Australia

history:

The east coast of Australia was taken over by J. Cook for Great Britain in 1770, and settlement began there in 1788 with the founding of a British convict colony. From 1793 free settlers also came to Australia. The natives were pushed into barren areas and some were killed.

After 1850 the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia were granted almost unlimited autonomy, followed by Queensland in 1859 and Western Australia in 1890. On January 1st, 1901, these merged to form a federal state (Commonwealth of Australia) within the framework of the British Empire, in 1911 the Northern Territory was added.

The rivalries between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne led to the founding of the neutral capital of Canberra in 1913. In World War I Australia supported motherland Great Britain, in World War II it fought on the side of the Allies mainly against Japan.

Papua New Guinea, which had previously been administered by Australia, gained independence in 1975, but remained dependent on large Australian aid payments. The Australia Act (1986) further relaxed and redefined the constitutional ties between Australia and Great Britain. In the Native Title Act 1993, the government made some accommodations for Aborigines (Australian indigenous people) on the issue of legal title to land.

After the constitutional convention in February 1998 voted in favor of Australia's transition from a constitutional monarchy to a republic (as of January 1, 2001), this plan failed in a referendum on November 6, 1999. The government coalition of the Liberal and National Party under Prime Minister J. Howard, in office from 1996, was able to rely on a stable economic situation.

In foreign policy, Australia has intensified its cooperation with the USA since World War II and with the Asian states since the 1980s. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was formed in 1989 on Australia's initiative. In 2001, Australia joined the anti-terrorist coalition and provided troops for American military operations. Despite massive internal political protests, Prime Minister J. Howard supported the American-British military action against Saddam Hussein's regime in March/April 2003. Since 2003, Australia has been increasingly involved in South Pacific crisis areas.

Natural space:

Australia covers an area of ​​7,692,030 km². The coasts are little indented. On the peninsulas in the north, south, south-west and south-east, Australia has ria coasts with partially excellent natural ridges. The Great Barrier Reef stretches off the northeast coast.

Australia is a continent with low altitude differences. It is divided into the floe mountains, which run parallel to the east coast, and the Central Australian Depression. The Australian Shield occupies the center and west of Australia. About 60% of Australia's rivers have no outlet, the end lakes form salt pans in the dry season, and many rivers only have water intermittently. Australia's great water shortage is alleviated by artesian water resources.

Climate:

Australia is the driest inhabited continent. The Tropic of Cancer divides Australia into a northern tropical and a southern subtropical area (Tasmania belongs to the temperate zone).

Due to the seasonal change, pronounced rainy and dry seasons are decisive, with the exception of the south-east. The central part and the northwest are extremely dry.

Vegetation and wildlife:

The vegetation forms the Australian floral kingdom with that of Tasmania. The tropical rainforests in the north and northeast are adjoined by tree, bush and grass savannahs.Characteristic plant species are eucalyptus, acacia, bottle tree, grass tree, casuarina and spinifex.

The protected areas of the rainforests in eastern Australia are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The animal world also has a special status. The mammalian fauna consists mainly of marsupials (kangaroo, koala bear), in addition, representatives of primitive monotremes such as platypus and echidnas live in Australia. Of the larger predatory marsupials, the thylacine has been eradicated, while the smaller Tasmanian devil is restricted to Tasmania. The bird fauna is exceptionally rich in species, including emu, lyrebirds, cockatoos and parrots. The dingo is probably a wild, primitive form of the domestic dog that was introduced by humans almost 4000 years ago. The proliferating wild rabbits are of European origin.

Population:

With around 28.4 million inhabitants, the continent of Australia is the second most populous after Antarctica. The indigenous people (Aborigines) form a minority together with the islanders of the Torres Strait, of which about 90% are mixed race. Laws have been enacted to protect the culture of Australia's Aboriginal peoples.

The majority of the population (about 96%) is made up of residents of European descent. Their immigration began in 1788 after Australia was taken over by Great Britain. After the British, Germans were the second largest immigrant group in Australia until the First World War. After World War II, European immigration was actively encouraged. Since the late 1970s, people from Asia, the Middle East and South Africa have also been immigrating. 90% of the inhabitants of Australia live in cities, the deserts and semi-deserts are almost completely deserted.

Economy:

Today Australia belongs to the group of western industrialized countries. Australia is of global importance as one of the most important exporters of agricultural products and mineral raw materials. Around 58% of the territory is used for agriculture, due to a lack of irrigation options, mostly through extensive grazing, only around 0.5% through intensive irrigated cultivation.

The most important agricultural products are wheat, sugar cane, cotton, barley and rice. Livestock farming predominates in the dry parts of the country. Important export products are wheat, wine, sheep's wool, beef, sugar and dairy products. Advanced mining is based on rich deposits of mineral resources (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium, nickel, iron ore, bauxite, diamonds, copper, lead, zinc, opals, gold and silver).

In terms of industrial structure, the food and beverages industry is the most important, with mechanical and plant engineering, metallurgy, metal processing and the chemical industry (including coal and petroleum processing) being important.

In the automotive industry, major US and Japanese manufacturers have their own production facilities in Australia. The states of Victoria and New South Wales account for almost two-thirds of industrial production in almost equal shares. In foreign trade, Japan, the USA, China, New Zealand and Great Britain are the main buyers of Australian goods. A free trade agreement has existed with New Zealand since 1983 and with the USA since 2004.