# The Aborigines have lvedin ‘Australiafor 140,000 years. eee ie rie Cale Ps pees re # inthe 3 century, many Baitish convict! were sent to ustala, a British colony at the tim. Now, about 22% offustaions Ce 204 ofthe population irene) lives within 50 km ofthe coast, ene gn ot 55335 8 bk 8 YF {800° the number of bird species. The creat are naoit@ax ot «2:thenumber “petit ie the animals are of mammalian * largest living. endericto predators contig ie ‘the cauntry—they currently ving ec te nly ivein in usialia Austalia, ‘$40 million; the estimated ‘number of kangaroos living on the continent 16 755:thenumber of reptile 935: the number of species (=the highest kangaroo species, ‘number in the world). +4 About 25% of the population comes from another county. ‘Why so many lethal animals? + Therearealotof dangerous animals in Australia. because the solb are very old and infertile. So. only the most fesitant creatures sunive, lke cakt-bloaded predators {eptiles) anc insects, ‘Tere are ver few mammals? because they need a lot of resources to. surive (for trample, a mammal needs to fat regulary, whereas 2 trocodle or 2 python can survive on one good meal. 3 eat) a 4GEOGRAPHY ‘Australias situated in the Southern hemisphere under the Equator, That's why Australia is nicknamed “the Land Down Under’ Itis a country, an island and a continent at the same time, Australia is divided into Sbcstates: Queenstand (North east of Australia), New South Wales (South east), ‘South Australia, Victoria (the smallest state), Western Australia and Tasmania (a smallistand). There are ~ also two territories: the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (a small land in New South Wales). There are 24 million inhabitants in Australia and 85% of the population live in big cities. Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania and Lauceston is on the north coast ofthis small island. Melbourne Bee rin cty OF VtoreieRRIAli: Sorteg eran er tre nikid =oTthe county in te Nera ean Perth, whicis famous for its beautiful beaches, isin Western Australia Brisbane is in Queensland as well ‘5 Galmns, whichis on the north coast, Adelaide is in South Australia and Darwin isin the north of the Northern Territory. Canberra isthe capitalety of Australia, and Sydney is between Canberra and Brisbane. 85% of the country is covered by a vast arid desert called The Outback. Seasons are reversed in the Southern hemisphere. So, when itis winter in France, itis summer in Australia. oN — te The first inhabitants of Australia were The Aborigines, who lived there for at least 40,000 years before Europeans arrived. Inthe 1600's, several Dutch explorers reached the continent. In 1644, the Dutch named the continent New Holland, but they didn't settle there, In 1770, Captain James Cook, who was a British explorer and cartographer, became the first Englishman to discover Australia: He landed in the southeastern part of the continent and’ named the region New South Wales. He thought Australia was a good place to start a colony. At the time, there were too many criminals in England's prisons, so the English government decided to send prisoners to Australia in order to live there. They cleared land and established farms. In 1853, the discovery of gold attracted thousands of new immigrants to Australia. Today, Australia is no longer a British colony. It became independent in 190 and is part of the British Commonwealth, from Brtannica KidsTHE ABORIGINES ‘Aborigines, or Aboriginals, are the native people Of Australia, lived on the continent for than 50,000 years. They are one ofthe oldest living cvlizationsin Before British rh there mere about 600 different QrOUDS of wn language (there were mo than 200 Aboriginal langues The Aborigines Were reptiles whereas wor used boomerangs: jed when Europeans arrived in Aust B yeafs ago, The Europea off ther land and to change th Many Aborigines died defend from diseases brought by the Eu ‘Aborigines represent o Australial & THE ABORIGINES 9} aes DREAMTIME The Aborigines believe that everything on earth was created by Ancestor Spirits a long time ago, during the Dreamtime. The Spirits made the rivers, rocks, plants, animals, and gave the Aborigines their hunting tools. In traditional ceremonies, people tell these creation stories with songs, dances, body paintings and pictures called "Dreamings" The traditional colours used are yellow (the sun), brown (the earth), red (the desert sand), and white (clouds and the sky).