Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia. The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys in Australia.

The federal government is separated into three branches:

· The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, defined in section 1 of the constitution as comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;

· The executive: the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State;

· The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.

Australia has six states – New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia – and two major mainland territories – the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Australia’s landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indianand Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia has 34,218 kilometres of coastline.

The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors induce rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical predominantly summer rainfall (monsoon) climate. The southwest corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate. Much of the southeast (including Tasmania) is temperate.

Australia has a market economy with high GDP (gross domestic product) per capita and low rate of poverty. The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation. Australia is the world’s thirteenth largest economy and has the ninth highest per capita GDP; higher than that of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, and the United States.

For generations, the vast majority of immigrants came to Australia from the British Isles, and the people of Australia are still mainly of British or Irish ethnic origin. In the 2006 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestry was Australian (37.13 %), followed by English (32 %), Irish (9 %), Scottish (8 %), Italian (4 %), German (4 %), Chinese (3 %), and Greek (2 %). Although Australia has no official language, English is so entrenched that it has become the de facto national language.

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia’s largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a “Canberran”.

1. Where is Australia located?

2. What are the neighbouring Australia’s countries?

3. What can you say about the political system of the country?

4. How many branches is the federal government separated into?

5. What are states and territories of Australia?

6. Australia’s landmass is on the Indo-Australian Plate, isn’t it?

7. What is the climate of Australia influenced by?

8. Does Australia have a market economy with high GDP per capita?

9. Where did the vast majority of immigrants come to Australia from?

10. Are there any official languages in Australia?

11. What are the largest cities of Australia?

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