Australia most interesting facts. Before humans, Australia was home to many unique giant animals.

Australia ( Official name Commonwealth of Australia is a state located in southern hemisphere, occupying the entire mainland of Australia, the island of Tasmania and several other small islands. The Commonwealth of Australia is . On the this moment The population of Australia is about 24 million people.

Australia is a country with a very developed economy, and in addition occupies high place in many areas of life, such as health, education, civil rights, etc. Especially for you, we have prepared the most Interesting Facts about Australia.

1. Australia is the only State in the world that occupies the entire continent.

3. Canberra became the capital of the State for a reason. For the title to be called the capital of Australia fought two major states Melbourne and Sydney. They could not decide in any way which of them would be the capital. Then it was decided to compromise and took Big City, which was located in the center of these two states. In 1908, Canberra was chosen as the future capital of Australia.

4. We all know that the Kangaroo is the national animal and symbol of Australia. They live there twice, or even three times more than the people themselves. But it turns out that many Australians prefer kangaroo meat for food, so you can often find kangaroo meat in stores. Kangaroo meat is considered dietary and contains minimal amount fat.

5. According to statistics, every fourth inhabitant of Australia is an immigrant.

6. In Australia, as in Left side traffic, so the cars here are also right-hand drive.

7. Australia ranks first in the world in the production of wool, and, accordingly, there are the most sheep in the world. To do this, they have a special huge pasture for sheep, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is comparable to the area of ​​Belgium and even more. This pasture is surrounded by the largest fence in the world, which is called the "Dog Fence" or "Dingo Fence". From the name it is clear that the fence serves as a protection for sheep from wild dogs Dingo.

8. The Sydney Opera House is Australia's very own. The theater was opened in 1973 and is even under the protection of UNESCO, which awarded it the status of "Monument world heritage».

9. When the British first discovered Australia, it was decided to transfer prisoners here. More than 160,000 criminals were brought to Australia, although some of them died on the way. So until now, some residents of the country are the descendants of those prisoners. By the way, it was from the prisoners released for good behavior that the first Australian police squad was formed. Despite all this, Australians today are considered among the most law-abiding citizens in the world.

10. According to Australian law, if a bill was torn into two parts, then each part of this bill can be used as a full-fledged running bill, of course, taking into account the torn part. That is, if you tear a $10 bill in half, you end up with two $5 bills. The only condition is that the bill will be considered payment, only on condition that the area of ​​the bill is not less than 20% and more than 80% of its original state.

11. By the way, Australian banknotes are not made of paper, like other States, but of thin, thin plastic.

12. The coat of arms of Australia features two national animals, namely the kangaroo and the emu. They were chosen not only because they are national, but also because these two representatives of the fauna cannot move back. This is a kind of symbol that "we are only moving forward!".

1. Australians are required by law to vote in elections. An Australian citizen who fails to show up to vote without a valid reason faces a fine.
2. Houses in Australia are poorly insulated from the cold, so in the winter months, at temperatures below +15 degrees, the rooms are quite cool. It is not surprising that it was from Australia that the fashion for "uggs" - warm, soft and comfortable shoes - went. Australians wear them right at home.

3. Australia is the only continent of the planet, completely occupied by one state.

4. Australians almost never tip. Some, however, notice that this negatively affects the quality of the Australian service.

5. Australians sometimes call their relatives - the British - the word "pome" - the abbreviation "Prisoners of Mother England" - "Prisoners of Mother England".

6. Canberra became the capital of Australia as a result of a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne: the Australians could not decide which of these cities to give the palm to, and as a result located the capital between the two competing cities.

7. Kangaroo meat can be easily found in Australian supermarkets and restaurants. Here it is considered a healthy alternative to beef or lamb: the fat content in kanguryatin does not exceed 1-2 percent.

8. Australia is home to the most venomous snake in the world: the coastal taipan, whose venom from one bite can kill 100 people at once!

9. Lives in Australia great amount emigrants from all over the world. According to statistics, every fourth inhabitant of Australia was born outside of it.

10. Although Australia is associated with a sunny, snowless country, there is more snow in the Australian Alps than in all of Switzerland!

11. The Great Barrier Reef has its own mailbox. Having sailed to it by ferry, you can send a postcard with views of the reef to your relatives.

12. The biggest football victory in history belongs to the Australian team, which in 2001 beat the American Samoa team with a score of 31:0.

13. The straightest road in the world runs through the Australian plain of Naallarbor: 146 kilometers without a single turn!

14. Australians are crazy about gambling. According to statistics, about 80% of Australians play for money at least occasionally.

15. Although many Indigenous Australians are descendants of prisoners, this did not affect the genetics: according to statistics, the Australian population is the most law-abiding in the world.

16. The longest wall in the world is not the Great Wall of China, but the so-called “Dog Fence”, which divides the Australian mainland into two parts, one of which is the habitat of wild dingo dogs. The fence was built primarily to protect South Queensland pastures from the voracious dingoes. His total length is 5614 kilometers.

17. Australia has a very low population density. More than 60% of its inhabitants live in five cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

18. The very first unit of the Australian police consisted of 12 people. All of them were reproduced as police officers from prisoners who distinguished themselves exemplary behavior.

19. In South Australia is the Anna Creek Cattle Station farm, which surpasses Belgium in area.

20. The air in Tasmania is considered the cleanest on the planet.

1. Australia is the 6th largest country in the world, occupying whole continent with an area of ​​about 7.6 million km2.

2. 80% of the 24 million Australians live within 100 km of the coast.

3. Over 200 spoken in Australia various languages and dialects, 45 of which are indigenous languages. The most common languages ​​other than English are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Chinese.

Express info by country

Australia(Australian Federation) - a state in the Southern Hemisphere, located on the Australian mainland and the island of Tasmania.

Capital– Canberra

Largest cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide

Form of government- A constitutional monarchy

Territory- 7,692,024 km 2 (6th in the world)

Population– 24.8 million people (52nd in the world)

Official language– Australian English

Religion– Christianity

HDI– 0.935 (2nd in the world)

GDP– $1.454 trillion (12th in the world)

Currency- Australian dollar

4. Australia has the highest share of migrants among developed countries. Over 25% of Australians were born in another country. In addition to indigenous peoples, migrants from 200 countries live here.

5. The country has a unique ecosystem, including pristine rainforests, ancient cliffs and beautiful beaches.

Aerial view of Surfers Paradise Gold Coast, Queensland

6. Australia has 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including historical villages, cities and landscapes.

7. Australia became the second country in the world after New Zealand to give women the right to vote (1902).

8. Canberra was created in 1908 as a compromise when Sydney and Melbourne could not agree on which of them would become the capital.

9. Most big farm(cattle station) in the world is located in South Australia. Anna Creek Station has an area of ​​​​more than 34 thousand km 2 - this more territory Belgium (30.5 thousand km 2).

10. A Australians spend more money on the gambling per capita than in any other country. 80% of adults in Australia gamble. Australia is home to 20% of all poker machines in the world.

11. Kangaroo meat can be bought in supermarkets, from butchers and ordered at a restaurant. Kenguryatin is seen as a healthier alternative to beef or lamb, as contains only 1-2% fat.

12. Despite the fact that many Australians love sports, the country is one of the leaders in terms of obesity: 26% of citizens suffer from this disease. 63% of the population are overweight.

13. There are 60 wine regions in Australia. Australian wineries produce about 1.35 trillion bottles of wine a year.

14. In 2007, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Indigenous Australians, which became milestone in national reconciliation.

Yirrganydji aborigines playing the didgeridoo in Queensland

15. Australians call the English Pome, which is an abbreviation for Prisoners of Mother England (“Prisoners of Mother England”). Despite the country's history of colonization by convicts, the homicide rate in Australia is 1.2 per 100,000 people (compare with 6.3 per 100,000 people in the US).

16. Australia has the most high prices for electricity in the world.

17. Before the arrival of humans, Australia was home to megafauna: 3m tall kangaroos, 7m long monitor lizards, horse-sized ducks and leopard-sized marsupial lions were found here.

18. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet. He has his own mailbox!

19. If you fold all the sails of the roof of the Opera House, you get an ideal sphere. The architect was inspired by the sight of an orange.

20. Captain James Cook first landed on the east coast of Australia in 1770. In 1788, 11 British ships to set up a penal colony here. Only a few days after the raising of the British flag, two French ships arrived in Australia, but it was too late to claim these territories.

The Chinese explored Australia long before the arrival of the Europeans. As early as the 1400s, sailors and fishermen sailed to Australia to harvest sea cucumbers and trade with the indigenous peoples.

The first European to visit Australia in 1606 was the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. Over the next hundred years, the country was visited by other Dutch explorers who mapped and named it New Holland (New Holland).

culture

Australia - amazing country. When in most of the world snowing, Australians bask on sunny beaches. Here live the most unique and deadly animals that you will not find anywhere else in the world.

Name Australia from Latin "Terra Australis Incognita", which means "Unknown southern land" appeared during the reign of the Roman Empire.

Australia consists from 6 states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. In addition, there are two main mainland territories: the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, as well as a number of fairly independent islands.

The capital of Australia is Canberra, the largest city inland and the 8th largest in Australia.

Geography of Australia

1. Australia - the largest island and most small continent in the world.

2. Australia - driest inhabited continent on Earth, the driest is Antarctica.

One third of Australia is desert, the rest is also quite arid.

3. The Australian Snowy Mountains get annual more snow than the Swiss Alps.

4. Australia is the only one continent with no active volcano.

Animals of Australia

5. 6 of the 10 most venomous snake species in the world live in Australia. australian fierce snake or the coastal taipan is the most venomous snake in the world. The poison from one bite can kill 100 people.

6. More than 750,000 single-humped wild camels walk in the Australian deserts. This is one of the largest herds on Earth.

7. Kangaroo and emu have been chosen as symbols of the Australian coat of arms, as they, unlike most animals, are rarely seen moving backwards.

8. The longest living structure in the world - the Great Barrier Reef also located in Australia. Its length is 2600 km. By the way, the Great Barrier Reef even has its own mailbox.

9. Lives in Australia 3.3 times more sheep than people.

10. Excrement of wombats - marsupials of Australia, have the shape of a cube.

11. Australian male koalas have a forked penis and females have two vaginas and two uteruses.

12. Koalas and humans are the only animals in the world that have unique fingerprints. Koala fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from human fingerprints..

13. Most large view earthworms on earth Megascolide australis reaches a length of 1.2 meters.

Australian population

14. Population density in Australia is calculated in square kilometers per person, not the number of people per square kilometer like in other countries.

Here is one of the most low levels population density in the world, which is 3 people per sq. km. Average density The world's population is 45 people per kV. km.

15. More than 20 percent of Australians were born in another country.

The smallest continent on our planet is Australia. This is the birthplace of amazing animals and plants. Almost all marsupials, those that carry their cubs in a bag - a pocket on their stomach, live here. These are koalas, and kangaroos, and animals with the funny name couscous. Platypuses live in the rivers of Australia: they have thick brown fur, four paws-flippers, a tail with a spatula, and a head and nose like those of ducks. Multi-colored budgerigars and crested cockatoos flutter in the sky.

There are also emus in Australia. These pliers do not know how to fly, but they run very fast, because they have strong strong legs. Eucalyptus and palm trees, ferns and acacias grow in Australian forests. And even a bottle tree: its trunk is very thick below, and upward it becomes thin - thin.

Along the entire coast of the continent stretches the largest coral structure in the world - Great Barrier Reef. These underwater coral rocks are dangerous for ships, but for those who dive into the sea with scuba gear, an unforgettable, simply fabulous picture will open up.

The weather in Australia is almost always hot. Even in winter it is never below +10 degrees Celsius. It rains a little Australia is considered the driest continent on the ground. When it's summer in Europe, it's winter here.

The people of one nation live on the whole continent - the Australians. They speak to English language. And all because a long time ago gold was found in Australia and the ancestors of most of the current inhabitants came here from England, Scotland and Ireland to seek happiness. Also available in Australia indigenous people- Aborigines are now less than one and a half percent of the total population.

Some interesting facts about this interesting place, for example, you know that:

Here the inhabitants are the least likely to break laws in the world.

In Australia, at first, it was called "New South Wales".

Here, an adult resident, if he does not come to the polls, will be fined.

It is the lowest continent in the world average height above sea level - 330 meters.

The longest fence around the world is also located here, its length is as much as 5,530 kilometers, and it was built to protect the sheep from dingoes.

Australia has the longest fence in the world.

Australia has the largest number of sheep in the world, more than 700 thousand, and accordingly, the first place in the production of wool rightfully belongs to Australia.