INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIA

Geography:
Australia, island continent, located southeast of Asia. With the nearby island of Tasmania, it forms the Commonwealth of Australia, a self-governing member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The country is bounded by four seas and the Indian Ocean and has a total area of 7,682,300 sq km (2,966,200 sq mi).The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states and two territories. The states are New South Wales ,Victoria , Queensland , South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania; the territories are the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The capital city is Canberra.

Land and Resources
Australia is one of the world's flattest landmasses. The interior, called the outback, consists of a series of great plains that are generally higher in the northeast. The eastern coastal plains are separated from the vast interior by the Great Dividing Range, or Eastern Highlands. The Great Western Plateau covers the western half of the continent and includes the Great Sandy, Great Victoria, and Gibson deserts. The Plateau is separated from the Great Dividing Range by the Central-Eastern Lowlands, an area of vast, rolling plains that includes the richest pastoral and agricultural land in Australia. Uluru (Ayers Rock), an enormous rock formation considered to be the largest monolith in the world, rises from these lowlands in Uluru National Park.

Australia's generally regular coastline has few bays or capes. The Great Barrier Reef, which extends 2010 km (1250 mi) along the eastern coast of Queensland, is the largest known coral formation in the world. The chain of reefs forms a natural breakwater for the passage of ships along the coast.

The climate varies greatly from region to region, ranging from tropical in the north to temperate in the south. Because Australia is in the earth's southern hemisphere, seasons are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere. January and February are the warmest months, and June and July are the coldest.

Australia's distinctive flora and fauna include many species not found elsewhere. Evergreen vegetation predominates, ranging from the dense bushland and eucalyptus forests of the coast to the mulga and mallee scrub and saltbush of the inland plains. More than 500 species of eucalyptus grow in Australia, with some reaching a height of 90 m (300 ft). Unique and primitive forms of animals, such as the egg-laying mammals known as monotremes, thrive in Australia. One of them, the platypus, is an aquatic, furred mammal with a bill like that of a duck. Another monotreme is the spiny anteater, or echidna. Most native mammals are marsupials. These include kangaroos and koalas, and the carnivorous Tasmanian devil, which is found only on the island of Tasmania. The continent also contains a variety of reptile life, including the fierce saurian crocodile of the northern coastal swamps, more than 500 species of lizards, and about 100 species of venomous snakes.

Population:
The population of Australia (1997 estimate) is 18,438,825, and the official language is English. About 94 percent of the people are of European descent, and the majority have a British or Irish heritage. Asians, including Middle Easterners, account for about 5 percent of the population, and Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders make up 1 percent of the population. Christianity is the predominant religion; the Roman Catholic church and the Anglican Church Australia are the primary denominations.

Education, which is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16, is the responsibility of the individual states. Secondary schools provide courses preparing students for state examinations to enter universities. Australia has 37 universities and a large number of colleges offering advanced degrees in specific subject areas.