1. Australia Notes

2. Australia’s Location #1
Southern Hemisphere
Southeast of Asia
Pacific Ocean is to the East of Australia
Indian Ocean is to the West
Is in the Eastern Hemisphere

3. Australia’s Climate #2
Tropical Climate in the North, nearest the Equator, hot and rainy
Dry and even desert areas covers most of the interior Australia, called the Outback
Temperate in the south, with enough rain, cool winters, warm summers

4. Australia’s Geography #2
Outback is flat dry grasslands, scrubby plants, and sandy deserts (Great Victoria Desert on Southern Coast)
Great Barrier Reef off the Northeast coast, world’s largest reef system in the Coral Sea
Ayers Rock/Uluru – large stone monolith in central Australia
Mountains along the Eastern coast (Great Dividing Range)
Large coastline with many ports

5. Australia’s Natural Resources #3
Mining – mineral resources
Coal, iron ore, copper, gold, silver, uranium, natural gas, opal
-Farmland (Arable land)– cattle, sheep, grain
Raise enough food to sell/trade with other countries
-Large coastline – Ports for trade with the world, fishing, beaches and fishing for tourism (Great Barrier Reef)
**Transportation is a large industry because of Australia’s large distances and remote locations

6. Australia’s History and Culture #4
Was a British Colony, it started as a prison colony
Aborigines are the indigenous people of Aus., they were the first people in Aus./ believe in the Dreaming or Dreamtime
Due to the history of colonization, most people are descended from England, Ireland, Wales, or Scotland
English is the main language of Australia
Christianity is the main religion
Australia is multi-cultural, people have moved to Australia from all over the world.

7. Australia’s Government/Economy
Federal - power is shared between central government in Canberra, the capital city and the regions called states and territories
Parliamentary Democracy – citizens vote for members of Parliament (legislature) and the leader of the majority party in Parliament becomes the Prime Minister
Head of State – monarch, Queen of England, just a symbol (no real ruling power)
Personal freedoms- speech, religion, property rights, court system and laws that protect rights of people (similar to US)

8. Economy
Australia has the third freest economy in the world. On the continuum it is close to a market economy ( the govt does not own or control businesses, it is easy to start a business, the govt does not set salaries or decide prices, the market and supply and demand controls prices, what is produced, etc.)