English is one of the widespread languages in the world. As for
the number of people speaking English it is the most used
language. It is the mother tongue for inhabitants of the
following countries: the Unites States of America, Canada, Great
Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.Then there is a great
number of countries where English is spoken as the second
language, for example: some African countries and some Asian
countries.
I would like speak about Australia because it is exotic for me. Australia

Geography
Australia is the smallest continent on the Earth. It lies in
the southern hemisphere, between the Indian Ocean on the west and
the Pacific Ocean on the east. Its area is just 7 686 848 square
kilometers. The east coast is bordered by the Great Dividing
Range which is known as the Australian Alps or Australian
Cordilleres. Its highest point is Mt. Koscuisko which lies in the
Australian Alps. There are two big deserts here: The Great
Sandy Desert and the Great Victoria Desert. The country has two
big rivers: the Murray and the Darling. In the Lake Eyre there is
the lowest point on the continent. It is 16 meters below the sea
level. This lake is the largest in Australia. The second largest
lake is the Lake Torrens and then it is the Lake Gairdner. History and Government
During the 17th century Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, New
Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. In 1770 the British captain James Cook
discovered the eastern coast of Australia, where the different
tribes lived.In 1788 the British government established the first
colony. In the 19th century many settlers went to Australia
because gold was found here.
In Australia there is the federal state which is called "The
Commonwealth of Australia". It is a British dominion belonging to
"The British Commonwealth of Nations". It has a democratic,
federal system and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. upresented by the Governor General. The head of Government is the
Prime Minister (Paul Keatnig since Dec.1991). The Federal
Parliament has its seat in Canberra and is divided into the
Senate and the House of Representatives. Australia consists of 6
states and 2/3 territories.


Population
The native people are Aboriginals and they have inhabited
Australia for thousands of years. Today they make up about 1% of
the population.