Australia and New Zealand Nápravníková 4.B

Geography

•Australia is both the world’s largest island and the smallest continent

•Located south of Asia between the Indian and Pacific oceans

•Is made up of six states and two territories

•Population – 20 million people•The main and official language is English•Capital city – Canberra•Other cities – Sydney, Melbourne,

Brisbane, Darwin

Administrative arrangement

• 6 federal states• South Australia – cap.city

–Adelaide• New North Wales –

Sydney• Queensland – Brisbane• Tasmania – Hobart• Victoria - Melbourne• West Australia – Perth• 2 terrritories• Northern Territory –

Darwin• Australian Capital

Territory – Canberra

Geography

•Australia borders with New Zealand in the east and Solomons Island in the north

• •Rivers – Darling• Lachlan• Murray

•Lakes – Eyreov’ s lake, Torren’ s lake

Fauna and flora• Moustly desert and half-

deserts• Typical vegetation is

grass and eucalyptus trees, acacia

• There are animal species like kangaroo, the koala bear, the Tasmanian devil or platypus

• Deserts - Desert of Simpsons, Big Victoria desert, Gibson‘s desert

Government• Federal state• The head of state is the

queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Elisaberth II.

• Her representative Governor General

• The parliament has its seat in the capital city Canberra.

• The parliament has two houses

• the Senate and the House of Representatives

New Parliament House in Canberra

History•Aboriginal culture was mostly hunter-gatherer

and about 250 languages were spoken in Australia at the time.

•1700 – first Europeans to discover•1770 – James Cook claimed Australia for

Britain•Was originally a prison colony•1901 - Australia became an independent

nation •1927 – Canberra was declared the federal

capital

Attractions

• landform - Uluru, Ayer Rock

•The Great Barrier Reef

•Mountain – Mount Kosciuszko (2 228 metres)

•Murray river is Australia’s longest river

Famous Australians

•Patric White – the first Australian to win the Nobel prize for literature

•Kylie Minogue is a world famous singer•Nicole Kidman, Russel Crowe and Mel

Gibson are prominent Australian actors

New Zealand

• Is an island found in the South Pacific. The country lies 2000 km east of Australia.

•NZ is made up of two main islands and several small islands

•The North Island has a sub-tropical climate.

•The South Island is larger than the North.•Mountain – Moutn Cook (Aoraki) is 3

754metres high

Geography

•Capital city – Wellington•Population – 4 million people •Official languages are English and Maori•Other cities - Auckland• Christchurch • Dunedin• Greymouth, Hamilton•Islands – Cook’s islands, Tokelau, Niue

Government

•Part of the British Commonwealth•Constitutional monarchy (Queen Elisabeth

II.)•representative is Governor General

•The head of government is the Prime Minister

•Parliament is single-chambered

History

•1300 – Maori first settled New Zealand•Abel Tasman was the first European to

reach the island•1750 – James Cook visited the island•1893 – became the first country in the

world to give women the vote•1907 – NZ gained a dominion status•New Zealand participated in both World

Wars

Fauna and flora• New Zealand has many

species that are unigue to the islands

• There are swamps• Forests (laurel, evergreen

forests)• Palms, ferns

• Animals – bats, insects, parrot, kiwi (well-known bird), kakapo

Attractions •Peter Jackson is a famous director who

made The Lord of Rings trilogy•When we turn to the outline, we get the

other „shoe“ to pair the Apennine peninsula•The island has not snakes•Name of one hill is

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (Book of Records!)

•Actors – Sam Neil, Lucy Lawless

Eating in Australia and New Zealand•Very popular are beef and lamb, seafood

(mussels, prawns, small shark)• In cold days hot meat pie with tomato sauce

are popular•On a hot summer evening, people like grilled

sausages, steak, octopus with bread and salad•During the whole year people like to have

barbeques or barbies•Both countries have a sweet tooth – they like

desserts and cake