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| Australia and Europe compared |
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| The Australian flag |
Australian Flag Description:
The Australian flag has a dark royal blue base with a depiction of the British Union Jack in the upper left quarter.
The Australian flag has a large white seven pointed star (the star of federation) under the middle of the Union Jack.
The right half of the Australian flag consists of a constellation (the Southern Cross constellation) with one small white five pointed star and four larger white seven pointed stars that are equal in size.
The Union Jack depicts the first colonization of Australia by Europe was by the British, as Australia was a British penal colony. The seven pointed Star of Federation represents each of Australia's six states, one additional point represents Australia's territories. The Southern Cross is a constellation of stars that can be seen from all of Australia's states and territories.
Australia, nicknamed the "Land Down Under,", is a country, an island and a continent.
It is the world's smallest continent and the sixth-largest country. It is located in the Southern Hemisphere, between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Pacific Ocean.. This continent-country-island has an area of 2,966,368 square miles (7,682,300 square kilometers).
Capital of Australia: Canberra
Population: Australia has a population about 20 million people.
Most of Australia's population lives on the fertile plains of the eastern and southeastern coasts. The interior of Australia (called the Outback) is dry with many deserts.
Government and Economy: The Commonwealth of Australia is a democracy (leaders are elected by the adult population) but it recognizes the monarch of Great Britain as sovereign (the Queen of England has the title "Chief of State" and performs ceremonial duties).
Australia has a strong, modern economy. Its monetary unit is the Australian dollar.
Largest Cities: Sydney is the largest city in Australia; it has over 3,935,000 people. Other large cities include Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Newcastle.
Government in Australia:
The Commonwealth Government
Queen Elizabeth 2 of England is also Queen of Australia. She is the Head of State of Australia. Australians do not vote for her, because a queen or king gets that position from the king or queen before them, usually their parents or other relative.
The Queen lives in England, not Australia. The Governor-General does the job for her when she is not here.
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| This is the Queen with Sir William Deane,
who was Governor-General of Australia when the photo was taken.
He was Governor-General from 1996 to 2001. |
In Australia, an elected government runs the country.
Every four years, Australians who are over 18 years old must vote in an election. They help choose the people who will be in Parliament.
People who are elected go to Parliament in Canberra. Parliament House is a huge building where parliament meets several times a year to discuss and make laws for the country. A law is a rule that affects how we live.
In the Australian Parliament there are 2 sections, called Houses. They are the House of Representatives and The Senate.
THE ABORIGINALS
Aboriginal Australians, also referred to as Aboriginal people, are people whose ancestors were indigenous to the Australian continent— that is, to mainland Australia or to the island of Tasmania—before British colonisation of the continent began in 1788.
Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag , designed in 1971 by the Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, has been one of the official "Flags of Australia" under section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.
About 20% of land in Northern Australia (Kimberley (Western Australia), Top End and Cape York) is now Aboriginal-owned.
