Geographic Features of Australia

1. Geographic Features of Australia Unit 10 Notes Bennett

2. I. Australia’s Political Features

3. Australia… • Is divided into 2 territories and 6 states: • States: Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland • Territories: Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

5. Tasmania • What: Island that is protected by the government • Where: Island off the southeast coast of the mainland

7. Tasmanian Devil?

9. Victoria • What: State closest to Tasmania • Where: Southeast part of the mainland • Capital is Melbourne; it’s the most urban state in Australia • The many rivers of the region are a good source of fresh water for farming

12. South Australia • What: State in south-central Australia • Where: The Great Victoria Desert is located here…

15. Western Australia • What: Largest state; makes up 1/3rd of the mainland • Where: Most of Western Australia isdesert (Great Victoria Desert and Great Sandy Desert are located here)

16. Great Sandy Desert

17. New South Wales • What: Has more people than any other Australian state • Where: North of Victoria, on the eastern coast • The capital, Sydney, is the most populated city in Australia -- 3 1/2 million people live there! • Australian Capital Territory is located here

18. Sydney, New South Wales

19. Queensland What: Second largest state; 7 times the size of England! • Where: In the northeastern part of the mainland • Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast in the Coral Sea • More than half of Queensland’s population lives in the capital: Brisbane

20. Brisbane

22. Northern Territory • What: Largest population of Aborigines in Australia • Where: Northern coast of the mainland, between Western Australia and Queensland

24. Australian Capital Territory • What: The national capital, Canberra, is located here • Where: Located in New South Wales

25. Canberra (Australia’s Capital)

26. II. Australia’s Physical Features

27. Australia… • The world’s smallest and flattest continent… • Has Earth’s oldest and least fertile soils • Only Antarctica receives less rainfall! • Commonwealth of Australia also includes Tasmania, an island south of the mainland • It’s surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans

28. Huge desert plains stretch across the country’s middle--central Australia’s climate is hot and dry • Milder climates along the southeastern and southwestern coasts • Most Australians live in the southeastern coastal region

29. Great Barrier Reef • What: World’s largest coral reef! • Where: Lies off the northeast coast of Queensland--over 1,200 miles long • Contains an amazing variety of marine life, including the world’s largest collection of coral • 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, & 4,000 mollusks (snails, clams, octopi, & squid) • Also includes rare species like the sea cow and the large green turtle

30. Great Barrier Reef from space

33. Coral Sea • What: An important source of coral for the Great Barrier Reef • Part of the Pacific Ocean • Where: Off the northeast coast of Australia • When the earth’s crust moved millions of years ago, it created the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range (largest mountain range in Australia) • Coral Sea islands are scattered over thousands of miles of ocean--no one lives on the islands except for a small group of weather specialists

35. Ayers Rock • What: A huge, reddish rock in the center of Australia • Where: Very close to the geographic center of the continent… • It’s a monolith, which is a single, large rock sticking out of the earth • Appears reddish because its iron content “rusts” at the surface • Nearly 12 stories high and almost 6 miles wide!

37. Ayers Rock • Aborigines call it “Uluru”, which is its official name • European surveyor visited the rock in 1873 and named it after Sir Henry Ayers, an English government official in South Australia • In 1950, Australia created Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park around Ayers Rock • Both are located in the southwest corner of the state called Northern Territory

39. Great Victoria Desert • What: largest desert in Australia • Where: Stretches through the states of South Australia and Western Australia • Receives only 8 to 10 inches of rain each year, and it never snows! • Some grasslands in the desert along with sandhills and salt

41. Great Victoria Desert • First Europeans to cross the desert named it after British Queen Victoria in 1875 • 160,000 miles long & is a protected wilderness area • Very few Australians live here because it’s too hot and dry