AUSTRALIA

Commonwealth of Australia

- Name of the country:  Australia.

- Nationality of its inhabitants: Australian ''Aussie".

- Language spoken: English.

- Political system:  Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

·         Monarch                            Elizabeth II

·         Governor-General        Quentin Bryce

·         Prime Minister                Julia Gillard

- Population:  22,935,449.

- Currency: Australian dollar (AUD).

- Total area: 7,692,024 km2 (6th).

Australia is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

The capital of Australia Canberra and the most important large coastal cities are Sydney, Gold Coast, Fraser Island and Tasmania.

Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT).

Some important historic facts are:

•  Australia was not discovered by Europeans until the 17th century
•  In 1770 Captain James Cook took possession of the Australian land in the name of Great Britain.
•  Australia has many natural resources which include natural gas and petroleum, diamonds, nickel, uranium, etc.
•  Australia was the second country to give women the vote. 

      Australia’s most famous people are Hugh Jackman, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue and Miranda Kerr. 

    One of the typical dishes of Australia is ‘Pavlova’ that it is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside.     

     The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either  during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s.

     Finally, I would like to live in Australia because I like to experience new cultures and I think that this country is similar to the countries of the European Union.