Download Physical Features of Australia

Geographic Understandings of
Australia
The Land
Down Under
Bennett
Australia Geography & History
SS6G12: Locate on a world and regional physicalpolitical map: the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea,
Ayers Rock and Great Victoria Desert
SS6G13: Describe how Australia’s location, climate
and natural resources have affected where people
live.
SS6G14: Explain the impact of English
colonization on the language and religion of
Australia.
I. Australia’s Political
Features
The Land Down
Under
Australia…
Is divided into 2 territories and 6 states:
States: Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia,
Western Australia, New South Wales,
Queensland
Territories: Northern Territory and
Australian Capital Territory
Tasmania
What: Island that is protected by the
government
Where: Island off the southeast coast
of the mainland
Tasmania
Tasmanian Devil?
Victoria
What: State closest to Tasmania
Where: Southeast part of the mainland
Capital is Melbourne; it’s the most
urban state in Australia
The many rivers of the region are a
good source of fresh water for farming
South Australia
What: State in south-central
Australia
Where: The Great Victoria Desert is
located here…
Western Australia
What: Largest state; makes up 1/3rd
of the mainland
Where: Most of Western Australia is
desert (Great Victoria Desert and
Great Sandy Desert are located
here)
New South Wales
What: Has more people than any
other Australian state
Where: North of Victoria, on the
eastern coast
The capital, Sydney, is the most
populated city in Australia -- 3 1/2 million
people live there!
Australian Capital Territory is located
here
Sydney
Queensland
What: Second largest state; 7 times the size of
England!
 Where: In the northeastern part of the
mainland
Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast in
the Coral Sea
More than half of Queensland’s population
lives in the capital: Brisbane
Northern Territory
What: Largest population of
Aborigines in Australia
Where: Northern coast of the
mainland, between Western
Australia and Queensland
Australian Capital Territory
What: The national capital,
Canberra, is located here
Where: Located in New South Wales
Canberra (Australia’s Capital)
II. Australia’s Physical
Features
Great Victoria Desert
What: largest desert in Australia
Where: Stretches through the states
of South Australia and Western
Australia
Receives only 8 to 10 inches of rain
each year, and it never snows!
Some grasslands in the desert along
with sandhills and salt
Great Victoria Desert
First Europeans to cross the desert
named it after British Queen
Victoria in 1875
160,000 miles long & is a protected
wilderness area
Very few Australians live here
because it’s too hot and dry
Great Victorian Desert
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
 Billions of tiny organisms called coral join
together to form the Great Barrier Reef.
 It is an underwater system of coral that is
the world’s largest living organism.
 It is now a protected park and a scuba
diving adventure.
 1,200 miles long
Great Barrier Reef from space
Coral Sea
What: An important source of coral for the
Great Barrier Reef
Part of the Pacific Ocean
Where: Off the northeast coast of Australia
When the earth’s crust moved millions of
years ago, it created the Coral Sea and the
Great Dividing Range (largest mountain
range in Australia)
Coral Sea islands are scattered over thousands
of miles of ocean--no one lives on the islands
except for a small group of weather specialists
Coral Sea
Ayers Rock
What: A huge, reddish rock in the center of Australia
Where: Very close to the geographic center of the continent…
It’s a monolith, which is a single, large rock sticking out
of the earth
Appears reddish because its iron content “rusts” at the
surface
Nearly 12 stories high and almost 6 miles wide!
Aborigines call it “Uluru”, which is its official name
Sacred to the Aborigines.
Ayers Rock