What continent does Australia belong to?

Overview of Australia and Australia

Country name: Commonwealth of Australia. The word Australia means "Southern Continent". When Europeans discovered this continent at the beginning of the17th century, they mistakenly thought it was a land that went straight to the South Pole, so they named it "Australia", which was changed from the Latin terraaustralis.

Area: 7,682,300 square kilometers

Population:19.2 million (June 2000), of which 74.2% are of British and Irish descent; Asians account for 4.9% (including about 450,000 Chinese and overseas Chinese); Aboriginal people account for 2%, about 375,000 people. General English. Among the residents, there are 70. 3% people believe in Christianity, 3. 4% believe in other religions, and a few believe in Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. The secular population accounts for 25. 1%. The common language is English. Australia is a typical immigrant country, which is described by sociologists as a "national platter". Since British immigrants set foot on this beautiful land, immigrants from 120 countries and 140 nationalities have come here to make a living and develop. Multi-culture composed of multi-ethnic groups has become a prominent feature of Australian society.

Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II.

Governor Michael Jeffery was sworn in in August 2003; Prime Minister Howard took office in June 2004.

Administrative Districts: Australia is divided into six states and two territories. Each state has its own parliament, government, governor and prime minister. The six states are: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania; These two regions are: the northern region and the capital region.

Capital: Canberra, with a population of about 365,438 438+ 10/00000 (June 2000), with an annual average temperature of 20℃.

National flag: it is a horizontal rectangle with an aspect ratio of 2:1. The national flag is dark blue, with the word "rice" in red and white on the upper left, and a white seven-pointed star under the word "rice". There are five white stars on the right side of the flag land, one of which is pentagonal and the others are heptagons. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth and the Queen of England is Australia's head of state. The upper left corner of the national flag is the pattern of the British flag, which shows the traditional relationship between Australia and Britain. The largest seven-pointed star symbolizes the six states and the Federal District (Northern Territory and Capital Territory) that make up the Commonwealth of Australia. Five small stars represent the Southern Cross constellation (one of the small constellations in the southern sky, although the constellation is small, there are many bright stars). It means "southern continent", which means the country is in the southern hemisphere.

National emblem: The national emblem of Australia is kangaroo on the left and emu on the right. These two kinds of animals are unique to Australia, and they are symbols of the country and the nation. There is a shield in the middle, and there are six groups of patterns on the shield, which symbolize the six states of this country. The red St. George's Cross (with a lion and four stars on it) symbolizes New South Wales; The southern cross under the crown represents Victoria; The blue Maltese Cross represents Queensland; Shrike stands for South Australia; The black swan symbolizes Western Australia; The red lion symbolizes Tasmania. Above the shield is a seven-pointed star symbolizing the Commonwealth countries. The ribbon at the bottom is surrounded by the Australian flower acacia, which says "Australia" in English.

National Day: 65438+1October 26th (1788)

National flower: acacia

National Tree: Eucalyptus

National bird: Qin bird. It looks like a pheasant and often walks on land. The male bird has a gorgeous piano-shaped tail and is famous for its spectacular tail feathers. The tail feather of the lyre bird is very similar to the Greek lyre, hence its name. It is not only beautiful and moving, but also can imitate the sounds of other animals, and the sounds are very beautiful.

Brief history: Australia was originally inhabited by aborigines. 1770, the British navigator james cook landed on the east coast of Australia and declared Australia a British colony. 1788 65438+1On October 26th, the first batch of British immigrants arrived in Australia, which was later designated as Australia's national day. Since then, Britain has successively established some scattered colonies in various parts of Australia. /kloc-In the second half of the 0/9th century, Australian colonies established autonomous governments one after another. On July 1900, the British Parliament passed the Australian Federal Constitution. 190 1, 1 In June, Australia's colonies formed the Commonwealth of Australia and became a British dominion. 193 1 year, Australia became an independent country in the Commonwealth.

Politics: The Queen of England is the head of state of Australia, and the Governor appointed by the Queen is the legal chief executive. The Governor is nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Queen. According to the recommendation of the Federal Administrative Committee, he is in charge of the executive power of the federal government and is the statutory chief executive. The Federal Parliament is the highest legislative body in Australia, consisting of the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate and the House of Representatives. 1992 12 17. the cabinet meeting of the Australian federal government decided that new Australian citizens would no longer swear allegiance to the queen of England and her heirs.

Economy: Rich in mineral resources, it is an important producer and exporter of mineral resources in the world. There are more than 70 kinds of proven mineral resources in Australia. The proven reserves of lead, nickel, silver, tantalum, uranium and zinc rank first in the world. Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite, alumina, diamonds, lead and tantalum, and its output of gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese ore, nickel, silver, uranium and zinc also ranks among the top in the world. At the same time, it is the world's largest exporter of bituminous coal, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc and concentrates, the second largest exporter of alumina, iron ore and uranium, and the third largest exporter of aluminum and gold. The forest coverage rate is 20%, the natural forest area is about 65.438+0.55 billion hectares (two thirds of eucalyptus), and the timber forest area is 65.438+0.22 billion hectares. Industry is dominated by mining, manufacturing and construction. Australia has developed agriculture and animal husbandry, and is known as "a country riding on the back of sheep". The production and export of agricultural products play an important role in the national economy, and it is the largest exporter of wool and beef in the world.

Agriculture and animal husbandry: 455.5 million hectares, accounting for 59% of the total land area. The main crops are wheat, barley, oilseeds, cotton, sucrose and fruits. Australia is rich in fishery resources, and the fishery area is larger than the national territory 16%. It is the third largest fishing area in the world, with more than 3,000 kinds of seawater and freshwater fish, more than 3,000 kinds of shellfish and mollusk aquatic products, of which about 600 kinds have been caught commercially. The main aquatic products in Australia are prawns, lobsters, abalone, tuna, scallops, oysters, oysters and so on. Australia is rich in tourism resources, with famous tourist cities and scenic spots all over the country. Hobart's Primitive Forest National Park, Melbourne Art Museum, Sydney Opera House, the wonders of Dabao Cape, kakadu national park, the birthplace of indigenous people, Lake Willanji, the unique temperate and subtropical forest parks on the east coast attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists every year, earning a lot of tourism income for the country.

Press and publication: There are four major newspaper groups: Herald and Time magazine group, Murdoch News Company, Fairfax Company and Parker News Joint Holding Company. Among them, Murdoch News Company has the fastest development. In recent years, it has also acquired The Times in Britain and New York Post in the United States, becoming an international newspaper group. The main newspapers are The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Century, Financial Review and Canberra Times. There are more than 1400 periodicals in Australia, among which Australian Women's Weekly has the largest circulation. Bulletin Weekly (founded at 1880) is one of the oldest publications. The Associated Press of Australia is the largest news agency in Australia, headquartered in Sydney, and has been associated with Reuters since 1964. There are three statutory bodies in Australia that manage the radio and television system. (1) Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): There are four broadcasting networks, which broadcast non-commercial radio and television programs to the whole country through production and transmission equipment in state and regional capitals, and provide satellite services to remote areas; It is broadcast overseas through Australian Radio and Australian International Television, and the content of the program is not controlled by the government. Most of the annual budget is funded by the Federal Parliament. (2) Australian Broadcasting Authority: Manage commercial radio and community broadcasting, charge fees and issue licenses. There are more than 20 commercial radio stations and more than 50 commercial TV stations in China. (3) Special Broadcasting Service (SBS): in charge of Australian National Television (SBS TV) and SBS Radio, funded by the federal government. SBS TV, an omni TV station, started its work on United Nations Day (1980 10.24). Except news, sports and some documentaries are broadcast in English, other programs are broadcast in Australian national language with English subtitles, which provides people with non-English backgrounds with opportunities to understand the world.

Diplomacy: Pursue an independent foreign policy, pay attention to close relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and strengthen relations with developed countries that have important ties with Australia. The purpose of foreign policy is to defend national sovereignty and independence and promote Australia's economic and strategic interests. The key point is to strengthen the alliance with the United States and develop relations with Asia, especially East Asia; Regard the relations with the United States, Japan, China and Indonesia as the four most important bilateral relations in Australia; Advocate racial equality, eliminate racial discrimination, improve the human rights situation, and oppose linking human rights with trade.

physical geography

Australia is surrounded by the sea, with the Coral Sea and Tasmania in the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Indian Ocean and its marginal seas-Arafura Sea and Timor Sea on the other three sides, which are composed of the Australian mainland, Tasmania and some small islands in the Pacific Ocean. The absolute geographical position of the Australian mainland can be explained by four points, namely, the northernmost Cape York (south latitude 10 4 1'), the southernmost Cape Wilson (south latitude 39 08') and the westernmost Cape Stephen (east longitude113 09'). The maximum distance between east and west is 4007 kilometers, and the maximum distance between north and south is 3680 kilometers. Its area is twice that of the South Asian subcontinent, ranking sixth in the world.

Australia is not only the only continent monopolized by one country in the world, but also a continent all located in the southern hemisphere. This has a great influence on the formation of natural conditions in Australia, especially the isolation and uniqueness of the biological world.

According to the topographical features, Australia can be divided into three parts: the eastern mountainous area, the central plain and the western terraced fields. (1) The eastern mountainous area runs along the eastern border, starting from Cape York in the north, passing through Victoria in the south, passing through bass strait, and reaching Tasmania, with a length of 3,860 kilometers from north to south and a width of 80-320 kilometers from east to west, accounting for 15% of Australia's total area. In such a large range, all the mountains are collectively called the Cordillera Mountains in Australia, with a gentle slope on the west side and gradually disappearing into the central plain; The east side is steep and close to the coast: the coastal plain is very narrow, forming important harbors such as Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne. The northern part of the mountain is a hilly area slightly higher than the nearby flat land, reaching 65,438+0,500 meters south of the mcpherson Mountains and Lamington Plateau. The Alps in Australia are north-south mountains with high terrain, and some peaks will be covered with snow in winter. The eastern mountainous area is thousands of miles away from the coast, which constitutes a natural barrier between the eastern coast and the inland. In addition, all the important rivers in Australia originate from here, so the mountains have become an important watershed for inland and eastern coastal water systems. (2) The central plain starts from the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north and ends at the mouth of murray river River in the south. From north to south, it can be divided into three parts: the Gulf of Carpentaria lowlands, the Lake El basin and the murray river-Darling river basin. Carpentaria Bay is a coastal lowland, with an altitude of less than 200 meters, high in the south and low in the north, and generally less than 450 meters in the south. Lake Earle is a salt flat with an altitude of12m, which is the lowest point in China. Because the vast area in the middle of El Lake Basin is rich in groundwater, this kind of groundwater often gushes out automatically due to pressure, forming artesian wells. El Lake Basin is the largest artesian well basin in the world. (3) The western platform is roughly bounded by the central plain from east longitude 136 to 140, with an area of about 5 million square kilometers. Its northern plateau area is relatively high in altitude, and its central part is a vast desert area. About 1/2 of the western area. In the south is Nalebo Plain. The surface is very flat, but there are no rivers and trees on the ground.

Australia has a tropical and subtropical climate, which is hot and dry, with little rainfall and zonal distribution. Because Australia is basically in the low latitude and middle latitude zone, between the south latitude104l ′ ~ 3911′, the tropic of Capricorn passes through the central part of the mainland slightly to the north, and the solar altitude angle in most parts of Australia is large, the sunshine time is prolonged, and high temperature often occurs. Australia is a continent with little rain, and the precipitation is extremely uneven. The area with annual precipitation below 250 mm accounts for about 35% of the mainland area, the area with annual precipitation below 375 mm accounts for 57%, and the area with annual average precipitation below 500 mm accounts for more than 60%.

Among Australia's resources, animal resources are the most prominent, with many endemic species and obvious primitiveness, and lack of placental mammals dominant in other continents. 0/50 species of marsupials/kloc-and 48 species of kangaroos. There are more than 650 species of birds in Australia, among which emu, lyre, parrot, platypus and so on 100 are special birds. There are about 1500 genera and 12049 species in Australia, with about 500 endemic genera and 9086 endemic species. These typical plants are concentrated in the southwest of Australia. Australia is rich in mineral resources, including iron, manganese, gold, zinc, lead, copper, tin, tungsten, bauxite, rutile, zircon, uranium and coal. Among them, the reserves of uranium, bauxite, zircon and rutile are among the highest in the world.