1. VB

2. FUN FACTS
 Australia has a very dramatic
landscape. Australia is famous
for its "outback," the remote
lands of the interior. The desert
outback covers most of the
interior. It is too hot, dry and
barren to support many people

4.  Eastern Australia has large
areas of grasslands, used
primarily for sheep and cattle
ranches.
 Australia also has some
mountainous areas and
plateaus scattered throughout
the country. The Blue
Mountains, on the south-
eastern end of Australia, get
their name from the blue haze
caused by oil droplets given
off from the eucalyptus trees.
As an island, Australia also
has many beautiful coastal
beaches.

5.  Australia is
home to many
animals not
found anywhere
else in the world.

6. Off the northeast coast
of Australia is the Great
Barrier Reef. The Great
Barrier Reef is over 1,200
miles of coral. It has
developed over the last
million years, and is now
the largest living structure
in the world. It is home to
many sharks and
thousands of different
types of tropical fish.

7. The Union Jack
The Southern
Cross
The
Commonwealth
Star
Elements of Flag

8. GEOGRAPHY
Formal Name: Commonwealth of Australia (long name)
People: Australian Citizen
Capital: Canberra
Land Area: 7, 682, 300 sq. km
Population: 22,620,600 (2011)
Resources: Bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver,
uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc,
diamonds, natural gas, petroleum.
Arable land: 6.15% (2005)
.

10. Location: Oceania, continent
between the Indian Ocean
and South Pacific Ocean.
- 4,000 km from East-West
-3,200 km from North-
South
Climate: Generally arid to
semiarid, temperate in
South and East, tropical in
North
Coastline: 36, 735km long
Terrain: Mostly low plateau
with deserts, fertile plain in
Southeast.

12. MONETARY UNIT
 Australian dollar or Aussie
dollar, written as AUD, A$,
AU$.
 The Australian currency
was the first in the world to
feature a complete series of
plastic (polymer) notes.
They are recyclable and
much cleaner than paper
money.
 It has 5 different colours.
 5 - purple, 10 - blue, 20
- red, 50 - yellow and
100 - green

13. AUSTRALIAN COIN VALUES
 Their coin values are 5,
10, 20, and 50 cents and 1
and 2 dollars. You will not
find any 1 or 2 cents
coins.
 Most prices do not end in
multiples of 5 cents.
 The monetary system of
Australia is decimal based.
 It is made of aluminium
bronze and are gold in
colour.

14. MONETARY EXCHANGE RATE
1 Australian Dollar = 43.49046
Philippine Peso
1 Australian dollar = 1.0373 US
dollars

15. HISTORY
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
 Asian and Oceanic mariners and traders
 March 1606, Dutch explorer William Janszon chartered the west
coast of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland.
 Spanish explorer Luis Vaez de Torres sailed through the strait
separating Australia and Papua New Guinea.
 Two centuries passed European explorers and traders continued to
chart coastline of Australia, then known as New Holland.
 In 1688, William Dampier became the 1st British explorer to land
on the Australian coast.

17.  In 1770, Captain James Cook an Englishman, extended a
scientific voyage to the Pacific in order to further chart East
coast of Australia and claim it for British crown.
 British use it as a Penal Colony.
 January 26, 1788 1st arrival of 11 fleet ships in Sydney Harbour
with 1500 people – half of them were convicts, a total of
160,000 men & women were brought to the country as convicts.
 1852, Eastern colonies transportation was abolished while in
Western colonies it ended on 1868.
 January 1, 1901 Commonwealth of Australia was formed
through the federation of six states under a single constitution.

19. GOVERNMENT
 Federal parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm.
 Bicameral Federal Parliament
a. Senate
b. House of representative

20. 3 ARMS OF AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT
1) Legislature (or parliament) is responsible for debating and
voting on new laws to be introduced under the power of section
51.
 Bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats)
 12 members from the six states and 2 from each of the two
mainland territories;
 one-half of state members are elected every three years by
popular vote to serve six-year terms while all territory members
are elected every three years);
 House of Representatives (150 seats; members elected by
popular vote to serve terms of up to three-years; no state can
have fewer than 5 representatives)

21. 2) Executive is responsible for enacting and upholding the laws
established by the legislature. Certain members of the
legislature (called ministers) are also members of the
executive, with special responsibilities for certain areas of the
law.
 elections: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general
appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the
prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of
the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in
as prime minister by the governor general.

22. 3) Judiciary is the legal arm of the Australian Government. It is
independent of the other two arms, and is responsible for
enforcing the laws and deciding whether the other two arms
are acting within their powers.
 High Court (the chief justice and six other justices are
appointed by the governor general acting on the advice of the
government)

23. WHO RULE IN AUSTRALIA?
 Chief of State – Queen of Australia is Queen Elizabeth II of
Great Britain.

24.  Prime Minister-
Head of the
government.
 Governor
general –
Appointed by the
monarch to
oversee the
colony.
Julia Eileen Gillard
Quentin Bryce

25. ECONOMY
 Major Industries:
1. Agriculture and horticulture – farming
2. Fisheries
3. Forestry
4. Minerals (Mining)

26.  Australia grows lots of
potatoes; in fact potatoes are
Australia’s largest vegetable
crop.
 Australian products are
sought after because they
meet high environmental and
safety criteria and they taste
great! Lots of research goes
into making sure Australian
agricultural products have
maximum taste and quality
with minimum impact on the
environment.
Agriculture and horticulture – farming

27.  In Australia there are over 20
large fisheries.
 largest fishing zones in the
world, covering 14 million
square kilometres, about twice
the area of Australia’s
landmass and extending 200
nautical miles out to sea.
 The top three exports are
lobster, pearls and abalone.
Fisheries

28.  In Australia, both plantation
forests and native forests are
harvested.
 Australia has 9.4 million
hectares of harvestable native
forest, although only 1 per cent
of this is being harvested in any
one year. Because such a small
percentage is cut down each
year, these areas have many
years in which to grow back.
This is done because it mimics
the natural growth cycle and
disturbance of the forests.
Forestry

29.  Australia has often been
called resource-rich
because of its huge natural
deposits of many very
useful and valuable fossil
fuels, metals and minerals.
 Australia has some of the
largest iron and copper
mines in the world,
meaning we supply to the
world a huge amount of the
basic necessities for
construction.
Minerals (Mining)

30.  Bauxite: used to make aluminium.
 Coal: used to generate power and used in steel production.
 Copper: used for electrical equipment and cables, building
construction, industrial machinery.
 Diamonds: used for jewellery, industrial cutting and polishing,
computer chips.
 Gold: used for jewellery, electronics.
 Iron: used for steel production for use in construction, cars, trains
and train tracks.
 Uranium: used overseas for power generation, scientific research,
medical research.
 Silver: used for jewellery, photographic paper, mirrors,
electronics.
 Gems: opals, emeralds, sapphires and rubies to name just a few.

31. CURRENT ISSUES
1. Population
2. International Disputes
3. Illicit Drugs

32. SOURCES
www.cia.gov
http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-flags-emblems/
http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-geography/
http://www.about-australia.com/facts/australia-history/
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-government
Australian Currency http://www.start-a-new-life-in-
australia.com/australian-currency.html#ixzz26utece7J