Australia’s Geography

SS6G12a. Locate on a …map: the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, Ayers

Rock, and Great Victoria Desert

E.Q.

• How have Australia’s location, climate, and natural resources impacted it?

Vocabulary

• Outback: dry interior in Australia• Reef: area underwater built up by coral• Bush: remote outback• Coral: small sea animal that lives in colonies• Monolith: single, large rock• Aborigines: indigenous people of Australia• Life expectancy: average # of years a person in

a country is expected to live

Vocabulary

• _______: dry interior in Australia• ______: area underwater built up by coral• _______: remote outback• ______: small sea animal that lives in colonies• __________: single, large rock• _________: indigenous people of Australia• _____ ___________: average # of years a

person in a country is expected to live

Australia

• Is the only country on the world’s smallest, flattest continent

• Has the oldest, least fertile soils• Has less rain than everywhere but Antarctica• Includes mainland, island of Tasmania, &

several other islands• Is surrounded by the Indian & Pacific Oceans

4 Important Physical Regions

• Great Barrier Reef• Coral Sea• Ayers Rock• Great Victoria Desert

Great Barrier Reef

• World’s largest coral reef• Off NE coast of Queensland, Australia• In the Coral Sea• Has world’s largest collection of coral• 400 kinds of coral, 1500 species of fish, 4000

types of mollusks

Coral Sea• Part of Pacific Ocean• Plate tectonics created Coral Sea• Important source of Great Barrier Reef’s coral• Lots of uninhabited islands in Coral Sea

claimed by Australia

Ayers Rock• Large single rock• 12 stories tall (1100 feet)• 6 miles in circumference• Made of sandstone – grey but rusts due to

iron in rock• Sacred to Aborigines who call it Uluru

Great Victoria Desert

• SW of Ayers Rock• Gets 8-10 inches of rain/year• Some grasslands, sand hills, & salt lakes• Named after Britain’s Queen Victoria• 160,000 square miles• Mostly uninhabited

Australia’s Climate

• Dry across middle• North: tropical – rain

forests, mangrove swamps, grassland, desert

• Milder climate on SE & SW coasts – most people live here

Outback

• Largest part of Australia• Mainly open country• Mining

Natural Resources: 1/3 of Australia’s Economy

• Mining – exports more coal & iron ore than any other country; leads in mining bauxite, titanium, industrial diamonds; gold & silver

• Arable land – grow enough grain, cotton, cattle to sell surplus

• Tourism – mostly locals – too expensive to go to Australia - summer is December to March

Australia’s Official Language: English

• Colonized by British after James Cook 1768 claimed lands for England

• 1788 – England sent prisoners to E. Australia• to keep French out, Great Britain built towns in

western Australia• Gold brought settlers – mostly English speakers• After independence, Australia passed laws to stop

immigration from Asia & Africa• Nowadays some people come from other countries

but English is the official language

Religion in Australia

• 1788 – Christianity was introduced• Irish convicts mostly Catholic• Other convicts & guards mostly Anglican &

Methodist• European settlers – Anglican, Methodist, Catholic,

Presbyterian, Congregationalist, & Baptist• Most today are Catholic or Anglican• Less than 5% are Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, or

Buddhist

Australia’s Literacy and Standard of Living

• 99% literacy rate• One of highest standards of living in the world• But – worse for Aborigines – many are very

poor, have poor health care, and lower life expectancy