Australia ppp

VB

AUSTRALIABY:

JESSICA E. DAITOL

FUN FACTS Australia has a very dramatic

landscape. Australia is famous for its "outback," the remote lands of the interior. The desert outback covers most of the interior. It is too hot, dry and barren to support many people

Eastern Australia has large areas of grasslands, used primarily for sheep and cattle ranches.

Australia also has some mountainous areas and plateaus scattered throughout the country. The Blue Mountains, on the south-eastern end of Australia, get their name from the blue haze caused by oil droplets given off from the eucalyptus trees. As an island, Australia also has many beautiful coastal beaches.

Australia is home to many animals not found anywhere else in the world.

Off the northeast coast of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is over 1,200 miles of coral. It has developed over the last million years, and is now the largest living structure in the world. It is home to many sharks and thousands of different types of tropical fish.

The Union Jack

The Southern Cross

The Commonwealt

h Star

Elements of Flag

GEOGRAPHYFormal Name: Commonwealth of Australia (long name)

People: Australian Citizen

Capital: Canberra

Land Area: 7, 682, 300 sq. km

Population: 22,620,600 (2011)

Resources: Bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum.

Arable land: 6.15% (2005)

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Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean.

- 4,000 km from East-West

-3,200 km from North-South

Climate: Generally arid to semiarid, temperate in South and East, tropical in North

Coastline: 36, 735km long

Terrain: Mostly low plateau with deserts, fertile plain in Southeast.

MONETARY UNIT Australian dollar or Aussie

dollar, written as AUD, A$, AU$.

The Australian currency was the first in the world to feature a complete series of plastic (polymer) notes. They are recyclable and much cleaner than paper money.

It has 5 different colours. 5 - purple, 10 - blue, 20 -

red, 50 - yellow and 100 - green

AUSTRALIAN COIN VALUES

Their coin values are 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 and 2 dollars. You will not find any 1 or 2 cents coins.

Most prices do not end in multiples of 5 cents.

The monetary system of Australia is decimal based.

It is made of aluminium bronze and are gold in colour.

MONETARY EXCHANGE RATE

1 Australian Dollar = 43.49046 Philippine Peso

1 Australian dollar = 1.0373 US dollars

HISTORY Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Asian and Oceanic mariners and traders March 1606, Dutch explorer William Janszon chartered the west

coast of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Spanish explorer Luis Vaez de Torres sailed through the strait

separating Australia and Papua New Guinea. Two centuries passed European explorers and traders continued to

chart coastline of Australia, then known as New Holland. In 1688, William Dampier became the 1st British explorer to land

on the Australian coast.

In 1770, Captain James Cook an Englishman, extended a scientific voyage to the Pacific in order to further chart East coast of Australia and claim it for British crown.

British use it as a Penal Colony. January 26, 1788 1st arrival of 11 fleet ships in Sydney Harbour

with 1500 people – half of them were convicts, a total of 160,000 men & women were brought to the country as convicts.

1852, Eastern colonies transportation was abolished while in

Western colonies it ended on 1868. January 1, 1901 Commonwealth of Australia was formed

through the federation of six states under a single constitution.

GOVERNMENT Federal parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm. Bicameral Federal Parliament

a. Senate

b. House of representative

3 ARMS OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

1) Legislature (or parliament) is responsible for debating and voting on new laws to be introduced under the power of section 51.

Bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats) 12 members from the six states and 2 from each of the two

mainland territories; one-half of state members are elected every three years by popular

vote to serve six-year terms while all territory members are elected every three years);

House of Representatives (150 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve terms of up to three-years; no state can have fewer than 5 representatives)

2) Executive is responsible for enacting and upholding the laws established by the legislature. Certain members of the legislature (called ministers) are also members of the executive, with special responsibilities for certain areas of the law.

elections: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general.

3) Judiciary is the legal arm of the Australian Government. It is independent of the other two arms, and is responsible for enforcing the laws and deciding whether the other two arms are acting within their powers.

High Court (the chief justice and six other justices are appointed by the governor general acting on the advice of the government)

WHO RULE IN AUSTRALIA? Chief of State – Queen of Australia is Queen Elizabeth II

of Great Britain.

Prime Minister- Head of the government.

Governor general – Appointed by the monarch to oversee the colony.

Julia Eileen Gillard

Quentin Bryce

ECONOMY Major Industries:

1. Agriculture and horticulture – farming

2. Fisheries

3. Forestry

4. Minerals (Mining)

Australia grows lots of potatoes; in fact potatoes are Australia’s largest vegetable crop.

Australian products are sought after because they meet high environmental and safety criteria and they taste great! Lots of research goes into making sure Australian agricultural products have maximum taste and quality with minimum impact on the environment.

Agriculture and horticulture – farming

In Australia there are over 20 large fisheries.

largest fishing zones in the world, covering 14 million square kilometres, about twice the area of Australia’s landmass and extending 200 nautical miles out to sea.

The top three exports are lobster, pearls and abalone.

Fisheries

In Australia, both plantation forests and native forests are harvested.

Australia has 9.4 million hectares of harvestable native forest, although only 1 per cent of this is being harvested in any one year. Because such a small percentage is cut down each year, these areas have many years in which to grow back. This is done because it mimics the natural growth cycle and disturbance of the forests.

Forestry

Australia has often been called resource-rich because of its huge natural deposits of many very useful and valuable fossil fuels, metals and minerals.

Australia has some of the largest iron and copper mines in the world, meaning we supply to the world a huge amount of the basic necessities for construction.

Minerals (Mining)

Bauxite: used to make aluminium. Coal: used to generate power and used in steel production. Copper: used for electrical equipment and cables, building

construction, industrial machinery. Diamonds: used for jewellery, industrial cutting and polishing,

computer chips. Gold: used for jewellery, electronics. Iron: used for steel production for use in construction, cars, trains

and train tracks. Uranium: used overseas for power generation, scientific research,

medical research. Silver: used for jewellery, photographic paper, mirrors, electronics. Gems: opals, emeralds, sapphires and rubies to name just a few.

CURRENT ISSUES

1. Population

2. International Disputes

3. Illicit Drugs

SOURCES

www.cia.gov

http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-flags-emblems/

http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-geography/

http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-history/

http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-governmentAustralian Currency

http://www.start-a-new-life-in-australia.com/australian-currency.html#ixzz26utece7J