are a lot of national parks, rainforests and nice beaches
and the Great Barrier Reef is not far away. This Reef is the longest and most
complex coral system in the world.
In New South Wales there live about 6 million people and 3 million of them in
Sydney which is the biggest and oldest settlement. The capital of Australia is
Canberra.
Victoria is the smallest part of Australia. It is 3 times bigger than Austria
but there are only 4,6 million inhabitants.
Australia has about 3.000 national parks, like the Kakadu National Park.
The most famous product of Australia is the wool produced in the countless
sheep farms in the outbacks but in Australia there also are many coal and metal
mines.
Ayers Rock is a very mysterious red rock in the centre of the country.
Australia's isolation for more than 55 million years has created very special
animals and plants, which you cannot find anywhere else in the world. Very
famous Australian animals are the coala and the cangaroo.
