8469 MILES FROM AUSTIN TO SYDNEY

24 TIME ZONES

AUSTRALIA

MAJOR CITIES

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

GREAT BARRIER REEF

BONDI BEACH

CAN YOU NAME THESE FAMOUS AUSSIES?

WHY DOES AUSTRALIA HAVE STRANGE ANIMALS?

BRIEF FACTS ON AUSTRALIA• Smallest & flattest

continent-as big as USA, but only

20 million people

• Only inhabited continent

completely in southern

hemisphere

• A desert continent with

fertile edges /

coastlines

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA

• Little arable land &

few rivers / lakes

• Great Dividing Range

-in east, near the coast

-creates a rain shadow

making the interior arid

-source of Australia’s 2

major rivers

THE OUTBACK

• The dry interior, covers 70% of Australia-mainly hot desert

-few people live here

CAPE YORK PENINSULA• Has rainforests!

• Up to 150 inches of rain per year

-Austin, TX gets 34 inches

AYERS ROCK• Considered very sacred

to the Aborigines -touching it can put you in

contact with the spirit world

• One of the oldest rocks on Earth

GREAT BARRIER REEF• World’s largest coral reef -can be seen from space

• Home to more species

of marine life than

anywhere else of Earth

• Produces almost as much oxygen as the rainforest

SURFING CAN BE DANGEROUS

CLIMATE• “Outdoorsy” along east coast

-nice, like southern California

-soccer, tennis, beaches,

boating, surfing, rugby

AUSTRALIAN CULTURE• Reflects English heritage

-drink tea, play cricket,

drive on left side of road,

speak English, mainly

Christian

AUSSIES LOVE THEIR PRO SPORTS

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY

• FREE MARKET WITH MORE SAFETY NET PROGRAM THAN U.S.A-HIGHER TAXES

• 13 LARGEST ECONOMY IN WORLD

• INFLATION 4.0%• UNEMPLOYMENT 9.5%• MAJOR EXPORT PARTNERS CHINA 25% JAPAN 19% U.S.A 4 %GDP- THE MARKET VALUE OF

ALL FINAL GODS/SERVICES

NATURAL RESOURCES• Energy Resources

-coal, oil, and natural gas

• Mineral Resources

-diamonds, gold, silver, and copper

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY• Began as an English

penal colony -prisons in England were

getting overcrowded

• Gold Rush of 1851 brought

many non-convict settlers

from England & Ireland

ABORIGINALS• Original Australian

inhabitants

-for at least 40,000 yrs.

-hunter / gathers

-closely tied to the land

• Clashed with first

English Settlers

-many murdered or died

of European diseases

STOLEN GENERATION• Aboriginal kids taken

from parents & given to white families

-to destroy Aboriginal culture

AUSTRALIAN WORDS• barbie = barbeque pit

• bloke = a guy

• dummyspit = temper tantrum

• grog = an alcoholic drink,

usually beer

• jumbuck = a sheep

• lollies = candies

• Oz = Australia

• sticky beak = a nosy person

• yakker = hard work

DRUMMONS, MUCK, GEORGE, AND RUBY