English Speaking Countries

Australia is an island continent. Australia is the world’s sixth-largest country lying between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.

The island of Tasmania and the continent make up the Commonwealth of Australia with an area of 7,692,000 sq km. Australia is about 4,000 kilometres from the east to the west and 3,200 kilometres from the north to the south. It is one of the most stable land masses. The country is flat and dry. The endless flatness is broken only by salt lakes and beautiful mountains like the MacDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs. Dryness and heat characterise the outback of Australia. There are stone deserts, a barren land of harsh and dry lakes. The north of Australia is a tropical area. The west of Australia is a broad plateau. The north-central part of Western Australia is the dry country. Australia’s deserts are sparsely vegetated dunes or salt pans. In other areas patchy grasslands replaced with savanna and dry creeks are often marked by stunted eucalyptuses and acacias. Australian summerstarts in December and it is hot in December, winter starts in June and it is cold in June. The climate isn’t too severe in most parts of Australia. The far north around Darwin is in the monsoon belt and so there are only two seasons: hot and wet, and hot and dry. In the Alps and the Snowy Mountains winter is a snowy season with good skiing. The centre of the continent is arid. The Snowy Mountains are the highest peaks in the chain of mountains formed two or three million years ago. Other mountain ranges include the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, the MacDonnell Ranges in the Northern Territory, and the Kimberley and Hamersley Ranges in the west of the country. As Australia is the driest continent a huge part of it has no rivers and the lakes are salt pans because of a little amount of rain. Most of the Australian rivers disappear in the hot dry month of the year and only the Murray-Darling River system ranks as a major river. Though in Tasmania there are many lakes as well as rivers: shallow coastal lakes and marshes, crater lakes, tarns and small glacial lakes of the Tasmanian highlands. Canberra is the capital of Australia and an important political centre of the country. Canberra is very beautiful with its gardens and parks. It is famous for its fine National Gallery, High Court building, new Parliament House and other places of interest.Sydney is the oldest and largest of Australia’s cities. It was founded in 1788. Sydney is a tourist centre with its Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Tower. Melbourne is the next major Australian city. It is an industrial, commercial and cultural centre of the country. Its wide streets, impressive Victorian buildings, bridges, parks andgardens attract tourists from all over the world. Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania, is the second-oldest city of Australia. It was founded in 1803. It isn’t large but is famous for its historic buildings. The other cities in Australia are Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane. Adelaide is the cultural centre. Perth is the only city on the western coast. Brisbane is known for its parks, gardens, forest reserves and Darwin for its multinational population.