Australia is a large country lying between the Indian and Pacific
Oceans.
Australia is an island, like Britain, but unlike Britain it is vast. It is, in
fact, nearly twenty-five times as large as the British Isles. Its area is
about 8,000,0002 km. The population of Australia is about 18 mln.
Most of Australia is semi-desert. People cannot live where is no water, and so
most of people in Australia live in the richer south-east.
The first Australian people were dark-skinned
Aborigines, and though the
coming of the white settlers destroyed their tribal lives, some sixty thousand
still survive in Australia today. Their account for about 1 percent of the
population. They may be found in the island areas of the country. Some live in
modern cities but it is not really easy for them. They have to fight for their
rights. The first Europeans to land in this country were Dutch sailors.
The national holiday, Australia Day, is now celebrated on or near
January 26th in memory of landing of the British in 1788. The young
country grew very fast. Today Australia is an independent federative state
consisting of 6 states and 2 territories. It is a member of the Commonwealth
headed by the British Queen. The national language is English. The capital of
Australia is Canberra; the largest cities are Sidney, Melbourne, Adelaide and
Perth.
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