Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the world’s smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The continent of Australia has been inhabited for over 40 000 years by Aborigines. The current population of around 20,4 million is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia and she is nominally represented by the Governor-General. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, has vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland and desert. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast. The world’s two largest monoliths are located in Australia, Mount Augustus in Western Australia is the largest and Uluru in central Australia is the second largest. Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is sacred to the Aborigines and has many varied springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings.
- Canberra – stolica
- Aborigines – Aborygeni, autochtoniczni mieszkańcy Australii
- Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide – ważniejsze miasta
- Southern Hemisphere – południowa półkula
- desert – pustynia
- semi-arid – półpustynny
- tropical climate – klimat tropikalny
- coral reef – rafa koralowa
- The Great Barrier Reef – Wielka Rafa Koralowa
- Ayers Rock/Uluru – święta skała Aborygenów
- (w Parku Narodowym Uluru)