History of
Australia.
The east coast of Australia
was discovered by captain Cook in 1770. It was then first used as a colony for
convicts . Other settlements of a few three settlers began to appear. Of these
settlements Sydney was the most important; but other smaller settlements for
convicts were in Tasmania, at Brisbane, and on the Swan River in Western
Australia.
The early settlers were very
cruel to the aborigines. They were killed or driven away from their lands. The
discovery of gold in 1851 brought many people to Australia and the character of
the colony began to change. But still, the raising of sheep was for a long time
the most important occupation for the Australians.
Towards the end of the 19th
century, the Australian colonies began to discuss some form of union. They
formed a federation, the new constitution was introduced on January 1, 1901; and
the birth of the new nation was celebrated.
The Commonwealth of
Australia.
The Commonwealth of
Australia is a federal state within the Commonwealth. Its territories are the
continent of Australia, the island of Tasmania and a number of smaller
islands. It has an area of about 8 million square
kilometers.
The continent is mostly a
great plain with mountains in the east and south-east. The western part of the
continent forms a plateau which occupies half of the continent. The Central
Lowlands is very dry. Through the eastern part of these Central Lowlands run
Australia.s greatest rivers, the Murray and the Darling. A number of short
rivers flow from the Australian Alps and the Blue Mountains into the Pacific
Ocean.
Australia has several
different climatic regions, from warm to subtropical and tropical. The winds
from the sea bring heavy rainfalls, especially in tropical summer. The climate
in the west is very dry and more than half of Australia gets very little rain.
In the south-west and east the winds bring rain in winter.
The tropical forests in the
north and north-east are displaced by savanna or grassland. In the south-east
and on the sides of the mountains there are forests of eucalyptus and other
evergreen trees. There are two hot deserts in the central and western parts of
the continent.
There are many wild animals
in Australia. Some of them, such as the kangaroo, the dingo and the koala are
not found in any other country of the world. Australia has been called
.the land of differences. and .the continent of contrasts.. There are many ways
in which it is different from other countries. Australia was separated from the
other continents and her animals developed differently. Of these, the strangest
of all are the water-loving platypus and the echidna. Australia is also the home
of the kangaroos. The koala is a tree-loving, comical-looking animal that lives
on the leaves of eucalyptus trees. It will eat nothing more. The dingo is the
only killer among the native animals. Most of them now live in mountains or
hills. The native birds of Australia are very interesting. The emu, for example,
which with kangaroo, is represented on the Australian coat-of-arms, is the
next-tallest bird in the world after the ostrich.
The capital of Australia is
Canberra. There are 5 big cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide,
Perth and Brisbane. There are about 15 million people in Australia. The
Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states and two territories: New South
Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the
Federal Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The Commonwealth of
Australia is a self-governing federal state. Formally the head of the state is
the king or queen of England represented by the Governor-General. The Federal
Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The federal
government of the country is headed by the Prime Minister.