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Australia: Geography and History
2-8 on-l
Australia is a continent and a country. It is about
the size of the 48 contiguous US states, and it has
a population of 23 million. Around 90% of
Australians live in cities on the coast. About 70%
of the land is desert. Sydney is the largest city,
with 4 million people. Canberra is the capital.
Label the Map:
States: (Clockwise from 12:00): Northern Territory, Queensland,
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia,
Tasmania (island)
Landforms: Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Uluru/Ayers Rock,
Great Victoria Desert
Coral Sea
Great Barrier
Reef
Ayers Rock,
Uluru
Great Victoria
Desert
Aboriginal
Land
Aboriginal
Culture
British
Exploration
Prison
Colony
Gold Rush,
Immigration
Constitutional
Monarchy,
Head of State
Federal
Government
Off the northeast coast of Australia, forming part of the Pacific Ocean, is the Coral
Sea. The Coral Sea is warm, but there are many storms.
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 about
the size of Germany. It is now a protected park and a scuba diving adventure.
Ayers Rock is a huge rock jutting out of the desert. It was named after Sir Henry
Ayers, a government official, in 1873. The rock is called Uluru by the Anangu Native
People of Australia. They consider it to be a sacred place.
The Great Victoria Desert is the third-largest desert in the world. Home to the
Ngaanyatjarra Native People, British colonists named it for Queen Victoria in 1875.
Humans came to the island 50,000 years ago. Over 750,000 people, in 250 different
language groups, hunted and gathered food and used stone tools all over the island.
They are now called Aboriginals, which means people from the origins.
Aboriginal cultures are diverse, but many honor the Dreamtime, a sacred time when
ancestor spirits shared in the Creation. Their stone-age culture did not change until
contact with Europeans. Today 3% of Australians are Aboriginal.
In 1768, Captain James Cook explored the land, claimed it for England, recommended
colonization, and called it New South Wales. The name Australia, which means
“southern” in Latin, was made official in 1804.
British prisoners were often sent to colonies overseas. Starting in 1788, England
shipped prisoners to 10,000 miles to New South Wales. Over the next 100 years,
160,000 British convicts arrived. Some decided to stay in the colony after serving.
In 1850, gold was discovered in Australia; immigrants eagerly made the journey from
England. In 1901, Australia was granted independence from Great Britain.
Australia is no longer a British colony, but it is still connected to the United Kingdom.
Australian soldiers served heroically with Britain in both world wars. Australia is a
constitutional monarchy. The British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is the ceremonial
head of state. The flag of Australia still includes the British flag.
In Australia, some decisions are made independently by the states, and some are made
by the national government. States decide on education and roads. The national
government decides international matters like war and trade.
Australia
Parliamentary
Democracy
N ________________ D _______ C _____ 2-8
The people elect the members of parliament to represent them and to write laws, and
the members of parliament also pick the head of government, who is the prime mister.
Malcolm Turnbull is the current prime minister. The upper house is called the Senate;
the lower house is the House of Representatives.
All economies are on the continuum between pure command and pure free-market;
Mixed
they are mixed. Australia is an extremely open free market economy. Australian
Economy
entrepreneurs are warmly encouraged to start new businesses.
Trade Barriers Australia is very eager to trade, especially with its Asian neighbors. For example,
Australia and its neighbor China have a very open trade agreement, but some tariffs
and quotas were left in place to protect Australian farmers from Chinese competition.
The total value of all goods and services produced in one country in one year divided
Per Capita
by the population is the per capita GDP. Australia’s 2015 per capita GDP: $65,400.
GDP
This is an imprecise measure of how easy it is for people to meet their needs. In a
Standard of
country with a high Standard of Living, people are relatively rich. In a country with a
Living
low standard of living, people are relatively poor.
1. How long ago did humans come to the island? 18. How far away does the head of state live
____________________________
from Australia? ___________________
2. What are the Native People called?
19. What fills the upper left of the Australian
____________________________
flag? ______________________________
3. Aboriginal People call the creation the
20. What part of Australian history does that
___________________.
corner of the flag show? ___________________
4. Did Aboriginal People use metal tools? ____
21. Power is shared by the national government
They used tools made of ________.
and the states, so Australia has a ____________
5. What percentage of Australians are Aboriginal government.
today? ____%
22. Citizens elect legislators, and the
6. British explorer: ________________________ legislators choose the head of government, so
When? _____
Australia is a __________________ democracy.
7. What did he call the new land?
23. The lower house listens to the people in
______ _________ _______
cities; the upper house thinks about the states.
8. What kind of people did England ship to New
Australia has a _________________legislature.
South Wales? ______________________
24. The head of government, Tony Abbott, is
9. When did this practice begin? ________
the __________________________________.
10. How far is it from England to New South
25. Place Australia on this economic continuum
Wales? ______________________
Command___________________Mixed__________________Market
11. How many convicts were sent in all?
|
|
|
|
|
_______________ Did some stay? __________
26.
Australia
and
China
have
a
trade
agreement,
12. What does Australia mean? ____________
but are they in a free-trade zone? _______
In what language? ___________
27. Why does Australia have some tariffs on
13. When did the land become known as
Chinese agricultural products?
Austraila? __________
14. When did the gold rush begin? ___________ _________________________________________
28. The total value of all goods and services
15. When did Australia become independent?
produced in one country in one year divided by
_______
the population is the ______________________.
16. Who is the ceremonial head of state?
Australia’s per capita GDP for 2015: __________
__________________________________
29. Does Australia generally have a low or high
17. Does the head of state have any power?
standard of living? ________
_____
30. Name an Aboriginal tribe:_______________