Australia
From YourTravelGuide
Being an island nation, Australia does not have bordering neighbors, but boasts coastline totaling 25,670 km. The terrain is mostly low plateaus with desert. There are fertile planes in the southeast where the majority of the population resides. Australia’s lowest point is Lake Eyre at 15 m above sea level, and the highest point is Mount Kosciuszko at 2,229 m.
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[edit] Introduction
[edit] Current Events
[edit] History
Australia was first settled more than forty thousand years ago by tribes that may have migrated from regions in South East Asia. Prior to European settlement they numbered close to a million.
The Dutch landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606. In 1616 the territory became known as New Holland. The British arrived in 1688, but it was not until Captain James Cook's voyage in 1770 that Great Britain claimed possession of the vast island, calling it New South Wales. A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson in 1788, about 161,000 transported English and Irish convicts were settled there until the system was suspended in 1839. Free settlers and former prisoners established six colonies: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859).
[edit] Culture
The majority of the inhabitants are English speaking Caucasians, with a large sector of Chinese and Aborigines.
[edit] Climate
The continent has a varied climate. The climate is arid to semiarid, with temperate areas in the south and east, and tropical weather in the north. This makes Australia a great playground for any traveler.
[edit] Geography
Located between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, Australia is the world’s smallest continent, but the sixth largest country.
[edit] Regions
[edit] Cities
[edit] Transport
[edit] Get There
[edit] Get Around
[edit] See
[edit] Highlights
One can explore the great rainforests in the northwest, or don some gear and take in the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world. Meander in the cities of the southeast and take in the Sydney Opera House, an example of architectural splendor known the world over, or swim with the dolphins off the western coast.
- Great Barrier Reef
- Uluru (Ayers Rock)
- Kimberly Mountain Range
- Cradle Mountain
- Great Ocean Road
- Sydney Opera House
