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In the late 18th century James Cook discovered Australia. English settlers came soon afterwards. At first Australia consisted of several prisoners` camps for dangerous criminals (murderers, arsonists, rapists...). The prisoners built barracks and they had to live there. But there were many dangerous animals (poisonous snakes and spiders) and diseases.
Australia is the world's smallest continent and the largest island. It is as large as the USA but there are only 18 million inhabitants.
In the year 1901 Australia became an independent country but the English monarch is still the nominal head of state.
Australia is the driest of all continents. And Australia consists of several areas:
The Northern Territory is a big area but there live only 1% of the Australian population.
The Western Territory is the biggest part of Australia and there are many deserts, for example: the Great Sand Desert or Victoria Desert.
The Southern Territory is the driest part
In Queens Land there are a lot of national parks, rainforests and nice beaches and the Great Barrier Reef is not far away. This Reef is the longest and most complex coral system in the world.
In New South Wales there live about 6 million people and 3 million of them in Sydney which is the biggest and oldest settlement. The capital of Australia is Canberra.
Victoria is the smallest part of Australia. It is 3 times bigger than Austria but there are only 4,6 million inhabitants.
Australia has about 3.000 national parks, like the Kakadu National Park.
The most famous product of Australia is the wool produced in the countless sheep farms in the outbacks but in Australia there also are many coal and metal mines.
Ayers Rock is a very mysterious red rock in the centre of the country.
Australia's isolation for more than 55 million years has created very special animals and plants, which you cannot find anywhere else in the world. Very famous Australian animals are the coala and the cangaroo.
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