Australia – An Exciting and Intriguing Country With a Unique Blend of Cultures
Australia is an amazing and diverse country, known for its fascinating combination of cultures. Once known as a British colony, today Australia hosts immigrants from numerous nations.
Australians love sports! From international tournaments such as Wimbledon or AFL/cricket leagues in Australia to domestic leagues such as AFL/cricket competitions like Victoria City FC’s Saturday league competitions – Australia truly is an athletic paradise!
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Origins
Australia consists of several states and territories, each of which has its own government and laws while remaining under the oversight of a larger national government. Due to this structure, trade across Australia can be difficult.
Australia is home to many unique species and plants, such as hundreds of varieties of eucalyptus trees, dingoes, koalas, kangaroos and the Great Barrier Reef. Additionally, Australia hosts some of the deadliest snakes and spiders – such as taipan – found anywhere on earth.
Australians can generally be divided into two groups: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These people were the native inhabitants when European settlers first settled here in 1788; increasingly advanced archaeological techniques are helping us gain more insight into their culture and history.
Geography
Australia is one of the flattest and driest continents on Earth – second only to Antarctica in terms of rainfall. When seen from above, Australia’s vast plains–sometimes covered in bloodstained patches or more often looking like one large desert–are barely discernible from one another.
Landscape diversity in Australia is astounding; The Great Barrier Reef off Queensland serves as its showcase. This world-class marine system covers an area of more than 460,000 km2.
At the heart of Australia lies large inland plateau areas comprised of deserts and mountain ranges. Here lies Uluru and Kata Tjuta – two incredible monuments which first shocked European explorers when mapped in 1872 and have since become national symbols.
Australia is famous for its unique flora and fauna, including hundreds of species of eucalyptus trees and native animals such as dingoes, kangaroos and koalas. Pupils will explore Australia’s geographic features by comparing its size to that of other countries/continents using bar charts before plotting these findings on world maps.
Climate
Due to its vast size, Australia boasts a variety of climates. Northern areas typically experience tropical savannah climate with hot and humid summers and dry winters; while southern areas have temperate oceanic climate with mild-to-warm winters and often cool or wet summers.
Australian Alps in the southeast feature typical mountain climate, with cold winters and heavy annual snowfall.
Australia has seen rapid climate changes as a result of human activity over recent decades, such as temperature increases, changes in snow cover and rising sea levels, more frequent heatwaves and fire danger events, larger rainfall events occurring more frequently and their frequency increasing due to an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations which warm both land surface temperatures as well as atmosphere temperatures, making Australia increasingly dry and drying out over time. Changes are expected to continue as Australia’s average temperature has steadily been increasing since 1910 – nighttime temperatures warming faster than daytime ones.
Population
Australia is comprised of six states and territories, the Australian Capital Territory and two islands; Cocos and Christmas being home to over 70% of its inhabitants. Australia ranks as one of the most urbanised societies worldwide with nearly 70% living in metropolitan areas.
As of 2021, Australia boasted an average life expectancy at birth for women of 81.8 years compared to global average of 71 years. Overseas immigration continued into Australia throughout most of the late 19th century but began declining significantly following World War I; reaching 10% by 1947.
Population growth slowed from its 2.3% peak recorded in September 2023 due to lower net overseas migration (NOM), as household types consisting of families related by blood, marriage (whether registered or de facto), adoption or foster care made up 71% of Australian households in 2021.
