AUSTRALIA:

Geography:
Australia is smallest, youngest continent, with the lowest population density. It is a lonely
and it is often said that Australia lies at the edge of the world, divided from other continents
by long distances. We also sometimes called this Australia as a country of antipodes, but
this is a mistake because a country of our antipodes does not exist in reality. Australia is
situated in the eastern part of the Southern Hemisphere, an island continent lying between
the Indian Ocean on the west and Pacific Ocean on the east. Despite is is the smallest
continent, It is the sixth largest country in the world. 95%of inhabitants are of British origin,
3% are made by other European ethnic groups and 1.5% are aborigines. Australian English
and aboriginal languages are spoken here.

History:
People lived there at a Stone Age level. James Cook discovered Australia on the 20th of
April 1770. The original inhabitants of Australia were people called Aborigines. This name
they gained from British people in 1788. The each group of Aborigines had its land and
language. They travelled to different parts of their land to find food and water, they ate
plants and fruits and caught animals and fish. After 1788 their life suddenly began to
change. Life was very difficult for the Aborigines: they couldn’t own land, couldn’t get jobs,
their children couldn’t go to school with white children. Nowadays it is better.
National Economy:
Main industries are iron, steel, textiles, electrical equipment, chemicals, cars, aircraft, ship
and machinery. Australia belongs to the top exporters of beef, lamb, wool and wheat,
although only 9% of land is arable. Other agricultural items are barley, oats, hay, sugar,
wine, fruit and vegetables. Natural riches contain mainly bauxite, coal, copper, iron, lead,
nickel, silver, tin, uranium ands zinc ores. Among the main trading partners belong Japan,
the USA, the UK, New Zealand. Currency used in Australia is Australian Dollar.

In Australia there are many big cities. Sydney is the oldest. Brisbane is the third largest.
Adelaide lies in the southern part of the country. There are two universities and car-
manufacturing factory here. Melbourne is one of the most beautiful cities. There are a lot of
museums, galleries and parks. Perth is the important industrial city. Other important cities
are Darwin, Alice Springs and Hobart. The Capital is Canberra. Sydney is the most known
city due to iconic opera house.

Government type and administration:

The official title is The Commonwealth of Australia and it is a British dominion. It has a
democratic, federal system and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. represented by the
Governor – General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The Commonwealth of
Australia consists of six states:

New South Wales (capital Sydney),

Victoria (Melbourne),

Qeensland (Brisbane),

South Australia (Adelaide),

Western Australia (Perth),

Tasmanian (Hobart) and two territories:

 The Australian Capital Territory (a part of the country surrounding Australia’s capital
Canberra) and Northern Territory (thinly populated).
The Federal Parliament has its seat in Canberra and is divided into the Senate and the House
of Representatives.

GEOGRAPHY

- DESERTS
There are two big deserts: the Great Sand Desert and the Victoria Desert
- RIVERS
Country has only two big rivers: the Murray and the Darling
- LAKES
There are about 760 lakes. There are three large lakes: Eyre, Torrent, and Gardner
- MOUNTAINS
Australia has one big mountain range, the Australian Alps. The highest peak is Mont
Kosciusko, it is 2 228 meters high. The south – east is covered with forest of eucalyptus
and other evergreen trees.
- CLIMATE
It has a warm climate with plenty of sunshine – the average temperature in January
(summer) is 24 degrees above zero and in July (winter) it is 8 degrees above zero.The
interior of Australia is also called „the outback“. This part has extremely hot and dry
climate. There is little rainfall there. The south – east has pleasant type of climate.
- ANIMALS
The typical Australia’s animals are: kangaroos, koalas, platypus, and seal. These
peculiar animals we cannot find elsewhere.

NEW ZEALAND:
Geography:
This country is bigger in size than Great Britain. New Zealand is situated in the Pacific Ocean
about 2000 km from Australia. It consists of two large islands plus other smaller islands.
- There are two main islands:
1.The North Island – with a warm climate and many volcanic activity
2.The South Island – it is cooler and has got a higher rainfall.

There are the Southern Alps with Mount Cook (3754 m) the highest mountain in New
Zealand. The country is mostly mountainous. New Zealand’s climate is quite pleasant. There
is a lot of sun and it often rains there. Summers are not too hot (+28°C) and winters are
mild (+8°C).

POPULATION
There are 3,6 million people in the country. Over 80% of people are European (mainly
British) origin. Around 9% of the population is Maoris – original inhabitants.The two official
languages are English and Maori.

LIFESTYLE
New Zealanders, who are also known as “ Kiwis”, are relaxed people who love the outdoor
life. It is not surprising that New Zealand is successful at many sports. Its national sport is
rugby.
History:
The Maoris, a Polynesian group from the eastern Pacific, reached New Zealand before and
during the 14th century. Captain James Cook explored the coasts in about 18th century.
British sovereignty was proclaimed in 1840 and the colony became a dominion in 1907. Now
it is an independent member of the Commonwealth.

CITIES
- Wellington (400,000 people) is the capital.
- Auckland is the largest city with 800,000 people. Auckland´s nickname is “ the city of
sails” because it has more boats than anywhere else in the world.

WILDLIFE
New Zealand has got some unique animals and plants. The tuatara is a reptile that has
survived from the era of the dinosaurs. The weta is the largest and heaviest insect in the
world and the kiwi (the national symbol of New Zealand) is a large bird that cannot
fly.

National Economy:
Food processing, textiles, machinery and forest industry are the main industries. Only 2% of
land is arable and the main crops is grain. New Zealand is rich in oil, gas, iron ore and coal.
The main trading partners of New Zealand are the USA, Australia, Japan and Great Britain.

Government type and administration:

New Zealand has s parliamentary system where the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II
represented by the Governor – General. The head of government is the Prime Minister.
Elections take place every three years. The country is divided into counties. The capital is
Wellington, other big cities are Manukau, Christchurch and Auckland.

The flag consists of the British Union Jack in the left upper corner and four red stars in the
Southern Cross constellation.

Interesting facts about New Zealand

- New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote (1893).
- Auckland has the largest number of boats per capita than any other city in the world.
- William Hamilton, a Canterbury farmer, developed and perfected the propellerless jet boat
based on the principle of water jet propulsion. Following this, Hamilton went on to invent the
hay-lift, an advanced air compressor, an advanced air conditioner, a machine to smooth ice
on skating ponds; the water sprinkler and also contributed to the improvements of hydro-
power.
- A New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first person to climb Mount Everest (with
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay) in 1953.
- Baron Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealander, was the first person in the world to split the
atom (in 1919). Rutherford also succeeded in transmitting and detecting ‘wireless waves’ a
year before Marconi, but left this work to pursue researching radioactivity and the structure
of the atom at Trinity College in Cambridge, England. Rutherford was awarded the Nobel
Prize for his work.
- New Zealand is the first country in the world to see each new day.
- Curio Bay in Southland is one of the world’s most extensive and least disturbed examples
of a petrified forest, (the forest is approximately 180 million years old).
- New Zealand is the birthplace of the meringue dessert known as the ‘Pavlova’, named after
the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova.
- New Zealand won the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987. The New Zealand Women’s
Rugby Team won the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1998.
- Tongariro National Park was the fourth national park to be established in the world and the
first in New Zealand, in 1887. (Yellowstone National Park in the United States was the first in
1872.)
- The Hector’s Dolphin (the world’s smallest marine dolphin), and the world’s rarest sea lion,
the Hooker’s sea lion, are only found in New Zealand waters.
- New Zealand is home to the world’s only flightless parrot, the Kakapo, as well as the Kea -
the only alpine parrot in the world.
- The oldest living genus of reptile is the native New Zealand Tuatara. Tuataras have a life
expectancy of 300 years. It is estimated that Tuataras can be traced back 190 million years
to the Mesozoic era.
- Children in New Zealand's secondary schools spend more time than the OECD average
learning mathematics, science, technology and physical education. They spend less time
learning foreign languages, arts and religion than children in other countries.

· The graduates from New Zealand's universities who tend to earn the highest salaries are
those qualified in sciences, engineering and management & commerce. Creative arts, food,
hospitality and personal services graduates tended to have lower salaries.
· For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100 kg of butter and 65 kg of
cheese each year.
· Wellington is the most southerly capital city on the planet
· One in five deaths in New Zealand is caused tobacco smoking.

- The City of Dunedin is home to: New Zealand's oldest university. New Zealand's first
newspaper and New Zealand's first botanic gardens
- With 2.5 million cars for four million people, including children, New Zealand's car
ownership rate is one of the world's highest
· New Zealanders raise most sheep on the world