Australia-a wonderful land

1、 AustraliaA Wonderful LandA brief introduction to Australia Its full name is The Commonwealth of Australia. It has a national territorial area of 7.68 million square kilometers. Its the only country that occupies an entire continent in the world. It has many unique animals, plants and natural scener

2、ies. It is a migration country with a plural culture. Its official language is English.History It was a continent separated from other lands tens of millions of years ago. It was a continent discovered by European adventurers in 17th century. It then became the colony of UK. It became independent of

3、 UK in 20th century.Economy Australia is a highly-developed capitalist country, with a GDP of 1.34 trillion USD. In 2015, it was the 12th largest national economy. Its GDP per capita is 56328 USD. Its currency is Australian Dollar. It is the fourth biggest agricultural products exporter and the bigg

4、est exporter of many mineral products, thus dubbed “a country on the mine cars”. Its also the biggest wool exporter and producer, dubbed “a country riding on the sheep”. Australia is a highly-urbanized country, most of its citizens living in big cities.Currency: Australian Dollar澳元硬幣Currency exchang

5、e rate1 Australian dollar =0.72 US dollars (September 2015)1 Australian dollar =4.57 yuan RMB (September 2015)Gink coefficient 0.305Human Development Index0.933（ranks second in the world, very high, 2014）Foreign Trade Australia is heavily dependent on foreign trade. It has trade relations with over

6、130 countries and regions. Currently, Australias major trading partners include China, Japan, the United States, South Korea, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Thailand, Germany, etc.Transportation Australia has a developed international sea and air transport industry. Sydney is the

7、 major transport hub in the South pacific. The total length of the railway is about 44 thousand km. National highway length is about 800 thousand km. It has 97 ports, Melbourne as the countrys biggest port. It has about 250 normal passenger airports, of which there are 12 international airports. Aus

8、tralian Sea Transport Sketch Map Industry structure The Australian economy is dominated by its service sector, namely the tertiary industry, which represents 74% of Australian GDP. The secondary industry represents 23.3% of its GDP. The primary industry represents 2.7% of its GDP. The agricultural a

9、nd mining sectors (10% of GDP combined) account for 57% of the nations exports.Australian Industry Structurethe Primary Industrythe Secondary Industrythe Tertiary Industry Main industries: the service industry, the manufacturing industry, the mining industry and the agricultural industry. Rich in na

10、tural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquefied natural gas and coal. Although agriculture and natural resources constitute only 3% and 5% of GDP, respectively, they contrib

11、ute substantially to export performance. Australias largest export markets are Japan, China, South Korea, India and the USA.A country riding on the sheepA country on the mine carsGeography It belongs to Oceania. The Indian Ocean is to its west and the Pacific Ocean is to its east. Its the sixth bigg

12、est country in area in the world, its area being 7.68 million square kilometers. It has a population of 23.80 million. Its population density is 2.91 people per square kilometer. The population are mainly composed of three races, namely the Whites, Asian-Australians and the Aborigines. Its main reli

13、gions include Protestantism and Catholicism. Its National Anthem is “Advance Australia Fair”. Its capital is Canberra. Its other big cities include Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Its composed of six states and two territories: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, T

14、asmania, Victoria, Western Australia and Australian Capital Territory, Northern TerritoryAustralian Administrative DivisionNational FlagNational EmblemAustralian Time ZoneUTC+8 to UTC+10（Summer Time：UTC+8 to UTC+11）Climate Tropical savanna climateTropical rainforest climateTropical desert climateSub

15、tropical humid climateMediterranean climateTemperate maritime climateAustralia is known as “the world living fossil museum”.KoalaKangarooEmuPlatypusCulture culturemovieliteraturesportsmediacustomtourismAustralian OpenHot air balloon tourismAustralian swimmer in the Olympic GamesBaz Luhrmann, a famou

16、s director and actorA famous novel by Markus ClarkAustralians are living a happy life. The Great Barrier ReefAyers RockSydney Opera HouseEducation Australias primary and secondary schools and the Vocational Colleges are in the charge of the Ministry of Education of the states or territories and fund

17、ed by the federal government; the Universities are uniformly administered by the federal government. The citizens and permanent residents of Australia all enjoy free education in primary and secondary schools. Australia has 42 universities and more than 230 technical colleges. Each schools degrees a

18、nd diplomas are recognized by all states; Australias academic qualifications are widely recognized by the countries around the world.Education in Australia is world-first-class. This country whose population exceeded 20 million only a few years ago has thirteen scientists who have won the Nobel priz

19、e. All Australian school education is based on individual needs, abilities and interests, so that each student can fully fulfill their potential and be a qualified citizen.The Australian education system can be divided into five parts, respectively: 1. the primary and secondary schools; 2.the occupa

20、tion training system composed of technical and further-education colleges (TAFE); 3. English cram schools which provide English courses to overseas students (ELICOS); 4. private schools offering commercial and hotel management, air driving and other occupation courses; 5. Universities.Australian col

21、leges and universities are of ultra-high quality. There are many famous colleges and universities in Australia.The University of MelbourneThe Australian National UniversityPolitics Australias formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. The form of government of Australia is a Constitutional Monarc

22、hy “Constitutional” because the powers and procedures of the Commonwealth Government are defined by a written constitution, and “Monarchy” because Australias Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II.Australian government buildingQueen Elizabeth IIMonarch of UK and AustraliaAustralias nominal head of stat

23、e is Queen of England, who appoints a governor as its representative. The governor of Australia, in fact, does not interfere with the operation of the government. The Australian government is of the federal system; there are six states and two territories in Australia; every state has a governor, re

24、sponsible for the state affairs. The Australian government is formed by the House majority party or coalition of parties; the term of each government is 3 years. The cabinet is the governments highest decision-making body, there being a total of 30 ministers. The countrys highest administrative lead

25、er is the prime minister.Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the monarch of Australia and the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations. The current head of state is Elizabeth II, and the current governor is Peter Dosgrove. According to the contemporary conventio

26、n of Australian Constitution, the monarch doesnt interfere with political affairs except when the monarch appoints or replaces the governor or the state governor according to the nomination of the Australian Prime Minister and the state governors.Federation The Commonwealth of Australia was formed i

27、n 1901 when six independent British colonies agreed to join together and become states of a new nation. The rules of government for this new nation were enshrined in the Australian Constitution, which defined how the Commonwealth Government was to operate and what issues it could pass laws on. Three

28、 “arms” of the Commonwealth Government: The legislature (or parliament) is responsible for debating and voting on new laws to be introduced under the power of section 51. The executive is responsible for enacting and upholding the laws established by the legislature. Certain members of the legislatu

29、re (called ministers) are also members of the executive, with special responsibilities for certain areas of the law. The judiciary is the legal arm of the Commonwealth Government. It is independent of the other two arms, and is responsible for enforcing the laws and deciding whether the other two ar

30、ms are acting within their powers.The parliament The Federal Parliament is the highest legislative body of Australia, also known as the Congress, established in 1901 and composed of the Queen (represented by Australian Governor), the House of Representatives and the Senate. On December 17, 1992, the

31、 cabinet meeting of the Commonwealth of Australia government decided that Australias new citizens no longer need to swear allegiance to the Queen of the United kingdom. The Parliament implements universal suffrage. The Senate has 76 Members, 6 states each having 12 members, 2 territories each having

32、 2 members. State senators have a term of 6 years, half re-elected every 3 years, and Senator of the territories have a term of 3 years. The House of representatives has 150 members, elected according to the population proportion, with a term of 3 years. The current House speaker is Tony Smith (Libe

33、ral Party), who took office on August 10, 2015. The current Senate speaker is Paul Calvert (Liberal Party).Australian CongressThe Senate Assembly RoomThe House of Representative Assembly RoomThe Federal Government The federal government is formed by the House majority party or party coalition, the p

34、arty leader being the prime minister, the ministers appointed by the prime minister. The general term of office is three years. In September 2013, the Australian Liberal Party - National Party coalition won in parliamentary elections. On September 15, 2015, the Liberal Party new leader Malcolm Turnb

35、ull was sworn in as prime minister.Main Parties Liberal PartyParty in power Australian Labor Party National PartyCurrent Prime minister: Malcolm TurnbullJudiciary The high court of Australia is the highest judicial body in Australia, has appellate jurisdiction of other courts, and makes a ruling abo

36、ut the case involving constitutional interpretation. It is composed of 1 chief justice and 6 judges. The states are equipped with the Supreme Court, Territory Court and District Court. The Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are only equipped with the Supreme Court and the District Court.Di

37、plomacy and International Participation Australia actively participates in international affairs and is a founding member of APEC, a member of the United Nations, G20, the Commonwealth, the Pacific Security Treaty, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Pacific Islands Forum.

38、Foreign Policy Australia pursues an independent foreign policy; the key is to make close ties with countries in the Asia Pacific region, and to strengthen relations with the developed countries Australia has important links with. The purpose of foreign policy is to safeguard national sovereignty and

39、 independence, and promote the economic and strategic interests of Australia. The key is to strengthen the alliance with the United States, and develop relations with Asia, especially East Asia; it has four most important bilateral relations with the United States, Japan, China and Indonesia; it adv

40、ocates racial equality, eliminates racial discrimination, improves the human rights situation and opposes linking human rights with trade.Military Australian Governor is also General Commander of the Australian armed forces. The Department of defense is the military administrative management organiz

41、ation. The Defense Council is the highest decision-making body of the armed forces, chaired by Secretary of defense. Defense forces commander is the chief military adviser to the Secretary of defense. Australia implements the voluntary military service system. The defense forces consist of the Ground f