Australia
is the sixth largest country in the world and its 7,682,300
square kilometres contain a great variety of contrasts from
tropical rainforests, sandy deserts, snowy alpine regions and
wonderful beaches. Eighty-five percent of Australians live and
work in the coastal towns and cities as most of the rural areas
are uninhabitable because of lack of water and communications.
The country contains many interesting physical features such
as Ayers Rock or Uluru (an aboriginal word meaning the great
pebble). This is found in central Australia. It is thought to
be the largest monolith in the world and is famous for its beautiful
colour changes at different times of the day. The country also
contains many unique animals such as the koala (an aboriginal
word meaning "up-side-down bag"), kangaroos and wallabies
and the furry duck-billed, egg-laying monotreme called the platypus
which swims in rivers and lives in burrows on their banks.
Click
on map for a larger version.
