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Climate and Major Cities
• January and February are the hottest summer months, while June and July are the coldest winter months. Australia is widely known as “the Dry Continent” due to its low rainfall. The aridity(干旱)of Australia stems from its proximity to the equator.
Australia
Geography and History Government and Society
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Geography
Location and Size
• Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere, between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific country is surrounded by sea on all sides : the Pacific Ocean on the east, the Indian Ocean on the west, the Arafura Sea on the north and the Southern Indian Ocean on the south.
. .Soon,he claimed that the continent belonged to England
• In 1779,Joseph Banks—a naturalist on Cook’s boat advised the English government approved of his suggestion. In 1787,a fleet consisting of eleven vessels arrived in New South Wales. On these vessels, there were 750 prisoners To these people, New South Wales was an awful place with torridness and desolation. But fortunately, they survived and turned Australia into a productive and prosperous place. They also created a new culture which is the basis of the legend ”hard work of Australia”.
Adelaide(阿德莱德)and Darwin(达尔文).Canberra is the capital
city of Australia and is located in the Australia Capital Territory. Sydney is the capital city of New South Wales and is Australia’s largest and oldest city.
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Geographical Regions
• Broadly speaking , Australia can be divided into three geographical regions : the Eastern Highlands , the Central Lowlands and Western Plateau. The highest point of elevation in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko, which rises to some 2,228 meters above sea level , is located here.
• It is the only nation to govern an entire continent an its outlying islands .With a total area of nearly 7.7million square kilometers ,Australia is the sixth largest country the world, after Russia ,Canada , China, the U.S. and Brazil.
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History
• Before the Westerners found Australia, only Australian aborigines lived there.In the 16th century, the Europeans began to explore Australia. In 1606,the Spanish navigator—Luis Vaes de Torres found the place, but he didn’t explore it further. In the same year, a Dutchman—William arrived in the continent .Then in 1770,the English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the eastern castle of Australia and named it New South Wales .
• Over two-thirds of the Australia population live in the big cities. The major urban centers of Australia include Canberra(堪培拉)， Sydney ,Melbourne(墨尔本),Brisbane(布里斯班)，Perth(珀斯)，
• There is more rainfall on the eastern coastal plain than anywhere else in Australia. Rainfall is heavy in northern and southwestern Australia, but the central region is covered with desert.