Australia - Population, Flag, Economy

Population – Australia was discovered by the Dutch in the 17th century. In 1770 the Captain James Cook explored the coasts and landed in Botany Bay near Sydney. The settlement of Australia began here on January 26, 1788 with the arrival of about 1,000 colonists from Britain, 750 of them were convicts (trestanci). The day is now a public holiday. When the first white people from Europe came to Australia Aborigines were living there. Now there are 17 million inhabitants.

Australia is a federal state conˡsisting of six states and two territories: Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania /tæz ˡmeinjə/, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. Each state has its own government and its own capital city. The official name is the Commonwealth of Australia, it was established in 1901. The capital city is Canberra. Sydney is the oldest, largest, the most beautiful and the most modern city. It is the main port and the capital of New South Wales. Its population is 3.7 million people.

Flag – is a blue field with the British Union Jack in the upper left corner, a white federal star, and the stars of the southern Cross.

Economy – Australia is a rich country: iron ore, oil, natural gas and coal are found there. It is also rich in gold, silver and other precious metals /prešəs metlz/ (vzácné kovy). It is the greatest producer of wool in the world. The second biggest export is wheat, other exports are beef, mutton and minerals.