Australia is an island continent, lying southeast of Asia in the Indian Ocan + Pacific Ocean on the east.

- Tasmania forms a part of the Australian commonwealth
- topographicaly devided in to 3 regions: low narrow plain along the coast eastern highlands central plains – deserts (Great Sandy D., Great Victoria D.)
- Extensive area – only 15 millions inhabitants (mostly British origin), few aborigines, some Asian inhabitants, principal religion christianity
- independent self-governing country within the British Commonwealth, has a Federal Parliament, Queen Elisabeth II. represented by a governor-general,
she is the Head of State
- capital: CANBERA – seats the Federal Parliament (consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives)
- largest cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbaine

Austalia is an important wool producing country + meat, dairy.
- mining (gold, lead, copper, silver, zinc) – export oriented to Asian countries
- metallurgiacal products, steel, heavy equipment, electronic eq., chemicals, textiles, food processing, petroleum refinig
- pacific coast beaches are attractive for tourists.

SYDNEY
Sydney is an important commercial, industrial and tourist centre on the sout-east coast of Australia. It is Australia´s largest city with a popuralation of more than 3 million.

The city has many famous sights. The harbour is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world and Sydney Harbour Bridge – or “The Coathanger” as the inhabitants of Sydney call it – has been a great tourists attraciton for many years. However, the most famous sight here nowadays is the Opera HOuse. Some people think that it is one of the most beautiful modern buildings in the world.

Sydney is a very modern city, but it also has many places of historical interest. In the areas called The Rocks and Paddington, for example, you can still see some of the first houses that were ever built here.

For entertainment, there is a lot to do here. The city has many different kinds of restaurants, theatres, cinemas and night-clubs. There is also a zoo and a Koala Bear Park. Some of the best beaches in Australia are here, too. Surfing is the most popular sport in Sydney. In fact, there are so many surfers in the city that you have ro register surf boards here just like you have to register motor cars!