Australia

Australia

Australia is the smallest continent and the biggest island in the world. It is situated between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. There are two great deserts /dezəts/ in Australia: the Great Sandy Desert and the Great Victoria Desert. Australia has two big rivers, the Murray /mari/ and the Darling, and three great lakes: Lake Eyre /eə/, Lake Torrens, and Lake Gairdner /geədnə/. The highest mountain is Mount Kosciusko (2,228 m) discovered by a Polish scientist.

Australia has many different kinds of climate: tropical in the north, continental in the interior /in ˡtiəriə/, subtropical or temperate /tempərit/ in the rest of the continent. The south-east coast has warm summers and mild winters. The Australian Alps have snow for almost half the year. The Great Dividing Range divides the wet coast of eastern Australia from the dry lands in the centre.

Australia is famous for its animals – the kangaroo, the koala /kou ˡa:lə/ and the platypus /plætipəs/ (ptakopysk).