• Английский язык
• 7 класс

Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere that covers about 7.69 million square kilometres and is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Canberra is its capital, while Sydney and Melbourne are among its largest cities. Much of the interior is dry and sparsely populated, so most Australians live in towns and cities near the coast. The country has deserts, tropical rainforests, eucalyptus forests and mountain ranges, as well as the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland. Kangaroos, koalas and platypuses are among its best-known native animals, and many Australian species are found nowhere else in the wild. Australia is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch as its head of state.

Ключевые факты

1. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed on 1 January 1901, when six British colonies united as one federation.
2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years; their cultures are among the oldest continuing cultures in the world.
3. In 1770, British navigator James Cook charted the east coast of Australia and claimed it for Great Britain.
4. The Great Barrier Reef stretches for about 2,300 kilometres along the coast of Queensland and is the world’s largest coral reef system.
5. The Sydney Opera House officially opened on 20 October 1973; its design was created by Danish architect Jørn Utzon.
6. Uluru, a large sandstone formation in the Northern Territory, rises about 348 metres above the surrounding plain and is sacred to the Anangu people.