Australia and New Zealand

south of Asia Indian and Pacific oceans Australia south of Asia Indian and Pacific oceans blue field Union Jack seven-pointed star Commonwealth star star representation Southern Cross 

Australia Capital city: Canberra Largest city: Sydney Population: 24 million people Official language: English Area: 7 700 000 km2 (6th in world, 100x CZ, 31,5x G. Britain) six states and two territories: New South Wales (Sydney), Queensland (Brisbane), Victoria (Melbourne), Tasmania (Hobart), South A. (Adelaide), Western A. (Perth), Northern Territory (Darwin), Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) world’s largest island and smallest continent only continent which is a single country

History settled Aboriginals (indigenous A.) 50,000 years ago Dutch first Europeans 17th century James Cook claimed 1770 originally settled prison colony independent nation 1901 six colonies agreed Canberra federal capital in 1927

Geography centre: hot, dry, desert Great Victoria desert Gibson desert north: tropical regions with heavy rain south: milder with hot summers and cool winters Bushfires (droughts) common feature famous landform Uluru (Ayers Rock) centre Great Barrier Reef largest coral reef (coast Queensland) tallest mountain Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) located in Australian Alps longest river Murray River; Darling river, Lake Eyre

Flora and fauna climate and geographical isolation unique animals like kangaroo, koala bear, Tasmanian devil baobab and eucalyptus tree

States and cities Sydney largest city Melbourne capital Victoria, second largest, cultural centre Western Australia largest state, natural resources (e.g. iron ore, diamonds, coal) Victoria quite small state, many people live there New South Wales oldest and most populous South Australia quite dry and famous wines Tasmania island smallest state, colder than Australia

System of Goverment federation of self‑governing independent states official title: Commonwealth of Australia Formally head UK, currently Queen Elizabeth II. representative national level Governor General state level governor real power government federal government led prime minister government in individual states led premier federal legislative body, the parliament, seat Canberra two chambers : the Senate and the House of Representatives voting is compulsory in Australia

New Zealand island nation located South Pacific island is quite isolated situated 2,000 km from Australia blue field Union Jack star representation Southern Cross 

New Zealand Capital city: Wellington (north island) Largest city: Auckland (north island) Population: 4,7 million people Official language: English and Maori Area: 270 000 km2 (as UK, Italy) two island: north and south island Maori name for New Zealand: Aotearoa = “land of the long white cloud”

History Maori first settled NZ 13th century, before no human Dutchman Abel Tasman first European to reach the island James Cook island 18th century 18th century whalers and sealers Britain, France and USA 1840 Maori chiefs and British officials Treaty of Waitangi first country in the world women the vote, in 1893 In 1907, dominion status, so it was no longer a colony participated in both World Wars

Geography two main islands, several small islands North Island sub-tropical climate, warm summers, cool mild winters North Island a lot of volcanic activity South Island much more mountainous Southern Alps run through the middle range includes NZ highest peak Mount Cook (Aoraki) 3,754m

Flora and fauna for millions NZ unique birds, animals and plants well-known flightless birds – kiwi (symbol country) kakapo unique flightless bird tree kauri (north island)

Cities North Island boasts, Auckland (north), Wellington (south) Christchurch second largest city NZ Dunedin second largest city South Island - university town

System of Goverment NZ part of the British Commonwealth constitutional monarchy , head of state monarch UK representative Governor General head of government prime minister parliament single-chambered