Australia is the only country in the world, which occupies an entire continent, smallest and driest continent. For hundreds of millions of years of water and wind have turned the surface of the continent in a smooth and versatile space. In this country the opposite is true – other than in the Northern Hemisphere in July – the middle of winter, and in January – summer. That’s why many Australians do not meet the new year with a warm fireplace, and lying on the beach, where Santa Claus appears barefoot in short shorts and a red coat unbuttoned.

Nine out of ten Australians live in cities. The largest cities are Sydney Australia, Wales, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The capital of Australia and at the same time the largest and oldest city on the continent – Canberra. This city is one of the largest industrial and cultural centers throughout the country. This is truly a magical city located on the shores of the Bay of Port Jackson. Holidays in Sydney is not complete without visiting the best zoo in the country’s oldest botanical garden, the highest skyscraper, the famous odnoarochnogo openwork bridge across the bay, as well as the Australian Museum and the fantastic in its architecture, which resembles a sailing ship that is anchored to the sea Bay, Sydney Opera House.

In the center of the continent, near the town of Alice Spring, on a flat plain, covered with tough grass, there is another truly magical place Ayers Rock, Uluru, or (the sacred), as the natives call it. The old name of the swingers “Dead Heart of Australia”. This place attracts not only tourists from all over the world, but different rezheserov, famous photographers, and indeed there is something to see. For this hill mountain high enough – just 350m. To rock too ROUND – like the incredible value of rock, which you can get around two hours. But it’s not in size, principally e play of colors. At dawn he was black, purplish-brown in the morning, dazzling orange at noon and a flame red at sunset. Every year thousands of tourists flock here to climb on marked trails with white paint on top of the mountain.

What did not come up with the Australians, to attract visitors! For example, in northern Queensland, where there are the world’s largest crocodiles, natives of these animals are bred in specially equipped crocodile farms, and for tourists who love the thrill of the hunt to suit predators. Beef crocodile meat is advertised as the most popular Australian dish. Most interesting is that even the building of hotels, there are building in the shape of crocodiles. And of course Australia is home to kangaroos. Even the emblem of this country shows a kangaroo and emu, for the simple reason that these two animals did not draw back, and jump forward only, thus symbolizing the progress in the development of Australia. By and large, Australia and Kangaroo are inseparable. On this continent there are dozens of these fascinating animals, which differ in color and size. Australians are very fond of kangaroos, and the same can be said about the tourists. The number of this species has approximately 3 million individuals on the continent. The fauna of Australia is very rich, you can see here above all the famous Tasmanian devil, koala koala, etc.

Anglo Australians are over 80% of the population, and the natives of the continent – the Australian Aborigines, along with mestizos make up about 3% of the population country. Official language is English.

A little history

The first inhabitants of Australia, according to the testimony of archaeologists appeared 42 000 and 48 000 years ago. These first Australians may have been ancestors of the Australians, they came here from South-East Asian sea routes.
Most of these people were hunter-gatherers with a complex oral culture and intangible assets, based on reverence for the earth.

For the first time the Australian continent was discovered in 1606, Dutch Dzhenszunom. Soon, the Dutch brought in a map western and northern coast of “New Holland” and in 1770 traveler J. Cook made a map of the Australian eastern border, the mainland, he gave the name of New South Wales.

Cook’s Discoveries

Cook’s discoveries paved the way for the establishment of a new colony. The British colony of New South Wales began to work 26/01/1788 – now, this date was a public holiday in Australia. At the same time it contained criminals – all Australia was divided into several villages belonging to different countries.

Australia has also organized an item on sending criminals to other countries. Port Arthur (Tasmania) was the biggest prison for criminals to Australia.