Geography:- Australia

• Australia is also referred to as island continent
• Along with New Zealand and its neighbouring islands, it is called Australasia or Oceania.
• Australia was first sighted by a dutch navigator called William Janszoon. Captain James cook, a British seaman reached the eastern coast of Australia and named it New South Wales
• Many Europeans migrated to Australia after Gold was found on this continent in the early 1850s
• On 1st January 1901, a federation of six colonies was formed and the Common Wealth of Australia was established as a dominion of Britain.
• Later during the passing of the Australian Act in 1986 , all constitutional ties between Australia and Britain ended
• The continent Australia stretches from 10 degrees South to 44 degrees South latitude and from 112 degrees east to 154 degrees east longitude
• The Tropic of Capricorn (23 and half degree South) Passes almost through the middle of this continent
• Australia is separated from :-

  1. East Timor by the Timor Sea

  2. Indonesia by the Arafura Sea

  3. Papua New Guinea by the Torres Strait
• 1. In the north-east and east lies - Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, in the South Pacific ocean.

  2. In the South-east, the Tasman Sea lies between Australia and New Zealand.
• The Great Barrier reef is the largest coral reef system on earth
• The Capital of Australia is Canberra
• Australi is divided into 6 self governing states and 2 centrally administered territories
• The capital of New South Wales is Sydney.
• The highest peak of Australia is Mount Kosciuszko, located in the Australian Alps.
• Nullarbor Plain is a part of the coastal plains.
• The Lake Eyre basin is an area of inland drainage.
• The Great Barrier Reef is found along the north-eastern coast of Australia.
• The physical divisions of Australia are: The western plateau The eastern highlands The central lowlands The coastal plain.
• Sydney is the most populous city of Australia

  It is also reffered to as Harbour city

  Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge attract many tourists
• Melbourne is the Sporting and Cultural capital of Australia
• The mean elevation of the land in Australia is 300 m above sea level.

  Only 5% of the continent is more than 600m above sea level
• West- Indian Ocean

  North and east- Pacific Ocean

  South- Southern oceans
• Western Plateaus

  1.It consists of the Darling Range, the Hamersley Range, the MacDonnel Range and Musgrave Range

  2.You will have to walk 10 km to go around it once!

  3.In the local language the Ayres rock is called as Uluruwhich means place where the wind moans between dusk and dawn.

  4.The Great Sandy Desert,Gibson Desert,Great Victoria Desert and the West Australian Desert
• • The Low-lying region between the western Plateaus and the eastern Highlands is known as the Central Lowlands
  • The Central lowland can be divided into 3 smaller regions called-
  • The Great Artesian Basin
  • Lake Eyre Basin
  • Murray Darling Basin
• THE GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN

  • It is located mainly in Queensland and New South Wales
  • It is the world's largest Artesian Basin
  • An Artesian Basin is a flat land where a layer of permeable or porous rock is sandwiched in a saucer-like formation between two layers of impermeable rocks.
• Lake Eyre is a shallow saltwater lake