澳大利亚英文介绍p1ftp.doc

AustraliaThe basic general situation and some natural features about Australia The geographical locationAustralia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, its located on the southern hemisphere, with an area ranks sixth in the world. It is the largest country among ocean countries, but its also the mainland of the worlds smallest and the only an exclusive one continent. It is the east Pacific Ocean, west Indian Ocean, Neighboring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. the major island with an area of 7.69 million square kilometers, is the Earth’s largest island but smallest continent. It stretches about 3700 kilometers from north to south and 4000 kilometers from east to west. In area, Australia is the 6th largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States and Brazil. It is about twice the size of the European Union or the ten nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Its ocean territory-the third largest in the world—spans three oceans and covers around 12 million square kilometers. The country form and the population For around 40,000 years before European settlement commenced in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nations of indigenous Australians. After sporadic(偶发的，偶见的) visits by fishermen from the immediate north, and European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606,the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal(与刑罚有关的) transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. during the 19th century another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was form