Australia and New Zealand

Australia is situated in the eastern part of the Southern Hemisphere. It is surrounded by the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Australia is very interesting continent.
This small continent has a very specific collection of animals and plants. Australia is the smallest, youngest and lonely continent.
Australia has its aboriginal inhabitants. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, dark-skinned people used to live there. We call them aborigines.
Australia was discovered an the fift voyage of James Cook on April 20th, 1770. Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere. The bulk of Australia lies in the tropic, having a hot climate.
Rivers are Murray – 1660 km long and second well-known is Darling. In Australia there are about 760 lakes. The largest one is Lake Eyre.
Along the eastern coast of Australia range the Australia Alps. There is the highest peak of the continent – Mt.Kosciusko (2230 m).As we know, Australia is interesting for its fauna and flora. Of animals the kangaroo, koala bear, dingo, wombat, platypus, echidna are well know.
Australia has more than 15 million inhabitants. The capital is Canberra. This city was founded in 1913.
In Australia there are six state – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania and three territories – Northern territory, Coral Sea Islands territory and Australia Capital territory.
In Australia there are many big cities such as Sydney, Brisbane , Adelaide and Melbourne. Perth is an important industrial city.

New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean. The area is separated into two islands, the North Island and South Island. The population density is very low.
New Zealand`s climate is quite pleasant. Summers are not too hot and the winters are mild.
Wellington is the capital. 800, 000 people live in it. Other big and important cities of New Zealand are Wellington, Hamilton, and Nelson.
The country is mostly mountainous. The Highest peak is Mount Cook (3764 m).