Some information about 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.

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.

State dignitaries: Governor Hollingworth, who took office in June 2006; Prime Minister Howard, who took office in March,1996; Andrew, Speaker of the Federal Parliament, took office in June1998; Senate President calvert.

Physical geography: It is located between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, bordering Timor Sea and Arafura Sea in the north, facing Indonesia across the sea, bordering Papua New Guinea across the Coral Sea in the northeast, the Indian Ocean in the west, and tasman sea in the east and south. Australia consists of mainland Australia and Tasmania, covering an area of 7.692 million square kilometers. It accounts for the vast majority of Oceania. The coastline is 36,735 kilometers long. Although surrounded by water, deserts and semi-deserts account for 35% of the country's area. The forest area is 65.438+0.56 billion hectares, and the forest coverage rate is 20%. The whole country is divided into three areas: the eastern mountainous area, the central plain and the western plateau. The highest mountain in China, Kosciusko, is 2230 meters high, and the longest river, Melbourne River, is 3490 miles long. Lake Eyre in the middle is the lowest point in Australia, with an elevation of12m. On the east coast, there is the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world. The north is tropical, and most of it belongs to temperate zone. The annual average temperature in the north is 27℃, and that in the south is 65438 04℃. The inland areas are dry and lack of rain, with annual precipitation less than 200mm, and the eastern mountainous areas are 500- 1200mm.

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%.

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

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.

Brief history: Australia was originally inhabited by aborigines. /kloc-Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands arrived here at the beginning of the 0/7th century. 1770, British captain Cook led a fleet to the east coast of Australia and declared it a British colony. 1788 Philip, a British navigator, led the first group of immigrants (including 736 exiles) to settle near Sydney. This used to be a British exile, and later freemen moved here one after another. /kloc-By the end of 0/9, Britain had established six colonies. 1900 In July, the British Parliament passed the Australian Federal Constitution. On June19010/day, the Australian colony was changed into a state to form the Australian Federation and became a British dominion. The British Parliament passed the Westminster Act, 193 1, and Australia gained autonomy in internal affairs and foreign affairs and became an independent country of the Commonwealth.

Politics: Australia's head of state is the Queen of England, who is represented by the Governor-General. The Governor is nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Queen. According to the recommendation of the Federal Executive Committee, he is in charge of the executive power of the federal government. The Federal Parliament is the highest legislative body in Australia, consisting of the Queen, 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.

A group of kangaroos foraged in the Makari wetland in New South Wales.

Economy: There are at least 70 kinds of mineral resources. Among them, proven economic 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, Australia is the 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 proven mineral reserves with economic exploitation value are about 365.438 billion tons of bauxite, 65.438 billion tons of iron ore, 565.438 billion tons of bituminous coal, 465.438 billion tons of lignite, 65.438 billion tons of lead and 9 million tons of nickel. Australia has 240 billion liters of crude oil, 6543.8+0.36 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 6543.8+0.74 billion liters of liquefied petroleum gas. 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. 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. Industry is dominated by mining, manufacturing and construction. Agriculture and animal husbandry are developed in Australia, and the production and export of agricultural and animal husbandry products play an important role in the national economy. It is the largest exporter of wool and beef in the world. The land for agriculture and animal husbandry is 455.5 million hectares, accounting for 59% of the total land area. The main crops are wheat, barley, oilseeds, cotton, sucrose and fruits. Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia. Australia is rich in tourism resources. Famous tourist cities and attractions include Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Great Barrier Reef, Gold Coast and Darwin.

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.