Australia (country). The discovery of Australia. Map of Australia. Symbol of Australia

Australia is a country that we read with rapture as a child, and when we grow up, we try to find any possible ways, both imaginable and altogether improbable, to visit this region at least once in a lifetime. Only here you can meet unprecedented animals, stand by amusing trees, swim in the sea, watching the bustle of iridescent coral fish.

And what do we know about this continent, its climate, history, symbols, traditions and culture? If you understand, it turns out that not too much. School textbooks on geography tell first of all that Australia is a country that can be found without any problems in the south-eastern part of the map. It is so big that there will not be any problems with recognition. But that, agree, is so small for a vast continent.

This article not only acquaints readers with the most important information, it will make you love this country enough to start saving money for a trip.

Section 1. General description

Take the globe in your hand and look carefully. As you know, Australia is the mainland, located at the bottom of the mock-up of the land, roughly to the southeast of the capital of the Russian Federation. From all sides it is washed by warm waters, which has a beneficial effect both on the economic and ecological situation of the country. By the way, one can not but note the fact that Australia not only protects its surrounding world, it tries to multiply it in every way, creating almost unique conditions for representatives of local flora and fauna.

For a few decades of its independent existence, the state, as they say, has recovered in spirit, and now plays an important role in the world. The standard of living in the region is considered to be one of the highest on the planet, and thanks to clean air and rivers, people here are rarely exposed to bronchial diseases.

Section 2. Discovering Australia

To date, based on historical facts, we can confidently say that the first people appeared on the continent 40-60 thousand years ago, ie, at a time when Tasmania and New Guinea were still part of the mainland.

The official opening of Australia occurred in 1606, when the famous seafarer Willem Jansson arrived to its shores on his ship called "Dayfken". At the same time Australia received the name of New Holland and for some time passed under the management of the Netherlands. In fact, the Dutch have never mastered these territories.

Later a whole string of researchers rushed to the continent. Among them, the most famous are Louis Vaes de Torres (1606), Derk Hartog (1616), Frederic de Hautman (1619), Abel Tasman (1644) and James Cook (1770. As a result of these campaigns, a detailed map of the country was drawn up and some islands were discovered Australia.

From 1788 to 1901, the continent almost completely became dependent on the British Kingdom. The Europeans formed colonies, built buildings, tried to establish production, took up the construction of a railway running through the entire continent. As if there were positive changes, live and rejoice, and the indigenous population continued to die out, sharply declining in numbers. There were several main reasons. First of all, of course, this was due to various kinds of epidemics, which suddenly broke out over the whole continent because of diseases brought by Europeans, to which immunity of local residents, respectively, was not.

However, in some parts of the country it was possible to observe events that now could easily fall under the category of genocide of the local population. The fact is that whites arrived in Australia very often by force selected babies from Aborigines. The goals were pursued in many different ways: someone tried, in accordance with the fashion of the time, to adopt or adopt a black child, then to take him with him to their homeland. Some of them simply taught kids all the wisdom of managing their households from the very childhood, in effect turning them into servants and depriving them of a full life.

The final independence from Great Britain, Australia was obtained only in the 20 th century.

Section 3. Australia these days

To date, the state has been developing from year to year, supporting and establishing both diplomatic and economic relations with all countries of the planet, yet giving the advantage to the states of the Pacific region.

The official language of Australia is English, apparently, therefore, problems with communication at the level of the world community do not arise with local residents. The closest business ties are maintained with the US, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. In addition, Australia is actively assisting developing countries.

Section 4. State Symbols of the Country

It is certainly impossible to choose one of the symbols of Australia. As in our country, there are at least three of them: a flag, a coat of arms and a national anthem. We will try to talk about each of them in more detail.

The flag is a rectangular cloth. The dominant color is blue. Not everyone knows that, in general, this symbol of Australia consists of three basic elements approved at the legislative level - the flag of Great Britain, the stars of the Commonwealth and the constellations of the Southern Cross.

The number of stars tells about the number of states that make up the state. There are six of them: Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia.

The coat of arms of the country is a kind of shield, on which the symbols of each state are alternately displayed. A little later, the Commonwealth star was placed. The shield is supported by two animals characteristic of the continent, the emu and the kangaroo.

The national anthem of the country has a very significant name - Advance Australia Fair, which means, in our native language, Russian, "Thrive, my beautiful Australia". In 1878, this song was proposed by a famous artist Peter McCormick. It was adopted on the recommendation of the government of the country, before that the song "God Save the Queen" was considered the official song of Australia.

Section 5. Climate and location peculiarities

Australia is a mainland, which actually boasts of a completely different climate. Here, as you know, there are nine deserts. One of the most arid and largest deserts of the globe - Victoria - also belongs to this part of the world. It's rather difficult to live here - probably not every one of us has found ourselves in such a place where precipitation in the form of rain falls from the force 10-15 times a year, and there is no snow at all. The modern man here certainly will not survive, but the tribes of the local aborigines, in particular kogara and mirning, consider Victoria their home.

However, Australia's geographical characteristics do not end there. Scientists say that snow here, in the Australian Alps, falls significantly more than in the world-famous ski resorts in Switzerland. That is why in such areas as Queensland, South Wales and Victoria, winter sports have been considered one of the most popular for many years.

The oceans washing Australia also contribute to the formation of the local climate, annually bringing on the coast abundant monsoons and trade winds.

Section 6. Relief and natural resources

In general, it should be noted that most of the country is occupied by deserts and various lowlands. And only in the east of the country there are mountains, which, according to experts, can be considered not only low, but also dilapidated. This Hercynian folding is called the Great Watershed Range. It reaches its maximum mark in the south, towering such mountain peaks as Kosciuszko and Thousand, whose height barely exceeds 2,200 meters.

The lowest point of the continent is considered to be Lake Eyre, a few centuries ago, appeared at a depth of -15 meters relative to sea level.

It is unlikely that anyone will deny the fact that the country's main wealth can be considered its mineral resources. In principle, in comparison with the world average, the country is provided with 20 times more. It occupies a leading position on the planet in terms of the number of developments. For example, Australia belongs to the second place in the extraction of bauxite and zirconium, the first - in uranium reserves. Currently, manganese, diamonds and gold are actively mining.

The country has its own deposits of gas and oil. Of course, they are clearly not enough to establish commercial supplies to other parts of the world, but the state also does not need to buy them.

Section 7. Animal World of the Continent

The unique nature is certainly one of the reasons to visit the country. At first glance, it is difficult to imagine that in Australia today there are about 380 different species of mammals, about 830 species of birds, more than 4,000 species of fish, and scientists sing out 140 species of snakes and almost 300 species of lizards. By the way, there are a lot of sea animals - about 50 species.

Probably the Big Coral Reef had to be heard by everyone. And this is not surprising, because from the school bench we remember that it is the largest construction of such a plan of all built by nature on Earth. The length of the organic formation is 2000 km, and it is located near the coast of Queensland in the Coral Sea.

One can not but note the fact that 80% of these representatives of fauna you will not meet anywhere else on the planet. Although watching koalas, dingoes, kangaroos, snakes, platypus, wombats and wallabies in the wild are unlikely to succeed. All interested persons are advised to go to one of the many nature reserves, the most popular of which are the tropical park (Port Douglas), the Hillsville Nature Reserve (Victoria) and the Wildlife Park "Clland" (South Australia).

Section 8. Mainland Animals and World-wide Problems

Of course, the most intense interest in visitors is caused by the marsupials of Australia. Why? The thing is that representatives of this species of living creatures are found only on this continent, and therefore each of them can be considered unique.

However, despite all the efforts made by the government and relevant organizations, their number continues to decline catastrophically from year to year. First of all, the reason for this is the human factor. As a result of deforestation, the natural habitat is lost, many animals die under the wheels of cars or are attacked by domestic dogs.

But there are situations when specialists can not pinpoint the cause of the death of unique animals. For example, koals are susceptible to a rare disease of chlamydia, and at this stage, scientists have nothing to do but to vaccinate each individual animal. For this twice a year hundreds of volunteer brigades are sent to the forest.

Australia grows a huge number of poppies, the cultivation of which is gaining in recent years more and more turns. Of course, this type of business has a beneficial effect on the economy, but at the same time, it does a significant blow to the animal world. The fact is that some representatives of the local fauna literally love to eat with poppy seeds, and, in the end, fall into their complete dependence, becoming so-called drug addicts in animal form. To date, a decision has been taken throughout the country to protect such areas from penetration of kangaroos and other specimens.

The construction of hospitals for wild animals is gaining momentum. Now, if necessary, you can call a special free phone number, inform specialists about the sick or injured creature. Help poor guy will be provided almost immediately. Such clinics, both conventional and mobile, are funded from the state treasury. And since the official language of Australia is English, there are almost never any problems with finding sponsors and patrons from all corners of the globe.

Section 9. Flora of the Southern Mainland

The continent itself, as well as the islands of Australia, has a rather unusual flora. To date, there are almost 27,000 species of flora, including several fossil plants, the most interesting of which can be called the deserted sweet pea Sturta, the telopeia, the baxia and the kangaroo paw.

Travelers are most often surprised by the local acacia, popularly called Australian mimosa, eucalyptus, cypress pine, tea tree and mangrove thickets.

However, perhaps the most unusual plant can be called a platypus orchid. To man, the flowers of this stunning representative of the plant class resemble a small and very funny duck. But the male sawfly sees a female in them, which means that immediately flies towards the mysterious stranger. As a result, it appears inside the plant, which has sticky stems and flower bases. While the poor insect is trying to free itself from the clinging embraces of the duck-billed orchid, it, in turn, abundantly sprinkles it with pollen. Once freed, the male flies to the next plant, pollinating it, and thereby contributing to further spread.

Section 10. The capital of Australia - the most unusual on the planet

Only the most, as they say, geographically savvy people can immediately answer that the main city of the country is not Sydney and not Melbourne, as it is commonly believed, but a modest Canberra. Why is that?

The explanation sounds quite simple: tolerant Australians for so long could not give the palm to one of the two largest cities in the country, that in the end it was decided to transfer it to a third party. Canberra was chosen quite by accident, turning out to be a settlement located approximately in the middle between both megacities.

Section 10. Main cities of the country

Australia ... Briefly describe this country is unlikely to work, and its settlements and even more so. One can say with certainty - each of them can be considered as the most unique corner of our planet.

Sydney - a place in which culture is closely and already, perhaps, inseparably intertwined with art and monuments of nature. The visiting card of the city, as in principle and the whole country as a whole, is the Sydney quay, walking along which, both local residents and numerous tourists can admire the views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge.

Melbourne is famous for its abundance of shops, souvenir shops, cozy cafes and restaurants. And still here you can taste delicacies cooked by culinary experts from almost every corner of the globe.

In Brisbane, first of all, go to all lovers of wildlife, in particular zoos. It seems that's why there are so many travelers with children here.

Adelaide is a resort town, from all over the world attracting vacationers lovers of white beaches, azure sea surface and gentle sun.

Section 11. Unusual facts about Australia

• Australia is the country with the longest fence in the world. It was built in order to protect fertile land from potential pests, wild dingoes. The length of the construction is a colossal number of 5614 kilometers. To the country's budget, such a fence cost, of course, as they say, a pretty penny, but only in this way it was possible to save livestock from predators.
• Have you ever seen a map of Australia? If so, then you probably noticed that this continent is so huge. Nevertheless, the government of the country is trying to do everything possible, and sometimes impossible, to ensure that the local residents here were comfortable and safe. It was for this purpose that they decided to create a service for the so-called "Flying Doctors". Now, if necessary, specialists can come to the aid even to the most remote corners of the continent.
• People in Australia very often choose farming as their main occupation. And this is not surprising, because on the continent to date is the largest pasture of the planet, which daily grazes about 100 million sheep and 16,000 head of cattle.
• Many years ago, Australia became the place of detention of 160,000 immigrants from Great Britain. The discovery of Australia took place, and almost immediately the vessels loaded with convicts were pulled here. Not everyone managed to get to the mainland, many died along the way, and did not wait for the earth on the horizon. In principle, to date, about 25% of local residents may well believe that their ancestors were convicted.
• Australia is the country that owns the largest part of the Antarctic, handed over to it by the UK for almost 100 years, in 1933. This territory is 5.6 million km ² .
• It turns out that the famous kangaroos live not only in Australia. They can be found in the wild nature of Scotland. Where did they come from? The thing is that their ancestors were once imported to Europe as copies for private zoos, banning which, the government almost threw out exotic animals on the street. Agree, it is unlikely that someone would hire transport to return kangaroos to their native penates. So it turns out that most of them were simply released to freedom.