Engelsk


 * The English Speaking World **

   = = = ”The land Down under”  = [|Australian Movie link!] =Australia= The country called Australia is on a continent, which is also called Australia. Together with New Zealand the area is called Australasia and the islands nearby are Oceania. Australia, also known as the country “down under” is in the southern Hemisphere, comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Australia, which means State societies of several individual states ( of Australia). You’ll find the “lucky country” between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Known neighbouring countries to Australia includes among Papa New Guinea, Indonesia and New Zealand. In addition, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world with about 21 million inhabitants, closely followed by India and Argentina, on respectively 7th and 8th place.

Australian Aborigines are the native people of Australia. The aborigines arrived from Indonesia more than 50 000 years ago and spread throughout the country. The Aboriginal people lived of hunting and gathering food from the land. They also had to use weapons like boomerangs to kill animals for food. Many explorers had discovered Australia, however, it was Thomas Cook who declared the country to belong to England and called it New South Wales in 1770.

**A penal colony**
In 1788, the eleven ships of the First Fleet landed their ‘cargo’ of around 780 British convicts at Botany Bay in New South Wales. Two more convict fleets arrived in 1790 and 1791, and the first free settlers arrived in 1793. From 1788 to 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was officially a penal colony comprised mainly of convicts, marines and the wives of the marines.

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**Map of Australia**  The continent of Australia, including the island of Tasmania, was separated from the other continents of the world many millions of years ago. Because of this, many animals and plants live in Australia that is not found anywhere else. These include animals like the kangaroo, the emu, the kookaburra ,the koala and the platypus. =====

**Cities**
In 2007, Australia had just over 21 million inhabitants, who was spread throughout the large continent. Australia is certainly one of the driest countries in the world, with a lot of deserts, principally around the famous city Alice Springs. This city is situated in the inland, where a lot of cattle ranching and mining are the main industries. However, the bulk of known Australian cities lie along the coast, mainly the eastern and southern coast. Most Australian people settle in cities as Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra, the Australian capital.

** Australias ** **Longest Rivers**
The Murray  River sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australias largest river. At 2,575 kilometers in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains. Most of its length meanders across Australia's inland plains. Murray River is forming the border betweenNew South Wales and Victoria as it flows to the d  northwest, before turning south for its final into South Australia.

**The Sydney Opera House**
The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales , Australia. The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most distinctive 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. It was among the 20 selected finalists in the 2007 Nee Seven Wonders of the Worrld project. The building is spectacular and is one of the most famous buildings in the world.

** Uluru (Ayers Rock) **
Uluru, also referred to as Ayers Rock , is a large sandstonerock formation in the southern part of the Northern territory, Central Australia. It lies 335 km (208 miles) south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs. Uluru is sacred to the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Christmas Eve ** Christmas Eve is similar in both countries. They both celebrate Christmas Eve at the same dates, eat the same food and sing the same Christmas carols. Australian Christmas is, however, very much unlike the British. People from the UK; usually expect some snow, darkness, and a much colder temperature, while the Australians celebrate Christmas when the temperature is hot enough to fry an egg. It is summer in Australia at Christmas, but in England they have winter. It is odd that Santa arrives in the middle of summer.
 * // Similarities/ dissimilarities between Australia and Great Britain //**

//**Saint Patrick’s Day**//
Saint Patrick’s Day is a second similarity between The UK and Australia. Saint Patrick’s Day, colloquially //St. Paddy’s Day// or //Paddy’s Day// is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick, one of the patron Saints of Ireland. It is celebrated on March 17. The day is the national day of Ireland, while in countries as Australia and the UK, St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated but not an official holiday.

Government
  Both the British and Australian people have a monarchy. Australia is an independent country, but is a member of the British Commonwealth. The English Queen reigns both in England and Australia. Australia is divided into 6 states, and two territories, which has its own flag and government. Both countries have a House of Representatives (Lower House) and Senate (Upper House).

**Sports!**
Sports are another similarity between the two countries. Both Australians and the British love cricket, rugby and tennis. Rugby is probably Australia’s favorite sport, and the national team is for sure one on of the best teams in the world. Cricket is a global bat and-bal team sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries, for instance in Australia. A cricket match is contested by two teams, of eleven players each. A cricket match is played on a grass field in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 20 m long called a cricket pitch a wivhet, usually made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch and used as a target. Tennis is a very famous and important sport for each country. Every year, they both host major tennis tournaments. England is the host of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world – Wimbledon, whilst Australia hosts “The Australian Open”.



** Religion and language- why is Australia an English speaking country? **
The main reason is obviously that it was the British settlers that brought their language to Australia when they settled. The Australians and the British talk the same language, English. Like most countries, they have various dialects in each country and various ways of pronouncing words. When the Australians and the British talk to each other they can both understand what the others are saying. Some of the words may vary from country to country – the Australians have a “broader” way of talking, than the British.

** Religion/ details **
Christianity is the main religion in both Australia and Britain. In Australia as much as 75% have Christianity as their religion. A final similarity between the two countries is the way they drive. The British and the Australians, and maybe some other British colonies, for example Malta, drive on the left side of the road.

 ====**The Australian aborigines** ====

The aborigines are the native people of Australia who probably came from somewhere in Asia more than 50.000 years ago. When the settlers arrived from England about 200 years ago, there were about 350.000 aborigines in Australia. Contact with the British initially led to economic marginalization, a loss of political autonomy, and death by disease. Around 1940 almost all aborigines were assimilated, they were low paid labourers with limited rights; many aborigine children were taken from their natural parents and given to foster parents to promote assimilation. Over the past two decades new laws of land-rights have been enforced – which recognize aboriginal property and native title rights. The Australian government has also issued an official expression of regret for past mistreatments. Over the past years the population has increased, due to improved living conditions. Australia  has gone through a great development over the past 200 years since the first settlers came. It is now a very popular country and people from many countries have migrated into Australia. They are however, very restrictive with immigration, that is one of the reasons why

sources; wikipedia, books, encyclopedia