Australia
  - smallest continent on the Earth
  - on  the  Southern  Hemisphere  between  the  Pacific and the Inidian Ocean

 Geography
  - the  nearest  neighbour  is  New  Guinea separated by Torres Strait
  - oval  shape is broken  by Gulf of  Carpentaria (N) and  Great Australian Bight (S)
  - Great Barrier Reef
     - along the coast
     - bigest coral reef on the Earth
  - the nearest islands:
     - in the Bass Strait: Tasmania, King Island, Flinders Island
     - Mellville Island in the Gulf of St. Vincent
     - Groote Eylandt in gulf of Carpentaria
  - the surface is mostly flat
  - the Great Western Plateau
     - occupies nearly half of the continent
     - three deserts are there: Great  Sandy  Desert
                                Gibson  Desert
                                Great Victoria Desert
  - Central-Eastern Lowland - area lower than 100 m
     - tropic forests, savannah, with occasional creek and rivers
     - lakes: Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens, Lake Gairdner
     - rivers: Murray, Darling
  - Australian Crodilleras
     - along the Eastern coast, begins on the York Penninsula
     - consist of (from north): Great Dividing Range, New England Range, Blue Mountains, Australian Alps
     - highest peak: Mt. Kosciusci (2 230 m)
  - the biggest cities are along the coast
     - south-east coast: Sydney and melbourne
     - the capital Canberra is on special territory near A. Alps

 History
  - Aborigines - native Australian inhabitants
               - arrived 40 000 BC
  - 13th century informations from Marco Polo (in his literature)
  - discovered by Portugese, Spanish and Dutch
  - 1606  Spanish  navigator  Torres  sailed  trhough the strait between  Papua New Guinea and Australia (now has his name)
  - 1642 Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania
  - 1770 captain Thomas Cook claimed New South Wales as a British colony
  - 1787 first immigration was special one
     - fleet from England
           - 700 convicts on teh board (landed in Botany Bay)
     - convict system lasted till 1866 - then abolished in WA
  - January  1st,1901 queen victoria  proclaimed the Commonwealth of Australia

 Political System
  - Australia   is  independent  sovereign   nation  within  the Commonwealth, has constitution since January 1st, 1901
  - head of  state:
     british monarch is represented by General Governor
  - goverment - executive power:
     Prime   Minister   and   Cabinet,   responsible  to  Federal Parliament
  - parliamnet:
     consist of two chambers
     - Senate - elcted for six years term
              - 76 members, 12 for each of 6 states
                             2 for each of 2 territories
     - House of Representatives
           - 148 members, elected by universal suffrage
           - serve 3 years
  - voting is compulsory
  - each state  has  its  own constitution,  governor (monarch's representative), legislative and judicial power
  - main parties are: Liberal, National, Labour, Democrats
  - last last relics of UK legislative were removed in 1986

 States and Terrirtories
  - New South Wales (N.S.W, Sydney)
  - Victoria (Vic., Melbourne)
  - Queensland (Qld., Brisbane)
  - South Australia (S.A., Adelaide)
  - Western Australia (W.A., Perth)
  - Tasmania (Tas., Hobart)
  - Northern Territory (N.T., Darwin)
  - Australia Capital Teritory (A.C.T., Canberra)

 Economy
  - highly developed country - high living standard
  - mineral deposites: coal, iron, bauxit, gas, gold, silver
  - agriculutre:sheep-raising, cattle-raising, crop produciton
  - industry: the food (meat butter, cheese, sugar)
              textile industry
              Engineering, chemical industry

 Places of Interest
  - Sydney - largest city (3.2 milion)
           - The Opera House - Landmark
  - Canberra - capital city
             - National Galery, War Memorial
  - Brisbane - holiday playground, paradise
             - Gold Coast - attractions, Sea World is the top one
                          - koalas
             - not far: Great Barrier Reef + Holiday Islands
  - Townsville, Port Douglas
     - beach resort, best on north
     - not far: Great Barrier Reef
  - Melbourne - second largest
              - park and gardens - Victoria Garden State
              - Cook's Cotage, Yorra river
              - Australian Open (tennis, grand-slamm)
              - Melbourne cup (horse race, winner 1 000 000)
              - rich culture, many restaurants, hotels, centre of fashion, ZOO
              - modern and old architecture, large boulevards
  - Hobart - in Tasmania
           - convict sandstone building from the 1800s
           - sea food
           - Sydney-Hobart Sailing Race
  - Adelaide - South Australia
             - Formula One car race

 Education
  - each state has own system of education
  - compulsory from 6 to 15 (16 in Tasmania)
  - far living children
     - Correspondence School  and School of the Air  (by radio or TV)
  - Pre-Schools ofr 2.5-3 years - in towns, whole-day care
  - Primary schools - till 12 years, folowed by secondary edu
  - Secondary schools - last for 3-4 years
     - after this  children can take a job or  study 2 years more and than to university
  - Universities (19)
      - Australian National University
      - University of Sidney (oldest)
  - school year: from end of  January or beginning of February to middle of December