A large country in the Pacific Ocean, the only country in the world that encompasses an entire continent (albeit the world's second smallest continent). About a third of it is desert, or nearly so.
Common misconceptions about Australia
- Most Australians do not live in the outback. The vast majority of the citizens live in large sprawling coastal cities.
- Survivor: The Australian Outback was not set in the outback - the outback is predominantly red in colour.
- Most Australians have very little contact with the native wildlife. Kangaroos and Koalas do not reside in our cities.
- Kangaroos can be seen in less-built-up areas of Canberra near bushland.
- It was not discovered by Captain Cook. The Dutch were definitely here before that (1600s), but didn't think that it was worth settling.
- The Dutch landed in Western Australia, whereas Cook landed on the east coast... which was apparently much more inhabitable than the west coast. The west coast is predominantly desert due to the cold coastal currents -- sr
- The aboriginal population discovered the place at least 40,000 years prior to that. [and they were the first to domesticate dogs!]
- Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, and Mel Gibson were not born here, but in NewZealandCountry?, Hawaii, EnglandCountry, and New York state, respectively.
- Australians generally don't drink much Fosters Lager - it's mainly for export. The most popular beer nation-wide is Victoria Bitter, but different regions tend to favour their own beers.
A few facts about Australia
- PeterMerel, DanielSheppard and DavidGrayWright live there.
- Australia is a union of states, much like the U.S.A. There are six states - Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. There are also the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and various island territories.
- It's in the southern hemisphere, and thus winter occurs during the northern hemisphere summer.
- Olivia Newton-John, Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) are Australian. Australians find Steve Irwin just as strange as the rest of the world does, if not more.
- Our national anthem is Advance Australia Fair. Many people think it is, or was, WaltzingMatilda with which many people still hold a greater sense of identity. In fact before Advance Australia Fair it was God Save the Queen.
- The 2000 Olympic Games were held in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.
- Australia has a disproportionate number of sporting champions for our national population. [And a great sports programs and lots of money invested in it]
- In swimming, Ian Thorpe is one of our current swimming champions. He has very large feet (and a big heart!).
- Australia has had many notable tennis stars: Emerson, Laver, Cash, Rafter, Hewitt and Phillipousis.
- Australia's main farming stocks are sheep and cattle. We export both internationally.
- Australia's most famous musical exports are probably Men at work, Silverchair, INXS and KylieMinogue?, PeterAllen?, AC/DC, 10cc, RolfHarris?, ...
- Contradictory to popular foreign belief, Canberra is the capital of Australia, not Sydney, or Melbourne.
- Canberra is in its own region called the Australian Capital Territory [ACT], which is not a state, and is entirely surrounded by New South Wales.
- ... And is situated approximately half-way between Sydney and Melbourne, and set up when the two colonies couldn't agree on where to have the capital. Hence, it's in the middle of nowhere, and acquired its own artificial lake to make it seem vaguely interesting... With mixed results.
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Australia Country