Aust ralia Fact File Population:18 Million Capital:Canberra Language:English Currency:Australian Dollar

Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere and is often called the Land Down Under. It is about 100 times the size of Ireland. When it is winter in Ireland it is summer in Australia. It has a hot climate and has many deserts. Much of the land is too dry for farming. Some parts of the country have very large mineral deposits so mining is a very important industry in Australia. Australia is an island continent. It is also the flattest continent. The vast interior of Australia is known as The Outback. Politically the country is divided into six states (one of which is the island of Tasmania) and two territories.

Native Australians People lived in Australia long before Europeans started to settle there over 200 years ago. These native Australian people are Aborigines. Aboriginal peoples have lived in Australia for an amazing 50,000 years, maybe even longer. Once, there may have been many hundreds of thousands of Aborigines. Today there are only about 250,000 of them, making up just over 1 per cent of the population. Most Aborigines live modern lives in the coastal towns and cities, but some still keep to more traditional ways in the Australian Outback. Aboriginal art is very important to the Aboriginal culture, customs and religious beliefs. Body painting is just as important to Aborigines as rock and sand painting are. The men in the picture have been painted for a traditional dance.

Aboriginal art is very important to the Aboriginal culture, customs and religious beliefs. Australia Aborigines created stories to teach each other about the Dreamtime, these stories taught about life, including birth, love, food gathering, hunting, warfare, marriage and death but also about the Creation. Body painting is just as important to Aborigines as rock and sand painting are.

Australia is a large island country and continent. It is the smallest of the world’s seven continents. The Australian national flag is the only flag that represents a whole continent. The flag was the winning design of a competition in The flag is sometimes called the Southern Cross as the stars on it depict a constellation of stars that can be seen in the sky over Australia. Australia has another national flag. This one is called the Native Australian flag as it is used by the Aboriginal people of Australia. The Australian Aboriginal flag represents the indigenous people of Australia. It was designed in 1971 by the Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas. Australian government officially recognized it as a flag of Australia on the 14th of July, 1995.

Australia is divided politically into 6 states and 2 Territories. These are Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australia Capital Territory.

Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES View of the Sydney Opera House with the city in the background. Sydney hosted the Olympic games in 2000.

Melbourne, VICTORIA View of Melbourne, VICTORIA with the Yarra River in the foreground and the city skyline in the background.

Perth, WESTERN AUSTRALIA This is a photograph of Perth in WESTERN AUSTRALIA. WA is the largest state but much of the land is desert. To get to Perth one must cross many kilometres of harsh barren desert.

Brisbane, QUEENSLAND Brisbane is the third most populated city in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne. QUEENSLAND is also well known for the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. It extends for about 2,010 kilometres along the north-eastern coast of Australia and is actually a chain of more than 2,500 reefs and several small islands