AUSTRALIA The Land Down Under Population 22

AUSTRALIA „The Land Down Under“

Population: 22 millions Area: 7, 617, 930 km² Capital city: Canberra Languages: English Currency: Australian dollar Australia is a federal state consisting of six states and two territories: Northem Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Each state has its own government and its onw capital city. The state capitals are Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart.

History Australia was inhabited by originals inhabitants, called Aborigines 42, 000 years ago. The literal translation of the world „Aborigine“ is „ the people who where from the beginning“ The Aborigines arrived in Australia through the north end of the continent, which it was still part of the mainland below south-east Asia. They originally lived as hunters using boomerangs and other similar instruments for hunting. Boomerangs were used for hunting typical animals of Australia like emus, kangaroos or koalas.

Traditional dwellings of Aborigines Native Village in the northern interior. 1847

History The first European sightings were made by a Dutchman called Willem Janszoon. The first journey to Australia was in 1644 by Abel Tasman. (The Australian state of Tasmania was named after this famous explorer. ) In 1770, James Cook landed on the Eastern side of Australia and claimed new South Wales for GB. Between 1855 and 1890 all five colonies gradually gained its own home rule. They of course still remained a part of The British Empire. On 1 st January 1901, Australian Unionwas established. From this date there has been a stable liberal-democratic systém.

SYDNEY It´s the most populous city in Australia. It´s the capital city of New South Wales. It was founded on 26 th January 1788. (Today, this date is Australian national day. ) The symbols of Sydney are Opera House, which was designed by a Danish architect Jorn Utzon and Harbour Bridge. The bridge whose arch in some 134 m above water level.

ADELAIDE It´s the fifth the biggest city in Australia. It established in 1836 by colonel William Light. There is Ayers House- a building by architect G. S. Kingston.

MELBOURNE It´s the second the biggest city in the country. Population is about 3, 8 milions. Between 1901 and 1927 it was the capital city of Australia. It´s known as „Australian garden town“, because there a lot of gardens and parks.

CANBERRA The name Canberra in Aboriginal language means „meeting place“. It´s the capital city, but not the biggest one. It has been the capital city of Australia since 1927. It was selected as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne. (They couldn´t agree, which of them would take the role of the capital city. ) There is the Molonglo river flowing through Canberra, which forms Lake Burley Griffin in the centre. You can find there Telstra tower 195 m high or The Old Parliament house.

SYMBOLS Flag In the Canton there is located in the Union Jack - the symbol of Great Britain - reminiscent of Australia binding to the British crown. In the lower left part there is a 7 pointed star. Its six points symbolize the union six states, the seventh is shared by two as an independent federal territory. In the right half of the flag there is the Southern Cross constellation, which is often associated with Australia.

Coat The Coat of Arms of Australia is the official symbol of Australia. The initial coat of arms was granted by King Edward VII on May 7 1908, and the current version, shown here, was granted by King George V on September 19 1912.

Anthem It was composed by Peter Dodds Mc. Cormick. „Advance Australia Fair“ is the national anthem of Australia. A revised version of a late nineteenth century patriotic song, it was officially declared the national anthem on 19 April 1984.

ANIMALS RED KANGAROO It is the largest living marsupial. They run at 64 km / h, rarely 85 km / h Usually live in groups of two to ten It is hunted for meat and skin.

PLATYPUS Platypus is a mammal but lays eggs. It weighs about 1 kg and it measure 10 -15 cm At the Sydney, in the river was caught the first specimen in 1797

TASMANIAN DEVIL It´s the largest living predatory marsupial. It weighs about 8 kg and it measure 65, 2 cm. The most ofen it eat carrion. From May 2008 it regarded as an endangered species.

POLITICAL SYSTEM State system: constitutional monarchy The Queen of Australia is Elisabeth II. (The English queen), who is represented by governon general Quentin Bryce. The chairwomen of government is Julia Gillard. Australian parliament is composed of a the Senate with 76 senators and the House of Representatives with 150 members.

NATURE AND GEOGRAPHY The highest point: Mount Kosciuszko (2, 228 m) The lowest point: Lake Eyre (-15 m) The biggest lake: Lake Eyre (9, 500 km²) The longest river: the Murray (2, 375 km) other rivers: the Darling, the river Victoria, etc. Mountains: The Western highlands, Mac. Donnell mountains, Great mountain watershed, etc.

UNESCO SITES Greater Mountains are composed of sandstone plateaux, escarpments and gorges dominated by eucalyptus forest. UNESCO monument since 2, 000.

Great Barrier Reef It is over 2, 000 km long, it has about 600 islands. There live about 1, 500 species of fish and 4, 000 kinds of shellfish. There live also endangered animals such as sea cow and a huge green turtle here. UNESCO monument since 1981

National park Uluru-Kata Tjuta There is a Ayers Rock. It is one of the oldest rocks on Earth. It is the biggest monolit in the world. Ayers Rock is called „Ulur“ by Aborigines, it is a sacred site for them. They think it a symbol of all creation. They have rights over Uluru is in the middle of Simpson Desert. UNESCO monument since 1987.

SPORT Perhaps the most typical Australian sport is football, which is known as "footy". Nationwide League is called the AFL - Australian Football League Another popular sport is cricket. Australia has won the World Cup three times since 2005 Another sport is tennis. The capital city of tennis is Melbourne, where every year one of the Grand Slam Australian Open tournaments is held. From Australia come tennis players such as Rod Laver, Mark Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewit. Olympic games In 1956 Melbourne hosted the Summer Olympic games. In 2000 this event was held in Sydney

CURIOSITY In Australia, famous people were born like: Nicole Kidman-actress Miranda Kerr-model Kilye Minogue-singer Russell Crowe

There lives the most toxic snake – taipan. Name "Australia" is derived from the latin word Australis, meaning the south. Australians prefer short words, a lot of them are made by shortening everyday expressions: ta=thank you; Oz=Australia; Aussie=australian; footy=football; barbie=barbecue, postie=postman

RELATIONS WITH CZECH REP. Czechs travel to Australia to study, work or visite monuments. The most often Czechs go to study and earn a little. In Perth, Sydney or Melbourne, there are schools and universities, where you can study.

Resources: http: //cs. wikipedia. org/wiki/Austr%C 3%A 1 lie http: //australie. tripzone. cz/ https: //www. google. com/imghp? hl=en&tab= wi http: //www. osobnosti. cz Books: Reálie anglicky mluvících zemí, Světla Brendlová Adéla Holasová, 3. B