Australia
AustraliaAustralia comprises the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
History
The continent of Australia has been inhabited for over 40,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled as the penal colony of New South Wales in 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the nineteenth century. In 1901, the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra although the current population of around 20.5 million is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Geography
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast of Australia and extends for over 2,000 kilometres.
By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. 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 a vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland and desert. Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.
Flora & Fauna
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it covers a diverse range of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Because of the great age and consequent low levels of fertility of the continent, its extremely variable weather patterns, and its long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Many of Australia's eco-regions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework used for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created to protect and preserve Australia's unique ecosystems, 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention, and 16 World Heritage Sites have been established.
Most Australian woody plant species are evergreen and many are adapted to fire and drought, including many eucalyptus and acacias. Australia has a rich variety of endemic legume species that thrive in nutrient-poor soils because of their symbiosis with Rhizobia bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Well-known Australian fauna include monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the koala, kangaroo, wombat; and birds such as the emu, and kookaburra. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people that traded with Indigenous Australians around 4000 BCE. Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after human settlement, including the Australian megafauna; others have become extinct since European settlement, among them the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger).
Click below to find out more information about specific areas in Australia:
| The Kimberley | Great Barrier Reef | Cape York |
The Kimberley
This spectacular region takes its name from its most imposing landmark; an ancient mountain range visible from the rugged sea coast. Covering more than 400,000 square kilometres (an area three times larger than England) in North West Australia, it is a place universally acknowledged as one of the world’s most beautiful wilderness areas.
The Kimberley yields images to fill the frames of a lifetime, from towering rock ridges, silent secluded gorges, wide savannah plains and waterfalls which defy both nature and belief. Broome, the exotic capital of the Kimberley, was once the pearling capital of the world and is clawing back its claim by once again delivering the bounty of the seas to visitors from around the globe.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia. It stretches over 2000 kilometres in length and can be seen from space.
The Great Barrier Reef is a large system of about 900 islands and over 3000 coral reefs, which mostly lie some distance from the mainland coastline. Due to its vast biodiversity, warm clear waters and its accessibility from the floating guest facilities called 'live aboards, the reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially scuba divers. Many cities along the Queensland coast offer boat trips to the reef on a daily basis. Several continental islands have been turned into resorts. The Great Barrier Reef is sometimes referred to as the single largest organism in the world. In reality it is made up of many millions of tiny organisms, as are all coral formations. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Cape York
Cape York Peninsula is a diverse and important region of tropical Australia. It covers approximately 137,200 square kilometres of land and sea and has a population of about 18,000 people (This figure includes Thursday Island and Horn Island). In particular, Cape York Peninsula is:
- culturally important to indigenous and non-indigenous Australians in terms of both present and historic associations for residents and those who live outside the region
- ecologically important with some of the few tropical environments in the world that remain essentially unaffected by industrialised society
- economically important for its mining, fishing, tourism and pastoral industries as well as for the role its resources play in the maintenance of a subsistence economy which makes an important contribution to the economy and quality of life of many residents and
- strategically important in relation to Australia's national defence.
Distinctive Features Of Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is distinctive compared to the rest of Australia because of its people, its natural environment and its economy.
The distinctive features of the region's people are that:
there are relatively few people (18,000 or 0.1% of the Australian population) in this area which is nearly 2% of Australia or about half the size of Victoria (13.7 million hectares or 137,000 square kilometres)
- more than 60% of the population belong to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups
- 71% of people live in the eight towns of over 1,000 people, 25% live in settlements with less than 1000 people, and 4% live on properties
- the indigenous peoples maintain a high level of cultural distinctiveness (e.g. language and traditional activities)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have control over 15% of the Peninsula and traditional owners exist for all of Cape York Peninsula and there is a large contrast in services, infrastructure and income between indigenous and non-indigenous centres.
In terms of the natural environment:
the tropical natural environment is dominated by eucalypt and melaleuca woodlands (78% of the study area) which grow on the generally infertile soils with a strongly seasonal rainfall (80% between December and March)
- there is rich assemblage of native flora and fauna, much of which is endemic (i.e., occurs only in the region), and is concentrated in the relatively small areas of rainforest (6%)
- there are many features of nature conservation significance that are widespread across the Peninsula, and these include:
- rare plants and animals
- endemic species
- estuarine and freshwater wetlands
- sea and shorebird habitats
- geological features (eg dunefields) and
- areas of high wilderness quality including coastal areas and river catchments.
Cape York Peninsula is a region of high biophysical value by virtue of its:
- relative naturalness
- high levels of biodiversity
- vegetation communities which are nationally uncommon
- high numbers of species of conservation significance
- rare and uncommon landscape and geological features
- features of evolutionary significance and
- extensive areas of high wilderness quality.
