Australia

Australia is officially named the Commonwealth of Australia.  It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area.  It is a country comprising the mainland of Australia Continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.

History:

We are going to Know some about the Australia History; before the first British settlement in the late 18 century Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups.    After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788.  The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

Economy:

It is known that Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy.  In 2012 Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita income, Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th largest, with the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.  This country is member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Pacific Islands Forum.

Government:

In Australia the government is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers.  It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms.  The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys in Australia (The Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level), who by convention act on the advice of her ministers.

The Federal Government is separated into three branches: The legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
The legislature:  the bicameral Parliament, defined in section 1 of the constitution as comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
The executive the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State.

Tonny Abbot, Prime Minister of Australia.

The judiciary:  the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.  Source:  www.en.wikipedia.org

This is Government House Camberra also known as "Yarralumla" is the official residence of the Governor-General.

This is the Parliament House, Camberra was opened in 1988 replacing the provisional Parliament House building opened in 1927.

Australia has six states -New South Wales (NSW), Quensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) adn Western Australia (WA) - and two major mainland territories - the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).

Environment:

Australia has a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests and is recognised as a megadiverse country.  The fungi typify that diversity estimated at around 250,000 species.  Australia has a extremely variable weather patterns and long-term geographic isolation much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse.  Approximately 85% of flowering plants of mammals, more than 45% of birds and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.  Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.

Australian forest are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions, wattles replace them in drier regions and deserts as the most dominant species.

Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala and wombat and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra.  Australia is home tomany dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world.  The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE. Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna; others have disappeared since European settlement.School attendance or registration for home schooling is compulsory throughout Australia.  










Platypus:











Spyders:

Education:

Education is the responsibility of the individual states and territories so the rules vary between states, but in general children are required to attend school from the age of aobut 5 up until about 16.  In some states children aged 16-17 are required to either attend school or participate in vocational training.

Australian Food:

Australia has some of the best seafood in the world and that means you are almost guaranteed fresh fish, served with salt and lemon, wrapped in yesterday's newspaper or white wrapping.

Fish 'n' ships by the beach:  














Barbecued Snags:

Nothing is more Australian than getting friends or family together for a barbecue.  And at the heart of any good barbie is a selection of food Australian Snags - from the traditional pork or beef, to those flavored with herbs and spices from around the world.

There's something homey about a snag in a roll or a slice of bread covered in your favorite sauce, perhaps with some fried onion on top and some spuds on the side.

A sausage sizzle put on outside the local hardware store on Sundays makes a bit of DIY that much more appealing.