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| | Commonwealth of Australia (Latin: Australis - "Southern") - sixth state in the world with respect to the size of territory. Australia consists of the Australian continent and islands, largest of them being Tasmania.
East Australia was declared as territory of the Great Britain in 1770 and the first colony was formed on January, 26, 1788. As the population grew, six self-governing colonies were formed on the territory of Australia.
On January, 1, 1901, all the six colonies formed a federation. From that time onwards, Australia preserves stable democratic political system.
Name "Australia" occurs from Latin. australis, which means “Southern”. Legends about “Unknown southern land” (terra australis incognita) were known from Roman periods, were commonplace of medieval geography, however, were not based on real knowledge. From 1638, Dutchmen used this term for all newly-explored southern lands.
Name "Australia" became popular after publication of “A Voyage to Terra Australis” by navigator Mathew Flinders. Governor of New South Wales Mr. Lachlan Macquarie used this name in correspondences with England. In 1817, he recommended, that the name to be officially adopted. In 1824, British admiralty finally approved the name of continent as “Australia”.
Australia consists of six states and several territories.
States:
New South Wales (NSW); Queensland (QLD); Southern Australia (SA); Tasmania (TAS); Victoria (VIC) ; Western Australia (WA).
Two major mainland territories - Northern territory (NT) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT); Federal government controls separate area “Jervis Bay Territory|en” near southeast coast, which is a naval base and sea port for national capital.
In many respects, status of territories is similar to the status of states with an exception that the Federal Parliament can override any legislation of Territory Parliament.
Each state and mainland territory has its parliament (unicameral in Queensland and territories, bicameral in other states). Head of the governments of states is called “prime Ministers”. The Queen is represented in states by Governors.
Australia has several inhabited external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos Island and some uninhabited territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Island and Australian Antarctic Territory (one third of Antarctica). Sovereignty of Australia over Territory of Antarctica is not recognized by Russia and many other countries.
Geographical data:
Australia - Continent in the Southern hemisphere with an area of more than 7 million square kilometers. East coast of Australia is surrounded by Pacific Ocean; Northern, Western and Southern coasts are surrounded by Indian Ocean. Large islands such as New Guinea and Tasmania are located near Australia. Great Barrier Reef is situated along the northeast coast of Australia.
Flora and fauna:
Though most of the continent is covered by semi-arid and deserts, various types of landscapes ranging from Alpine meadows to tropical jungles are found in Australia. Approximately 85 % of plants, 84 % of mammals, 45 % of birds, 89 % of fresh-water fishes are endemic.
Australian fauna includes one-pass – platypus and echidna, various marsupials including koala, kangaroo, wombat bears and birds such as emu, cockatoo and kookaburra. Dingo was brought by Indonesians, who traded with native Australians from 4000 B.C. Many plants and animals, including huge marsupials, became extinct with the settlement of aborigines; others (for example, Tasmanian tiger) became extinct with the advent of Europeans.
As on July, 1 2007, census of Australia constituted 20 001 546 persons;
Majority of the population of Australia is descendants of immigrants of XIX and XX centuries. Majority of these immigrants migrated from Great Britain and Ireland.
Since First World War, population of the country increased by 4 times thanks to ambitious immigration program.
English is national language (special variant, popularly known as Australian English). |
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