Australia

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**Facts**

 * Official Language: English and aborginials**
 * Capital: Canberra**
 * Government: Parlamentary democracy**
 * Queen: Elisabeth 2th**
 * Governor-general: Michael Jeffery**
 * Premier: John Howard**
 * Infantdeath: 4.8 pr 1000**
 * National day: 26 Januar**
 * National anthem: Advance Australia Fair**
 * Currency: Australian dollar**



**Generally Facts and Geography**
Australia is the world 6th biggest country and it lays south for Indonesia and Papa Ny Guinea. The Pacific Ocean lays on the east side, and on the west side lays the Indian Ocean. It lives more than 20 million people in Australia.Even if Australia is quite different from the other countries we bind with the south ocean, Australia belong to the country with the same geografic region - Oceania. Australia is a popular place to travel to, espectially for the youth. It is so much to see and do, and a traveler needs a lot of time to see it all. Australia is one of the worlds countries which have the lowest density. 92% of the australians are from Europe by parentage, and the orginials aboriginals amount to only 1,5%. The land has many deserts and some small mountains. The biggest point is Munt Kosciuzco (2.229 m). Australia is known for the kangaroos, the oprahhouse in Sidney, the boomerang and Ayers Rock.

Australia is the flattest continent, has the oldest and least fertile soils, and is the driest inhabited continent. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. Most of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The landscapes of the northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, consist of rainforest, woodland, grassland, mangrove swamps and desert. The climate is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

Three of the biggest cities in Australia is Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Sydney is Australias oldest and biggest city and it was etablished in 1788. It lives more than 4 million people there, and the city is known for the beautiful beaches. Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia, and it was etablished in 1835. The population is 3.744.373. Brisbane is the capital and the city with the most people in the state of Queensland on the north-coast of Australia. The inhabitant number is 1.8 million. Brisbane is a very popular place to study, and the three best known universitys is University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. Sidney, Melbourne and Brisbane

History
People think that the first people came to Australia from the asian continent for about 30.000 years before Christ. In 1996 was it found human bones and tools which alleged are 100 000 years old. We think that the first inhabitants in Austalia came from Indonesia for more than 50 000 years ago, and were spread around the whole continent. The Spanish captain Luis Vaez de Torres was the first European to explore a little part of Australia. The first Englishman was the adventurer and pirate William Dampier who explored the coast of Australia in 1699. 80 years later came James Cook who declared that the new country belonged to England and that it should be called New South Wales. They started in 1788 with deporting prisoners to Australia, which was a kind of immigration which lasted for over 60 years. A voluntary immigration started in the years of 1830, which got better after there was found a large amount of gold in 1851. Now, The Australian Colonies got self-government, and in 1901 they formed a state-alliance. During the first and second world war the Australian People fought with the English people. The US protected the country against Japanese invasion during the last world war and because of that Australia changed politic rate and followed the U.S into the Korea-wars and the Vietnam-wars.


 * English, the language**

English is the language that has been used in Australia for a long time now. After all, you can find many aboriginals, arabian, asian and europic languages there. The first englishman who came to Australia was the adventurer and the pirat Willian Dampirer. He explored this continent in 1699. Eighty years after, a man called James Cook declared that this new country belonged to England, and its new name was New South Wales. This is how the Australian people began to speak English. The reason why the english-speaking world is that popular in the world, is because of the connection between the world history with colonies and the global British imperium. Australia was a part of those colonies.

Similarities beetween Australia and Britain:
- If wee look on a map, we could see a geography similarity; Both continents are islands - Both continents have Christianity as main religion. - Both continents are independent, and have parliamentary form of government - Both continents use school uniform - Both continents drive car/the steering wheel at the left side - Australia and Britain is both popular continents for education, and there’s the places where most Norwegians travel for education, most because of the schools are known for being good and they are quite known in Europe, and because Australia and Britain is two places teenager would like to travel. - Both continents have Queen Elisabeth as Queen and Monarch - Both continents have quite good economy conditions. Tourism is a very important part. - Both continents have English as main language, but they also use other language as well, like Australians uses their aboriginals and British people uses their Irish Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish.

Walzing Matilda media type="custom" key="193731"
'Waltzing Matilda' is very close to Australians who grew up hearing the song. It's not the national anthem, but in a sense it is a kind of folk anthem. It is being sung at special ceremonies, like tournaments, footbal or rugby matches, often in a place of a national anthem. This little tune is of special significance to Australians. They sing 'Advance Australia Fair', the official national anthem, with pride, but 'Waltzing Matilda' will forever live in their hearts.

"The Land Down Under" - Pictures and Australian Music
media type="youtube" key="m1u563GmSmo" width="425" height="350"

Famous Landmarks
The mountain is 9 km in circuit, and when the suns is shining on it, it changes colour from fire-red to delicate-purple, blue, pink and brown. If you are trying to climb the Ayers Rock, you should wear sensible clothes.
 * Ayers Rock** is a large magnetic mound large not unlike Silbury Hill in England. It is located on a major planetary grid point much like the Great Pyramid in Egypt.


 * The Sydney Opera House** lays in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, and is one of the most famous buildings from the 1900 century, and its one of the most famous arenas for preformances in the world.

**Conclusion**
We chose to learn about Australia, because we knew Australia has a big history and that it is easy to find information about this great continent. We also wondered "Is the Australian life like we see in media?" We are quite pleased with the answers we found.

This project has been very interessting for us, and it has been fun to work with. We've learned a lot about Australia that we didn't know before. Now we know that Australia is a very big continent with many attractions and a huge history. We hope that someday, we can experience this great continent, and we have already planed what we are going to visit.

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