Australie

The indigenous population, estimated at 350 000 at the time of arrival of first Europeans declines rapidly within 150 years after the arrival mainly through the introduction of new infectious diseases but also because of his travels and his change in lifestyle . According to historian Geoffrey Blainey , during the colonization of Australia "in a thousand isolated locations, there were deaths caused by gun and spear. Worse , smallpox , measles , influenza and other emerging diseases have spread from an indigenous community to another and have decimated ... The main conqueror of Aborigines was the disease and its ally, demoralization ' . The separation of children from their families to impose a Europeanized lifestyle is considered by some historians and Aborigines as a genocide because it promoted the decline of the aboriginal population. This view is not shared by some commentators who argue that the facts were amplified and distorted for political and ideological . These events are grouped under the name of History Wars in Australia. The compulsory placement Aboriginal children with non-indigenous communities, to give them a European education has been authorized by law in Australia between 1909 and 1969. In 2008 after a period of national discussion, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized for the policy on behalf of the Australian Parliament .

The death of explorer Robert O'Hara Burke in 1861

The ^nineteenth century was a period of trying to explorations of Europeans in Australia. The first circumnavigation of the continent is accomplished by Matthew Flinders in 1803. That Flinders who suggested the name Australia be applied to the mainland. Around the same time, Napoleon Bonaparte sent Nicolas Baudin up the outline of the Australian coast for France. The expedition of Hume and Hovell passed through the country between Sydney and Geelong in 1824. Charles Sturt explored the Murray-Darling in 1830, using native emissaries to announce his arrival to each tribal boundary. John McDouall Stuart reached the geographic center of continent in 1860.

Early explorers suffer great hardships. Edmund Kennedy , who leads an exploration to Cape York in 1848, and most of his team were killed by Aborigines. Ludwig Leichhardt , Prussian explorer and naturalist, leads three expeditions to the within Australia and disappears at last. Charles Sturt contracts the scurvy leading an expedition to the center of the continent to try to find an inland sea that does not exist. The most famous of all shipments is, in 1861, the Burke and Wills expedition across the continent from south to north (a distance of 2800 kilometers) where the two explorers die at Cooper Creek , a few hours walk from rest of their group. The sole survivor of the expedition was treated by local Aborigines. The relationship between European explorers and the natives have varied considerably: Sir Thomas Mitchell was careful to note the names of native place - and for this reason that 70% of Australian place names are of indigenous origin, but of other explorers of the ^nineteenth century were uneducated men who treated Aborigines with contempt .

The plant breeders in the interior of the country is often a cause of conflict with Aborigines but the skills of indigenous herders are the source of significant savings . Religious missions often provide a refuge during the conflict while facilitating colonization . During the nineteenth ^century, Europeans took control of most parts of the country.

The eureka flag of the rebellion of 1854

The 1850 and 1860, when the gold rush , saw a rapid expansion of the population, leading to increased wealth, but also some social tension - including the rebellion of Eureka Stockade in 1854, which has accelerated the introduction of universal male suffrage in Victoria . During the period from 1855 to 1890, the six colonies became each one after the other self, managing their own affairs. The men, including the natives were allowed to vote in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales in 1850 and in Tasmania in 1896 -. Queensland won its independence in 1859 and Western Australia in 1890, but these colonies were denied their right to vote Aborigines . British law was applied in each colony, when the United Kingdom allowed each of them to adopt a responsible government and gave them more autonomy over time. The British government retained control of some areas such as foreign affairs, defense and international trade.

The golden age of bushrangers was certainly the era of the gold rush. The bushrangers are off-the-law who manage to survive in the bush , hiding from authorities . It is believed that more than 2000 bushrangers roamed the extended Australian, the first convicts escaped until the end of bushrangers, the last battle was that of Ned Kelly at Glenrowan in 1880 . The most violent attacks bushrangers took place in Tasmania . Hundreds of convicts were released, farms were abandoned and the martial law proclaimed. The bushranger aboriginal Musquito defied colonial authorities and led attacks against settlers.

The bushranger Ned Kelly in his trial.

The bushrangers often get public sympathy. They attract the esteem in some quarters, partly because of the hardness and anti-Catholicism of the colonial authorities, they were challenging but also because of the romance and the fight against the law they represented. Some bushrangers, and especially Ned Kelly in his Jerilderie letter of themselves as political rebels. The bushrangers regularly appear in literature, music, film and television in Australia: Jack Donahue , Dan "Mad Dog" Morgan , and Ned Kelly (the subject was the first feature film in history (more than one hour) , The Story of the Kelly Gang , made in 1906) .

Despite its strong rural economy, the Australian population remains heavily urban, focusing mainly in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney. Funded by prosperity from the gold rush, the National Gallery of Victoria was founded in 1861 and began collecting the works of European masters and emerging Australian school of painting. In 1854-6, using the vapor compression, Australian James Harrison the inventor has produced, in Victoria, the first practical refrigerator in the world . His invention was later allowed to meat being exported to Europe. This adds to the prosperity brought by the wool industry and gold mining during the ^19th century. The rules of Australian football were codified in Melbourne in 1858 . In the 1880s, Marvellous Melbourne was the second largest city of the British Empire.

Australia also won a reputation as a worker's paradise and a laboratory for social reform. Indeed, it was she who organized the first election by secret ballot and saw the first government of a Labor Party elected. The Australian Labor Party has its roots in the labor movement founded in the early 1890s in the colonies that would later form the Australian federation.

The first organization to get the right to vote for women was established in Victoria in 1884. In 1894, women of South Australia will get this right.

In the late ^nineteenth century, the art of painters such as the Heidelberg School and prose writers such as Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson have created a growing sense of national identity and politicians such as Sir Henry Parkes and Sir Edmund Barton campaigned for an independent federation of colonies, with Queen Victoria as a Sovereign.

Federation and the World Wars (1901-1945)

The Commonwealth of Australia was born in 1901.

On ¹ January 1901 , the federation of the colonies is completed after 10 years of gestation and the Commonwealth of Australia was born as a Dominion of the British Empire. Between 1901 and 1911, the capital will be temporarily located in Melbourne but it is a territory ceded to the federal government by New South Wales in 1911 with the construction of the new federal capital, Canberra. In 1902, women from every state got the right to vote and be eligible for one .

From the beginning of the First World War , Australia who were then 5 million people joined the Allies ; 416 000 Australians will participate in a conflict where 60,000 of them die. Australia is the only country that agrees not to shoot for example his soldiers. Australian forces fought, including Gallipoli (with the ANZAC ) at Beersheba , in the Battle of the Somme and Ypres.

On 25 April 1915, the landing of the ANZAC starts Gallipoli , on a narrow promontory crowned by fortifications, faced with almost insurmountable cliffs. Turks sparked a fire of hell, but the Australians were able, at 6 o'clock to take the top of the first hill. The young Turkish General Kemal Pasha ( Atatrk ) launched an attack against . Monash then organized the attack on German defenses for the battle of the Hindenburg Line. The allies manage to open a breach and, on October 5, the Germans call a truce .

In 1919, Prime Minister Billy Hughes signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Australia, making it the first international treaty signed by this country. At Versailles , Hughes heavy demand for reparations from Germany and is often met the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson , who described Hughes as a "rogue emmer ... . "I speak for 60,000 Australian deaths ... how to tell you? "Asked Hughes to Wilson. Hughes managed to gain control of Australia by the former German colony of New Guinea and a place in the new League of Nations.

Historian Geoffrey Blainey has written the "tyranny of distance" as the ongoing challenge in the development of the Australian nation. Qantas , the second oldest airline in the world still in operation, was founded in 1920 in the Outback Reverend John Flynn established the Royal Flying Doctor Service , the first air ambulance service in the world in 1928 and in 1928 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith made the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air between the United States and Australia (he also realized the first crossing of Australia and the first nonstop flight between Australia and New Zealand) .

In the 1930s, the Great Depression causes a serious economic crisis in Australia. In 1931, Jack Lang ( Premier of New South Wales published his own plan to fight against depression, which was in contrast with other governments and the federal government. Lang violently opposed to the plan of the federal Labor James Scullin who called for even greater reductions in government spending to balance the budget. Lang withdrew all state funds held in bank accounts kept by federal and liquid at the Chamber of Commerce, so the federal government could more access to money. The Governor Sir Philip Game told Lang that he believed this action was illegal. Lang stood firm, and in May 1932, the governor withdrew his support in Lang and named the first head of the opposition Minister. This was the only time a government of an Australian state was deposed by a governor until the governor-general Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam in 1975 .

During the Depression, the Australians have found solace in sports. In particular, the exploits of horse Phar Lap and cricketeur Don Bradman inspired the nation.

Although Australia became independent, the British government retains some authority over the dominion to the Statute of Westminster of 1931, ratified by the Parliament of Australia in 1942.

Australian prisoners of war and Dutch Tarsau in Thailand in 1943. 22,000 Australians were taken prisoner by the Japanese. Approximately 8000 will die of conditions of detention

During the Second World War : Douglas MacArthur , chief of allied forces in Asia, and John Curtin , Australian prime minister.

The invasion of Poland by Nazi causes declarations of war by Britain and Australia in 1939. The army would become the first Australian to stop the advance of German and Japanese armies: stopping the Afrika Korps of Rommel Erwin has Tobruk in 1941, and the Japanese advance to Milne Bay in 1942 .

Australians fought in the Battle of Greece , the Battle of Crete and the Siege of Tobruk , but in December 1941, Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor surprise and, simultaneously, the Japanese army occupied the British possessions of Dutch and American 'South-East Asia, threatening even Australia. Much of the Australian army is reduced in the region Asia - Pacific. The Japanese forces captured the stronghold of the British Commonwealth, to Singapore in 1942. 14 972 Australian soldiers were taken prisoner with about 2,650 die in building the railway line of death, Burma - Thailand (among Australian prisoners of war are the most famous physician Edward Dunlop and nurse Vivian Bullwinkel ). The Air Service Imperial Japanese Army and the Navy are conducting a campaign of bombings against civilian targets and military sites in northern Australia in particular against the city of Darwin. Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy carry a series of attacks against the cities of Sydney and Newcastle. Australia's population feels the threat of Japanese invasion that threatens the country. The campaign, which follows will be referred to as the battle for Australia.

The new prime minister John Curtin then passes into an agreement with the United States, which constitutes a fundamental change in the foreign policy of Australia. In March 1942, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia and says: "I came out of Bataan and I Shall Return" ("I left but I'll Bataan). In May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea , north-eastern Australia, a Japanese invasion fleet headed towards Port Moresby is pushed by a group of U.S. ships. The Australian success during the Battle of Milne Bay and the campaign of Kokoda Track arrive towards the end of 1942 and marked the first victory of the allied land forces against the Japanese. Several hundred Australians hold the Kokoda Track cons 6000 Japanese and their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner, described the battle as Australia's Thermopylae . From Melbourne where he established his seat of Staff, General MacArthur began the reconquest of the territories of the Pacific, island by island. October 21, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf , the Philippines , HMAS Australia became the first Allied warship to be hit by an attack aircraft bomber .

General Thomas Blamey signed the acts of surrender of Japan on behalf of Australia during the ceremony aboard the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. Australian forces have accepted the surrender of their Japanese opponents during ceremonies conducted at Morotai and in several parts of Borneo , Timor , Wewak , Rabaul , Bougainville and Nauru .

The post-1945

Since the end of the Second World War , more than 6.5 million people in around 200 countries have settled in Australia

After the War, Australia became a founding member of the UN. Herbert Vere Evatt (a lawyer, politician and writer Australian Labour) was elected President of the General Assembly during its third session from 1948 to 1949 and oversaw drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Australian delegation has prepared a number of key articles of the declaration as the protection of economic, social welfare, trade union membership and the protection of minorities .

Under the government of Liberal Robert Menzies (1949-1966), the postwar period of prosperity for Australia. Immigration policy was expanded by successive governments and many Mediterranean immigrants began arriving. Menzies resumed trade with Japan , enabling the nation to replace later Great Britain as a major trading partner of Australia . In 1951, Menzies Australia ushered in the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty) a military pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Australia sent troops to fight against Communist forces in the State of Emergency in Malaya (1950-1960) , Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1962-1972).

Australia was a pioneer of the Space Race during the Cold War. The Space Program in Australia was based at Woomera . Australia became ^the 4th nation to launch a satellite into space in 1967. The NASA employee monitoring stations located around Australia in Canberra and Parkes for the mission of Apollo 11 in 1969 .

The development plan in the Snowy Mountains was conducted between 1949 and 1974. He understood the diversion of rivers to generate electricity for towns in south-east and to irrigate the dry interior of the country . Its implementation has required 100,000 workers in 30 countries. The multicultural nature of the workforce employed contributed to the diversification of Australian society in the twentieth ^century .

In constitutional terms, a major reform was achieved by Prime Minister Harold Holt with the 1967 referendum when an overwhelming majority of Australians voted to give power to the federal government the right to legislate on Aboriginal Australians and their integration in the population. The referendum was approved by over 90% of the population. In 1971 Neville Bonner became the first senator in the federal parliament and native Douglas Nicholls the first indigenous governor of a state of Australia in 1976 .

The development plan for the Snowy Mountains was conducted between 1949 and 1974 to generate electricity for towns in south-east and to irrigate the dry interior of the country.

Holt made the switch to decimal currency in Australia on 14 February 1966. On December 17, 1967, Holt dived into a wave at Cheviot Beach near Melbourne and disappeared.

The 1960s and 70s were a period of artistic growth for the Australians with the growing success of artists and intellectuals such as Barry Humphries , Germaine Greer and Robert Hughes , the international hit television series such as Skippy the kangaroo and singers in 1966 like the Bee Gees and AC / DC and the beginning of a period of great success for the Australian film and the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973. From the years 1970 , Aborigines have addressed the acrylic paint on canvas. This Western Desert Art Movement - has become one of the art movements of the most significant of the ^20th century

The Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin , Northern Territory , from 24 to 25 December 1974. Tracy killed seventy-one people, caused 837 million to AUS (1974) and destroyed more than 70% of buildings in the city of Darwin, 80% of houses . More than 20,000 people were left homeless in a population of 49,000 inhabitants . A disaster unprecedented in the history of Australia .

The Australian Labor Party returned to government in 1972 under the leadership of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who began work on a legislative reform program, but was dismissed in 1975 by Governor General John Kerr , after a protracted constitutional crisis caused by refusal of the opposition senatorial vote a draft finance laws and Whitlam lost the election that followed. Whitlam was the only Prime Minister to have been removed from office by the Governor General, which provoked intense discussions are still continuing today.

The election of 1975 saw the Liberals returned to government with Malcolm Fraser as prime minister. Fraser encouraged immigration and multiculturalism (many people arrived from Asia), and traditional ownership of land by natives - but did not put on the conservative agenda that his political enemies and announced that some of its partners had hoped and by the 1980s the Australian economy was back into recession. Fraser was defeated by the Labor Party Bob Hawke in 1983. The theoretical authority of the British Parliament on states that were not completely removed, the was with the Australia Act in 1986. The 1980s was a period of modernization of the Australian economy. In 1988, the bicentenary of the arrival of the First Fleet was celebrated with great pomp on Sydney Harbour and Queen Elizabeth II was invited to inaugurate the new parliament in Canberra National. But Hawke's successor, Paul Keating , raised the project to see Australia become a republic. In 1992, the High Court in the case of Mabo Queensland (No 2) overturned the legal concept of terra nullius ("land person") established at the time of European occupation.

In the early 1990s, Australia experienced a period of deep economic recession and in 1996, Liberal John Howard / A> was elected prime minister. He remained in power until 2007, which made him the prime minister who had the second longest term in history. He said he wanted "an Australian company that would see this country as a unique crossroads between Europe, North America and Asia. Australia is incredibly lucky to have a European heritage, strong relationships with North America but also to be located geographically in the Asia-Pacific, and if we can consider ourselves the strategic crossroads, so I think we have a unique opportunity to carve a special place in history ... the next century " .

The monarchists have argued that the status quo offered Australia the constitutional protections incomparable. The project met with other opposition, since some Republicans called for a vote against the bill because of disagreement with the proposed method to appoint the head of state, who was appointed by Parliament by a majority of two thirds This system has the advantage of putting the president above the quarrels of parties, but the disadvantage of excluding the citizen's choice of representative. Faced with these criticisms and following the instinctive conservatism of Australians in the constitutional referendum a majority of the population (55%) - has expressed a negative way. The Republican debate is still not resolved: the government Labor plans to hold another referendum in a rather distant future, to propose the establishment of a republic in Australia. Tony Abbott , a leading monarchist, became head of Federal Liberal Party in 2009.

Labour's Kevin Rudd beats Howard in the elections of 24 November 2007. Former diplomat, fluent in Chinese, his first official act as Prime Minister was the very day of his appointment, to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and reverse some of the reforms on the labor law implemented by the party Liberal. On February 13, 2008, holding a campaign promise, he delivered an oration, apologizing to Aborigines, the indigenous people for the abuse he suffered.

In 2009, Australia was devastated by the deadliest fires in its history. The bushfires in Victoria in 2009 , also known as "Black Saturday" made more than 231 deaths and extensive destruction (365 000 hectares, 1 000 houses ).

In 2008-09, after 25 years of economic reform, and a period of strong trade growth with China, Australia surpassed virtually every comparable economy - while the economic crisis grabbed the world .

In 2010, the rating Rudd continued to suffer from poor policy choices Labor (a series of policy changes, the abandonment of the plan and a controversial carbon tax) and Rudd resigned in June, just before an internal party vote requested by his deputy, Julia Gillard , who became the first woman to head the Australian Government . Parliamentary elections in 2010, Australia finds itself, for the first time in seventy years, with a House of Representatives experiencing Hung Parliament. After obtaining the buy-only member of the Australian Greens , gradually wins Gillard support three independent members and thus has an absolute majority in the House .

Geography

Uluru in the Northern Territory , the Red Heart of Australia

Climatic zones in Australia equatorial Tropical Subtropical Desert prairie and savanna temperate

Australia extends its 7,686,850 km on the surface of Australian plate. Bordered by oceans Indian , Pacific and, for Australians , Austral , Australia is separated from the Asia by sea of Arafura and Timor and New Zealand by the Tasman Sea. It has 25,760 miles of coastline and claims 8,148,250 square kilometers of exclusive economic zone. This area does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The Great Barrier Reef , the largest coral reef in the world , extends a short distance from the coast north-east, over 2000 kilometers.

The Great Dividing Range (in English: the Great Dividing Range) is the mountain range the largest in Australia. It extends from the north-eastern Queensland , over the entire length of the east coast through New South Wales and the State of Victoria before, at the southern tip of the continent, turning to the west and come to die in the vast central plain to the Grampians , in eastern Victoria. In some places, such as the Blue Mountains , the Snowy Mountains (the "Snowy Mountains"), the Victorian Alps and the escarpments of the eastern region of New England , the mountainous regions are a major barrier. With an altitude of 2228 meters, Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in the mainland, while Mawson Peak , located on the Australian island of Heard , reaches 2745 meters. Australia is the flattest of the continents with an average altitude of 300 meters.

The largest monolith in the world, Mount Augustus , is located in Western Australia. Uluru , perhaps the most famous monolith in the world, is located in the Northern Territory.

The greater part of Australian territory is covered with desert and semi-arid irrigation schemes are struggling to overcome the drought. The Oceania is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest and has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only parties south-eastern ( humid subtropical climate ), south ( ocean climate ) and south-west ( Mediterranean climate ) enjoy a temperate climate. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate , has a vegetation consisting of rainforest , grasslands, mangroves, marshes and deserts. The climate is strongly influenced by ocean currents, including El Nio , which is correlated with periodic drought and low pressures that produce seasonal cyclones in northern Australia .

Flora and fauna

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  The Koala

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  Giant Kangaroo

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  The Emu

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  Acacia pycnantha (Wattle)

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  Tasmanian Devil

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  Wombat

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  Goanna

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  Spotted-tailed marsupial cat

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  Dugong

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  Saltwater Crocodile

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  Clownfish

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  Great White Shark

Although most of the island is desert or semi-arid Australia does not lack for diverse habitats support a variety of animal and plant species. Due to the great age of the continent, its climate varies over time and its long geographical isolation, a characteristic flora and fauna could develop. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, over 45% of birds and 89% of fish of the continental shelf are considered species endemic . The species most known are the koala , the kangaroo , the emu , the platypus , the wombat , the echidna and the dingo.

The arrival of the first men in Australia, European colonization and modernization have all made their share of flora and fauna worldwide. Some have prospered too, reaching excessive proportions, threatening, if not extermination, of other species. 24 rabbits were introduced in Australia in 1874 and reproduced very quickly . In this country with no predators, rabbits flourished. Barely half a century later, the population of wild rabbits was 30 million people and threatens agriculture and the local ecological balance. After the introduction of myxomatosis , we arrived in 1995 to introduce on this continent a devastating virus in rabbits: The Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) to rebalance their population . The Australians also relaxed foxes , far away from the island continent, which attacked the marsupials . Of diseases such as myxomatosis are even held by the authorities to limit the number. A well-known example is the disappearance of extermination of the Tasmanian tiger after the arrival of Europeans.

The first settlers imported it but livestock excrement did not disappear because there were no insects or bacteria responsible for their degradation. Since it is forbidden to import animal or plant species in Australia.

The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework for the protection of endangered species. Many protected areas were created under the Plan of Action for the national biodiversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems, 64 wetlands are listed on the Ramsar Convention , and 16 sites were enrolled in the World Heritage. Australia was ranked ^13th in the 2005 ranking of the Environmental Sustainability Index.

View from Connors Hill, in East Gippsland, Victoria

Climate

Satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef.

The coasts of North and Northeast have a tropical climate. From December to April, it is very hot (29 C to Darwin , 26 C to Cairns ) and very humid with rainy tropical summer. It rains 15 to 20 days per month. In December, he fell 225 mm of water in Cairns and Darwin in January and February from 300 to 400 mm in March to 300 mm and 450 mm Cairns to Darwin. From mid-April, the rains become less frequent and temperatures drop slightly, while remaining high (26 C from May to September in Darwin, Cairns 22 C). From May to September, corresponding to winter, thus shatter the most pleasant months with dry weather and mild temperatures. From October it starts to rain and temperatures rise significantly.

The east coast has a humid subtropical climate and rainfall is abundant throughout the year. In Sydney , it rains on average 12 to 14 days each month of the year with 75 to 125 mm of water. It's summer, December to March, temperatures are pleasant (22 C in Sydney), the warmest months being January and February. In October and November and in April he made 18 C, then from May to September, the weather cools between 12 and 15 C only, July being the coolest month.

Mount Hotham : Australia is the driest continent and flatter, yet she also has alpine regions in the Great Dividing Range and Tasmania.

The Tasmania , an island southeast of the continent, has an oceanic climate , characterized by its constant humidity, mild winters (4 C) and cool summers (17 C). It is the wettest state in Australia, one of the few not to have problems of water shortage.

The South coast and South West enjoy a Mediterranean climate. From April to October, they get the winter rains (50 to 75 mm per month in Adelaide and Perth ). It's a rainy and cool (11 to 16 C). They are in June and July the wettest months and cooler (16 to 19 days of rain in the month, with 11 C only in Adelaide and Perth 13 C). In contrast, summer from December to March, it is very good, the weather is dry, no more than five days of rain per month and the temperatures are pleasant (20 to 23 C), January and February being the warmer months and drier. In October and November and in April, the weather is dry but the average temperatures of around 16-19 C. During the austral summer, the region suffers fires during drought and high winds: in 1983, the bushfires had 75 dead in southern Afghanistan and in the State of Victoria . Those of February 2009 killed at least 181 deaths and extensive destruction (365 000 hectares, 1 000 houses ).

On the west coast in summer from November to April is hot and humid. Temperatures in the shade are then 30 C to Broome , December being the warmest month, and there raining 6 to 10 days each month with 75 to 150 mm of water. However the winter, from May to October is very dry with little rainfall, even absent in Broome from July to October and temperatures ranging from 21-26 C, June is the month the cooler (21 C in Broome ). This is the most pleasant season.

The interior has a desert climate. Rains during the year are rare, not more than 1 to 4 days per month. In summer, November to March is hot (25-28 C to Alice Springs ) with a heat difficult to bear because the degree humidity varies from 28 to 35 100 only. In September and October and April, temperatures are mild (18 to 22 C to Alice Springs) but still a low humidity: 30 to 40 100. From May to August, it is cool (12 to 15 C to Alice Springs) and the humidity never exceeds 50 100. There is rather September, October and April are the months most enjoyable.

Politics

Parliament in Canberra: The main entrance and tower in the national colors.

Australia has a parliamentary federal two chambers: the Senate (Senate) with 76 senators and House of Representatives (House of Representatives) with 150 members. Deputies are elected in constituencies (officially divisions, but best known as the electorate or seats) in a system of one member per constituency. A state is more populated, it has more members in the House of Representatives with a minimum of five per state. In the Senate, each state is represented by twelve senators, and each territory of the island by two Australia. Deputies are elected for three years and six senators. The elections are held every three years, renewing half the Senate in every election.

The government is composed of persons elected in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party majority in the House of Representatives. It only happened once a senator becomes Prime Minister of Australia, for a very brief period after the death of Prime Minister, the time for his successor to be elected to the House of representatives at a byelection.

The Governor General theoretically has the right to terminate the appointment of the Prime Minister but he does so only on request. An exception to this constitutional convention was held November 11, 1975. The Governor General Sir John Kerr was resigning Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. This event remains the most controversial Australian political history.

Since June 24, 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard , who replaced Kevin Rudd , the former leader of the Labour Party. It is the first woman in his post since the establishment of liberal democracy a century ago. It is also the first time in history a state that the head of state ( Elizabeth II ), the head of government ( Julia Gillard ) and Governor-General ( Quentin Bryce ) are women. She is now the leader of the Labour Party.

Government

The Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

Australia is one of the few nations that have remained democratic throughout the ^twentieth century - with courts parliamentary democracy since the 1850s.

In 2009, the Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy: Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of Australia , a role separate and apart from her position as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She is the head of state , although that term appears neither in the Constitution nor the law. The Queen is nominally represented by the Governor General. In practice, Queen Elizabeth II came only a few times in Australia and has never used its powers. Almost all of the monarch's constitutional role is assumed by the Governor General. Under the Australian Constitution , the monarch's role is almost purely ceremonial. Bien que la Constitution donne thoriquement de grands pouvoirs excutifs au gouverneur gnral, ceux-ci ne sont jamais utiliss politiquement, trs rarement utiliss indpendamment, et sont dlgus au Cabinet dont les membres sont choisis par le parti au pouvoir ou le premier ministre seul, parmi members of the government.

The government is provided by three independent powers:

• power law is ensured by the Parliament (Queen, House of Representatives and Senate )
• the executive power is ensured by the Executive Council (the Governor General, Prime Minister and other ministers).
• the judiciary is ensured by the High Court and Federal courts.

The legal basis of the nation changed with the Australia Act 1986 and the passage of legislation related to this act in the British Parliament. Until then, a small number of constitutional cases could ultimately be litigated in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council , the highest appellate court of the United Kingdom. By this act of parliament, Australian law became, unequivocally, the only valid in the country. The High Court of Australia and became the highest court of appeal. The theoretical possibility that the British Parliament can pass laws amending the articles of the Australian Constitution was abolished.

The Federal Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (upper house) has 76 senators and House of Representatives (lower house) with 150 members. Deputies are elected in single member constituencies, but officially called divisions commonly called electorate or seats. The number of seats in the House of Representatives allocated to each state is proportional to its population, each state has still assured of having at least five seats. In the Senate, each state is represented by 12 senators and two of the principal territories in two. Elections for both chambers are held every three years, senators have six-year terms and only half of the seats are renewed at each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution. The party with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister.

There are two major political groups that govern the country: the Labour Party and the Coalition is a coalition of two parties: the Liberal Party and its junior partner, the National Party. A number of members belong to other smaller parties like the Greens or the Democrats or even be independent of any party. Since December 3, 2007, the Labour Party led by current Prime Minister Julia Gillard is in power in Canberra and in all states. During the 2004 elections, the government team led by the Coalition John Howard won a majority in both chambers, which had not occurred for over 20 years. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over, both in the States or Territories and federal levels. The inscription on the electoral roll is compulsory in all states except South Australia .

States and Territories

Australian Antarctic Territory : Explorers Alistair Mackay, Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson at the South Magnetic Pole January 17, 1909, during the Nimrod expedition.

Australia is divided into six states, two major mainland territories and other small areas.

States are:

• of South Australia (South Australia)
• the Western Australia (Western Australia)
• the New South Wales (NSW)
• the Queensland ,
• of Tasmania (Tasmania)
• the Victoria.

The two major territories are:

• the Northern Territory (Northern Territory)
• the Australian Capital Territory (Australian Capital Territory - ACT).

For the most part, the operation of the territories is comparable to that of the States, but the federal Parliament may, if deemed useful, to veto almost all laws passed by the territorial parliaments. In contrast, the Federal Parliament can not object to state laws in some areas that are set out in Article 51 of the Constitution, the state parliaments retain all their legislative powers in the areas of health, the education, police, justice, road system, public transport, local governments.

Each State and Territory has its own legislative organization: a unicameral system in the Northern Territory, ACT and Queensland, a bicameral system in other states. The lower house is known as a Legislative Assembly (House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania) and the upper house is known as the Legislative Council. The head of government of each state is the Prime Minister (Prime in English, while the prime minister has called Prime Minister), and in each territory the Chief Minister (Chief Minister). The queen is represented in each state by a governor, a director in the Northern Territory and ACT by the Governor General of Australia, in all cases they have similar roles.

Australia also has several small territories and the federal government administers a second territory within New South Wales, the Territory of Jervis Bay that serves as a naval base and port for Canberra.

In addition, Australia manages external territories inhabited: the Norfolk Island , the Christmas Island , the Cocos Islands and other uninhabited: the Ashmore and Cartier Islands , the islands of the Coral Sea , the islands-and Heard MacDonald and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Foreign Affairs and Defense

In recent decades, Australia's external relations have been characterized by close association with the United States through the pact of ANZUS , and a desire to develop relations with Asian countries and Pacific, particularly through the Association of the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2005, Australia won first place in the East Asia Summit / A> after its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation summit. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth , in which meetings between Commonwealth heads of government are the primary means of cooperation. Australia has strongly defended the cause of freer trade. It led to the formation of the Cairns Group and the Economic Cooperation Asia-Pacific (APEC). She is a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). She has pursued a policy of free trade with several countries, most recently with the Australia free trade agreement the United States and closer economic relations with New Zealand. Australia is a founding member of the UN, it also has an international aid program under which some sixty countries receiving assistance from him. The 2005-2006 budget provided 2.5 billion for development assistance . All sectors of the army were engaged in operations of peacekeeping (most recently in East Timor , in the Solomon Islands and Sudan ), in relief operations in case of disaster and in some armed conflicts, as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Government shall appoint as Chief of Defence Staff of the three leaders of its armed forces, currently the head of the air defense force, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston. The commander of Australian forces is the Governor-General . In the 2006-2007 budget, the budget share allocated to the army was twenty-two billion Australian dollars .

A national memorial was raised in Villers-Bretonneux in memory of Australian soldiers, the Diggers, who died in combat in France and Belgium. It was inaugurated in 1938 by King George VI and French President Albert Lebrun. A ceremony takes place annually on 25 April ( ANZAC Day). In addition, in recognition of the Australian soldiers, the French government has erected in Canberra, a Franco-Australian memorial opened in 1961 .

Economy

Gold Mine Super Pit at Kalgoorlie is the largest open pit mine in Australia.

The economic development of Australia was initially slow and based on the export of wool. That changed with the discovery of gold in 1851 and the mining sector has become the largest sector of the Australian economy. In the early twenty-first ^century , the tertiary sector of the economy, including tourism, education and financial services, constitutes 69% of GDP , agriculture and natural resources constitute 3% and 5% GDP but contribute substantially to export performance of countries. The main customers of Australia are Japan , China, the United States, South Korea and New Zealand .

Australia has a prosperous and diversified economy. In recent years the Australian economy is facing a global economic slowdown, keeping a growing stable. The output growth continued through good consumer confidence and national businesses and consumers in their economy remains strong. The emphasis on reforms is another key strength of the economy. In the 1980s, the Labour Party , led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Finance Minister Paul Keating , played a crucial role in the modernization of the Australian economy by floating the Australian dollar and partially deregulating the financial system .

Since 1996, the coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard , continued to implement micro-economic reforms. Some say that the deregulation of the labor market during this period was the result of a necessary flexibility of the labor market. Others criticized the deregulation for their negative impact on wages, occupational safety and health. The legislation introduced during this period sought to reduce the participation and power of unions , preferring to encourage negotiation within the enterprise. Also during this period, the coalition government has deregulated many industries, including the telecommunications sector, and privatized many national companies . The tax was reformed in July 2000 with the introduction of a VAT of 10% which has reduced somewhat the corporate tax and income tax. But the 2007 federal elections, this government was outvoted and its Prime Minister was personally beaten.

Since the recession "Australia had to have (according to Prime Minister Keating) in the early 1990s the Australian economy has not suffered a recession. Even the slowdown in the early 2000s did not affect the growth of GNP. In March 2007, unemployment had fallen to 4.5%, its lowest level since the late 1970s .

Number of natural resources in Australia remain untapped. Australia is often described by economists as "closed world", but despite this emphasis on the agricultural sector in recent years the government is primarily concerned with tourism, education, and technology.

Australia is a prosperous country, the economy of Western-style, with a GDP per capita slightly below that of the United Kingdom, but higher than those of Germany and France in terms of power parity ' purchase. The country was in 2005 ranked sixth in the world for quality of life index by the Economist and, in 2010, second only to the Human Development Index of United Nations Program for Development. The absence of a processing-oriented exports has been considered a key weakness of the Australian economy but the recent rise in prices of products exported by Australia and the increase in tourism make this criticism less relevant. Nevertheless, Australia remains the fourth largest deficit in the world balance of current transactions (over 7% of GDP). This problem is considered unimportant by some economists because it coincided with a period of strong trade and low interest rates which makes the cost of debt is relatively low .

Australia is part of the Economic Cooperation Asia-Pacific (APEC).

Demographics

Origin of Australians born overseas in 2006

It is estimated today that the Australian Aborigines were 350,000 when Europeans arrived in 1788. In 2006, 455,031 people in Australia say they are Aborigines. Although this is a population more rural than the general population, two-thirds of Aborigines living in town. New South Wales and Queensland have half the Australian Aborigines. In Tasmania, the Aborigines were exterminated in the nineteenth ^century.

The majority of Australia's population is descended from immigrants from the ^nineteenth and ^twentieth century, Britons of all origins: English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. Although the Australian colonies were founded as penal colonies (except South Australia and Western Australia), the arrival of British convicts to Australia stopped gradually between 1840 and 1868. During the Gold Rush ("Gold Rush") from the late ^nineteenth century, the convicts and their descendants became a small minority compared to the hundreds of thousands of settlers from the British Isles. An example of the mass of immigrants: in 1850, the total number of immigrants arriving in New South Wales and Victoria is the equivalent of 2% of the total population of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Australia's population has more than doubled since the end of World War II, encouraged by an ambitious immigration has increased from 9.4 million in 1956 to 20.7 million in 2006. In the ^nineteenth century, Australia put in place strong measures to prevent immigration of non-white ( the White Australia policy ). After 1945, immigrants from Greece, Turkey, Italy and other countries accrurent the country's cultural diversity. In 1973, Australia officially put an end to discriminatory immigration policies, and a large Asian immigration appeared. In 1988, approximately 40% of immigrants came from Asia, and in 1997, Asians made up 5% of the population. The indigenous population - Australian Aborigines and people of Torres Strait - form 2.2% of the population (Census 2006). In 2001, the election campaign was dominated by issues of immigration and national security. Successive governments continue to maintain high levels of immigration in ^twenty-first century ^,

Sydney

Melbourne

Like many other developed countries, Australia now living in an aging population.

English is the de facto official language Australia, although some indigenous communities continue to speak their native languages. A considerable number of immigrants from the first and second generation is bilingual. Italian, Cantonese and Greek are still widely spoken.

Religion

Buddhist Temple Nan Tien at Wollongong. The number of people referring to Buddhism in Australia has risen sharply in recent years.

Blessed Mary MacKillop , a teacher of the poor in the nineteenth ^century, the first holy Australian (about one quarter of Australians are Catholic).

The Australian Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state. There is no official religion in Australia. Even if the country is highly secular , three quarters of Australians say they are Christians, mostly Catholics or Anglicans. In 2001, the number of persons reporting a non-Christian religion showed a sharp increase from the 1996 census. Thus, the number of people related to Buddhism has increased by 79% to Hinduism by 42% to Islam 40% and Judaism than 5%.

Percentage of people referring to a religion (Census 2001) :

Characters significant religious

• Blessed Mary MacKillop (1842-1909): teacher of the poor in the nineteenth ^century, the first saint of the Catholic Church was born in Australia.
• David Unaipon (1872-1967): Pastor, inventor, writer, philosopher aboriginal. His effigy is on the ticket of 50 Australian dollars.
• Reverend John Flynn (1880-1951): founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Her image appears on the Australian 20 note.
• Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls (1906-1988): aborigine who advocated reconciliation between Aborigines and Europeans, and was governor of South Australia.
• Cardinal George Pell : Archbishop of Sydney Catholic since 2001.
• Peter Jensen : Archbishop Anglican Sydney since 2001.
• Patron saints (for the Catholic Church ):
  • Notre Dame
  • St. Francis Xavier

Education

The University of Sydney : education plays an important economic role. Many foreign students come to Australia.

Education is not the responsibility of the federal state but different states. However, government assistance has contributed to the opening of many universities.

Australia has 37 public universities and two private universities . Notably include the Group of Eight : University of Sydney , University of New South Wales , University of Western Australia , Australian National University , Monash University , Melbourne University , the University of Queensland, and University of Adelaide . Among others there is the Macquarie University , University of Canberra , Bond University , University of Wollongong and the Australian Catholic University.

About 10% of students in Australian universities are foreign .

Higher institutes of technical education, TAFE College, specializing in technical training. They are public and industry recognized credentials and are in secondary education or higher .

The school year is from January to December. The government schools are free, while most students to private schools pay fees. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government education. Two-thirds of students attend government schools, with one third of private schools being present (religious and secular). The terms Secondary High School and college designate the secondary school in Australia.

Schooling is compulsory until:

• 17 years in Tasmania;
• 16 years in the states of Victoria, South Australia and Queensland;
• 15 years in all other states and territories.

Several Australian parliamentarians call for compulsory education is no longer related to age but to a degree.

Due to the very low population density in the Outback (Australian outback), many students are enrolled by correspondence.

Science and technology

Joseph Banks , British naturalist and botanist who participated in the first voyage of James Cook (1768-1771).

The Observatory Parkes (city) , helped the mission of Apollo 11.

The inventions include former Australian boomerang and Woomera, but among Australia's most important contributions to science and technology are also included: the development of penicillin ; refrigeration ; physiotherapy and the feature film ; wireless networks ( WLAN ) and the pacemaker , photocopying and a number of innovations to aviation, agricultural and motor transport.

Australia has long been a source of fascination for botanists, naturalists and geologists. The botanist Sir Joseph Banks participated in the first voyage of James Cook around the world (1768-1771). He reported an abundance of materials and a strong advocate for colonization. In 1800, French explorer Nicholas Baudin was selected for an expedition in Australia for nine zoologists and botanists, including Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour , one of the greatest scientific voyages of all time. Charles Darwin - an English naturalist whose work on the evolution of living species have revolutionized biology - has been influenced by what he saw in Australia in 1836 for The Voyage of the Beagle .

The Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens were established by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1816 and are the oldest scientific institution in Australia. The Australian Museum in Sydney, centered on the natural history and anthropology , is the oldest museum in Australia. In 1826 , the entomologist Alexander Macleay begins to work for the opening of a museum. The building opened its doors in 1857 .

A technology projects the most substantial of Australia was the development plan in the Snowy Mountains (1949-1974). Behavior of 16 major dams, seven power generators and 145 kilometers from the tunnel to the hydropower, and to redirect water for irrigation to domestic .

Australia was a pioneer in the conquest of space during the Cold War. The Space Program in Australia was located at Woomera in the 1950s . Australia became ^the 3rd nation to launch a satellite into space on its own territory in 1967. Australian observatory near Canberra and Parkes have been used by NASA for the mission of Apollo 11 in 1969 . Pine Gap is a satellite tracking station (Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap) south-west the town of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The base is managed jointly by Australia and the United States since 1966. It is considered one of the largest regional hub SIGINT - or SIGINT) in the world.

A major education organization is a federal organization for Scientific and Industrial Research, the CSIRO. The Australian Institute of Sport is a national sports program of scientific research athletics.

Australian winners of Nobel science:

• 1915: Sir Lawrence Bragg : A physicist, he worked on technology X-ray
• 1945: Lord Howard Florey : penicillin research.
• 1960: Frank Macfarlane Burnet : immunology research.
• 1963: John Eccles : search for nerve cells.
• 1970: Bernard Katz : physiology and medicine.
• 1975: John Cornforth : research in chemistry.
• 1994: John Harsanyi : research on mathematical economics.
• 1996: Peter C. Doherty : immunology research.
• 2005: Barry Marshall : discovery in 1982 of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.
• 2005: J. Robin Warren : discovery in 1982 of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.
• 2009: Elizabeth Blackburn : research in chemistry and genetics.

Culture

The Sunbake by Max Dupain , 1937.

Since 1788, much of the culture derived from Australian Anglo-Celtic roots. Over the last fifty years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture (especially cinema and television) and the arrival of seven million immigrants from all continents of the world. Large cities like Sydney or Melbourne are now very cosmopolitan Australian specificities emerged as a result of the environment, aboriginal culture and the influence of neighboring countries. The strength and originality of Australian arts ( literature , cinema , opera , music , painting , theater , dance , crafts) today earned him international recognition.

Freedom, equality, mateship

The Australian Parliament shows an original copy of the Magna Carta of 1297, symbolizing the deep roots of democracy in the Australian political culture . The European system of class never successfully transferred to the British colonists and Australians profess a culture egalitarian. mateship (or fraternal loyalty) is also considered a central principle (there was an unsuccessful effort to insert the word mateship in Preamble to the Australian Constitution in 1999) .

In 2004, Germaine Greer wrote that the culture of Aborigines has significantly affected the development of Australian culture. Greer was able to see indigenous origins in many characteristic aspects of Australian culture: egalitarianism and intrinsic reluctance of Australians, the importance placed on the ability to tell a good story, intonation and vocabulary of English Australia .

The Australian English has added a series of expressions in English, including: G'day (hello), Outback (deep inside) and fair dinkum (the truth) .

Arts

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Down On His Luck by Frederick McCubbin 's Heidelberg School of Australian artists

The visual arts have a long history in Australia with wall paintings and paintings on wood aborigines. Examples of rock art can be found in public parks even in major cities: as the National Park Ku-ring-gay Chase in Sydney. Uluru and Kakadu National Park in Northern Territory , are ranked on the list the UNESCO as cultural heritage and have a history of technology and behavior illustrated by paintings ^, . From the 1970s, Aborigines have addressed the acrylic paint on canvas. This Western Desert Art Movement has become one of the art movements of the most significant of the ^20th century.

From 1788, Australian painting is often described as the gradual shift from a European sense of light to a sense of Australia. The origins of Australian painting is often associated with the Heidelberg school years 1880-1890. Artists such as Arthur Streeton , Frederick McCubbin and Tom Roberts have attempted to give a truer picture of the light in Australia. They painted outdoors in the traditional impressionist. These artists were inspired by the beautiful landscape and unique light characteristic of the Australian bush.

The first Australian artist to make a name abroad was John Peter Russell in the 1880s. Impressionist, a friend of Vincent van Gogh and Auguste Rodin , he became the first Australian to experiment with cubism. Another expatriate artist ahead of his time was Rupert Bunny , a painter of landscapes, allegory and imagery sensual and intimate.

Among the major artists of the twentieth ^century include: the Surrealists Sidney Nolan , Arthur Boyd and Russell Drysdale , the avant-garde Brett Whiteley ; painters / sculptors William Dobell and Norman Lindsay , landscapers Albert Namatjira and Lloyd Rees and the modern photographer Max Dupain. Everyone has helped define the special character of Australian visual arts .

Modernism arrived in Australia in the early twentieth ^century. At its head were Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston. Artists Pro Hart and Ken Done have contributed to the development of an Australian model and modern popular Australian artist ubiquitous Rolf Harris painted the official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of his eightieth birthday . The comedian Barry Humphries was also an exponent of the provocative Dada Australia . Michael Leunig (born in 1945 in Melbourne) is an Australian artist who has developed a unique style and recognizable cartoon .

The country has many museums and art galleries (including small towns), including the National Gallery of Victoria (in Melbourne ), the National Gallery of Australia (in Canberra ), Australian National Portrait Gallery , the Art Gallery of New South Wales (in Sydney ) and the National Museum of Australia (Canberra).

There is a rich tradition of dance, enlivened by the legacy of Margot Fonteyn and Robert Helpmann and Australia was born dancer Wade Robson.

The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney is known worldwide as a theater school with alumni such as: Cate Blanchett , Toni Collette , Judy Davis , Mel Gibson , Baz Luhrmann and Hugo Weaving.

Architecture

Sydney Opera House.

Aborigines have built homes in semi-hard, therefore the history of architecture in Australia began with the arrival of the British in 1788. She was heavily influenced by British and American models.

There are various examples of architecture, like the Georgian architecture , the Victorian architecture , the Gothic architecture , the architecture of the Federation , and contemporary architecture , and the residential-style Queenslander in the tropics. Sydney is known for its huge towers, the Victoria for its colonial architecture and elegant Adelaide called "city of churches".

Three Australian architectural sites are on the list of UNESCO World Heritage : the Sydney Opera House (designed by Jrn Utzon and opened in 1973) and the Royal Exhibition Building was Melbourne , and the hulks Sites Australian , a selection of eleven penal colonies - including Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, Port Arthur in Tasmania and the Fremantle Prison in Western Australia .

All capital cities are home to a number of notable cathedrals. Near the city of Wollongong , on the rocky escarpment overlooking the city lies the Benedictine Abbey of Jamberoo , built with local materials that blend with the environment . and not far away, we find the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere: the Temple Nan Tien .

One can cite as famous architects who worked in Australia: Francis Greenway (colonial period), Harry Seidler , Joern Utzon (Sydney Opera House), Walter Burley Griffin (City Canberra ), Romaldo Giurgola ( new Australian Parliament ) Dorman Long & Co. Ltd.. ( Harbour Bridge in Sydney) PTW Architects (former Australian firm that designed the National Aquatics Center in Beijing ).

The National Trust of Australia is a non-governmental organization, responsible for the conservation of historical heritage of Australia. It owns or controls more than 300 sites classified as: the Old Government House in Parramatta , the oldest public building in Australia (1799) and the Old Melbourne Gaol.

• 

  Gold Coast , Queensland.

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  St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.

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  Royal Exhibition Building , Melbourne

• 

  The Birdsville Hotel, Queensland

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  A house wren to Coober Pedy , South Australia

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  Penitentiary Port Arthur (Tasmania)

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  The alpine village of Charlotte Pass , New South Wales

• 

  Center City of Melbourne

Literature

Thomas Keneally , Colleen McCullough , Leslie Murray , Shirley Hazzard Nevil Shute , Morris West , Bryce Courtenay , Germaine Greer and Jill Ker Conway Australian writers are world famous. DBC Pierre and Peter Carey have both won the Booker Prize and Patrick White on Nobel Prize for Literature. Paul Wenz , Australian novelist language is French, meanwhile, regarded in Australia as a classical author.

Henry Lawson.

In "classical literature" include:

• notables as poets, Henry Lawson , Banjo Paterson , Dorothea Mackellar and CJ Dennis ;
• as novelists: Marcus Clarke (For the Term of His Natural Life), Miles Franklin (My Brilliant Career), Ruth Park (The Harp In The South) and Nevil Shute (A Town Like Alice);
• as authors of children's literature: Norman Lindsay (The Magic Pudding) and May Gibbs (Snugglepot and Cuddlepie)
• as playwrights: David Williamson and Ray Lawler.

To know the modern indigenous experience, we can read My Place by Sally Morgan , and for the second generation of migrants: Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta.

Among the most significant Australian film adaptations of stories include: The Great Escape written by Paul Brickhill , Mary Poppins by Pamela Lyndon Travers and Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally.

Watkin Tench (Narrative Of The Expedition to Botany Bay and Complete Account Of The Settlement at Port Jackson) CEW Bean (The Story of Anzac: From the Outbreak of War to the End Of The First Phase Of The Gallipoli Campaign May 4, 191 5 , 1921) Geoffrey Blainey (The Tyranny of Distance, 1966), Robert Hughes (The Fatal Shore, 1987), Manning Clark (A History of Australia, 1962-87), and Marcia Langton (First Australians, 2008) are the authors of 'major historical works on Australia. For a history of native mythology include David Unaipon. The Native Tribes of Central Australia by Frank Gillen and anthropologist Walter Baldwin Spencer about Arrernte provided the first extensive study of indigenous Australian society for publishing comprehensive in 1899 .

Music

The Stupenda: Dame Joan Sutherland.

Nick Cave at a solo concert in Mainz ( Germany ).

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu , 2009. He sings in the language of Yolngu.

The didgeridoo is a musical instrument at the Australian ancient origin. Wind instrument of the family aerophones , it was used by Aborigines in northern Australia since the Stone Age (circa 20,000 years). Aborigines have retained many ancestral songs and instruments developed very specific. The Yidaki didgeridoo or is regarded as the most representative of Aborigines and some argue it is the oldest wind instruments. However, only the Aborigines of Arnhem Land in the play as Yolngu. In addition, only men could play.

Anglo-Celtic immigrants for years 1700-1800 brought a tradition of ballads of the folk that have been adapted to the specific Australian traditional songs like Bound for Botany Bay, The Wild Colonial Boy Click Go the Shears or. The words of Waltzing Matilda , Australian folk song best known, were written by poet Banjo Paterson in 1895. Adopted by Australian soldiers during the First World War , this song is still popular and was sung during the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 by Slim Dusty.

The national anthem is Advance Australia Fair. Among the songs competing unofficially include Waltzing Matilda, I Still Call Australia Home by Peter Allen or maybe Down Under by Men at Work.

In music pop groups, and Australian musicians are no exception. In the 1960s, The Easybeats and The Seekers and The Bee Gees made their names known in the world of pop. Since the 1970s and especially since the 1980s, AC / DC is one of the largest hard rock of the planet, having sold over 180 million albums worldwide and has the second best selling album of all time, Back In Black , which sold 63 million copies, while Midnight Oil and INXS won a major pop hits in the 1980s. There Nick Cave and Crowded House. During the 1990s , Silverchair and Savage Garden have been talking about them. Today, groups Airborne , Jet , The Vines , The John Butler Trio , Xavier Rudd , Kylie Minogue and Dannii Minogue pop singers, as well as binoculars Veronicas are famous in all countries and are known in the U.S. U.S., UK and across Europe. As the pop singer Tina Arena , whose career was propelled Australia to the United States and to Europe and especially France. See also: Australian Rock.

Johnny O'Keefe was the first and biggest star of the era of classic rock 'n roll in Australia. Another rock pioneer was John Farnham (always popular). In such folk-rock , we find Paul Kelly , known as the pop poet laureate of Australia. Singers as Christine Anu , a resident of the Torres Strait Islands and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu , a Yolngu of Arnhem Land have recently become internationally known folk-rock music truly indigenous.

Australia has a long tradition of country music , which developed a model quite distinct from its parts-cons in the United States, influenced by Celtic folk ballads and ballads of the Bush tradition of Australian poets. The great man of Australian country music was Slim Dusty (1927-2003) whose career will last fifty years and which will produce more than 100 albums. In Australia, singers John Williamson and Lee Kernaghan are very popular and the United States, there are country artists as well known Australian Olivia Newton John and Keith Urban.

The singers of opera Nellie Melba and Joan Sutherland - The Stupenda - were among the most famous women in their repertoire. The Opera Australia , national opera company, is famous thanks to the diva Joan Sutherland. All Australian capital cities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney have symphony orchestras. We also include the conductor Charles Mackerras. Among Australian composers include: Peter Sculthorpe and Bruce Rowland.

Cinema

Errol Flynn , the biggest Australian star of the golden age of Hollywood

Australian cinema is one of the oldest in the world. The first studio film production in the world was built in Melbourne by the salvation army in 1898 . The Story of the Kelly Gang , released in 1906, is the first feature film history. Errol Flynn , born in Hobart , Tasmania, has its name associated with the biggest stars of the golden age of Hollywood, but his first film, In the Wake of the Bounty , is an Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel in 1933. In 1943, Kokoda Front Line directed by Ken G. Hall was the first Australian film to win an Oscar and this in the category of best documentary film. The AFI Awards ( Australian Film Institute Awards ) is the main national film and television award in Australia since 1958.

With the help of Prime Ministers John Gorton and Gough Whitlam , the years 1960-1970 have seen a renaissance of Australian cinema with Picnic at Hanging Rock by Peter Weir in 1975 and the beginning of a golden age with the great success in worldwide box office of films such as Mad Max (1979) starring the young Mel Gibson , Gallipoli (1981), The Man from Snowy River ( The Man From Snowy River ) (1982) and Crocodile Dundee came out in 1986 with Paul Hogan. This film remains to this day the Australian film that had the most success at the box office worldwide in number of entries spectators.

In the years 1990-2000, Australian actors and actresses have had great success internationally as Nicole Kidman , Hugh Jackman , Russell Crowe , Cate Blanchett , Geoffrey Rush , Eric Bana , Heath Ledger and Simon Baker as well for filmmakers Baz Luhrmann , George Miller and Bruce Beresford.

10 canoes, 150 spears and 3 wives (Ten Canoes) a 2006 movie, directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr was the first Aboriginal-language Feature Films and won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2006.

The film industry continues to produce a reasonable number of films each year, many U.S. producers have moved their production in Australia following the decision of the director of Fox Rupert Murdoch (a former Australian naturalized U.S.) to move the new studio in Sydney where films can be completed with a cost less than the United States. Notable productions include The Matrix and episodes II and III of Star Wars.

Gastronomy

The meat of kangaroo , traditional meal of Aborigines, it is showing up yet on Australian menus.

Since 50,000 years, Aborigines have eaten a food from animals and plants from their region: kangaroo, grilled seafood, honey, berries, etc..

From 1788, Australian cuisine was based on British cuisine brought into the country by early settlers. It is generally composed of pies, meat-especially beef and lamb-: steaks, chops and other grilled generally accompanied by vegetables (combination known colloquially as the name of "meat and three vegetables).

This kitchen has seen following the multicultural background of new immigrants in Australia over the last 40 or 50 years a kitchen with a variety of Mediterranean and Asian dishes. These multicultural culinary influences are frequently labeled with the generic term Modern Australian. British traditions still persist at many levels, for example with the fish 'n chips which remain popular in the takeaway.

A native Australian cuisine movement has reappeared in the 1980 Australian restaurants. The discovery of similar quality spices several Australian plants formed the basis of gourmet cuisine. This contrasts with the bush tucker unfamiliar with the gourmets.

Consumption

Many acres of vineyards occupy the Hunter Valley.

Australia produces some of world's best wines. Among the most famous vineyards include: Penfolds, Rosemount Estate, Lindemans and Wynns Coonawarra Estate. The regions of the Hunter Valley and Barossa vineyards are known for their . Many acres of vineyards occupy these areas, in odd years will hold wine festivals which attract many visitors who come to enjoy the parades, concerts and meals.

The Hunter Valley produces wine for 150 years. Renowned vineyards include those of Rothbury , the Tyrrells and McGuigan. They are known for their Semillon but they produce good Shiraz , Chardonnay and Verdelho . Barossa Valley is known for its Shiraz among the oldest in the world, its Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. The white wines include Riesling from Eden Valley , the Semillon and Chardonnay .

The famous local brands of beer are still popular in Australia. The oldest brewery is one of the Cascade Hobart in Tasmania (opened 1824), but the beer had been produced to Sydney in 1806 by James Squire ^, . Since the 1970s, a number of Australian beers such as Fosters Lager, have gained international recognition .

The trade of rum was an important component of the colonial economy in early New South Wales. The rum trade has even led to the only coup in the history of Australia: the rum rebellion that overthrew Governor William Bligh in 1808 .

The Billy Tea is a tradition celebrated in Australia. Billy tea is brewed over a campfire and fragrant eucalyptus leaves. The folk song Waltzing Matilda tells the story of a wandering vagrant who sits his billy boiling with him beside a billabong (pond river).

Sport

Ladies' Toboggan Race, Kiandra , 1900

Don Bradman , the most famous cricketeur Australia, and Stan CALM.

The Australian football.

Summer Olympics of 2000 in Sydney.

Sport in Australia is popular and widespread. With a population of only 20 million people, Australia finished fourth among the nations at the 2000 Olympics and 2004 (eclipsed only by the superpowers: the United States, Russia and China). The number of participants and spectators is higher than in other countries relative to population. We had the evidence in Olympic and Commonwealth Games , but also at other international sporting events, especially water sports and teams. The climate and the Australian economy in effect allow Australians to have ideal conditions to participate in many sports, but also to go see them.

By tradition, the cricket , the Australian Rules Football ( Australian football ) and rugby are the sports teams of the most popular. We can quote a lower rank as the rugby , the football , the netball and hockey are also popular. The a href = "% C3% 89quipe_d% 27Australie_de_rugby_% C3% A0_XV"> Task Australia rugby union, the Australian team for rugby league , the Australian cricket team and national teams of netball and hockey are world champions regularly. Among the major sporting events include: The Ashes Series, cricket test matches against England, the Bledisloe Cup series rugby matches against New Zealand, The State of Origin , rugby matches XIII between New South Wales and Queensland, the grand final of the Rugby League Grand Final and the Australian Football League ( AFL ) in Melbourne.

The Australian football team was qualified for the World Cups of 1974, 2006 and 2010. Among the major players are: Mark Bosnich , Tim Cahill , Harry Kewell , Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka.

Across the country, there is a wide variety of other sports such as cycling , the basketball , the golf and tennis. One of the four Grand Slam tennis is played in Australia, the Australian Open , which takes place in Melbourne. Also include the Tour Down Under , which is part of the UCI World Tour.

Water sports and beaches are very popular - especially the swimming , the surf and lifesaving sport - (Australia, the country of origin of the sport, is organizing a national championship as important as football in Europe) . Sydney-Hobart is a sailing race starting from Sydney on December 26 each and ending in Hobart , for a distance of 1167.39 km.

Sports snow is possible in Australia in the Australian Alps and part of Tasmania. The Australians began to practice skiing downhill from the ^nineteenth century , the starting point of probably being Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains in 1861. Among the most famous skiers include Malcolm Milne , Zali Steggall , Alisa Camplin and Dale Begg-Smith. Skiles stations most popular are those of Thredbo , Perisher and Charlotte Pass in New South Wales and Mount Hotham , Falls Creek and Mount Buller in Victoria. The vast plateaus and peaks can, in winter, the practice of cross-country skiing in areas of Kosciusko Backcountry , Wilderness Jagungal and Bogong Plateau and in the Tasmanian National Parks and the Brindabella Mountains of the Australian Capital Territory.

The horse races are popular and the public interest in horse racing has seen a major increase in recent years with more than 100 000 people present at the races of the Melbourne Cup.

Australia has hosted two Olympic Games, those of 1956 in Melbourne and those of 2000 in Sydney. Australia is one of only three countries to have sent athletes to every Summer Olympics. The best athlete in the number of Australian Olympic medals won is Ian Thorpe with 9 medals including 5 gold. Athletes who won 4 Olympic gold medals are: Betty Cuthbert , Murray Rose , Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould.

The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport event which meets the best sporting nations in the Commonwealth. The testing program is comparable to that of the Summer Olympic Games, but also includes some sports more specific as to the Commonwealth Sevens , the bowling (game) or netball. Since 1930, Australia was the highest team marking the ten editions of the games, and hosted four Olympic Games .

Other major Australian sports include: Sir Donald Bradman (cricket) Darren Lockyer (rugby league) Cathy Freeman (400m) Greg Norman (golf), David Campese (rugby league then XV with 101 national team caps and 64 Test matches international) and Rod Laver (the only player to have twice achieved the Grand Slam in tennis).

Cultural Calendar

Christmas in the sun in Sydney.

Royal Victoria Regiment traditional march of Anzac Day has Melbourne.

• January 26: Australia Day
• January: Big Day Out music festival .
• January: Sydney Festival : More than 50 events including classical and contemporary music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and public lectures .
• March-May: The Archibald prize by the Art Gallery of New South Wales .
• January: Annual Country Music Festival Tamworth .
• Tropfest : film festival short film the largest in the world .
• April: Melbourne International Comedy Festival .
• Easter in Australia (and in each city, the Royal Easter Shows) .
• April 25 ANZAC Day.
• May-August: Sydney Biennale , a festival of visual arts .
• June: State of Origin Rugby League .
• July-September: Tri-Nations rugby union
• September: Grand Final of Australian Rules Football
• October to March - the season of cricket .
• November: Melbourne Cup .
• December 25: Christmas in Australia.
• December 26: Sydney-Hobart yacht race.

Media

Rupert Murdoch - one of the most influential Australians in the world.

Newspapers

The newspapers are dominated by two companies: News Corporation and John Fairfax Holdings (see also List of Australian newspapers ).

• News Corporation publishes the only national newspaper: The Australian and a newspaper in each capital city except Perth. These include: The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), The Herald Sun (Melbourne), The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) and The Advertiser (Adelaide). The News Corporation was established in Adelaide and his first newspaper was The News, which later merged with The Advertiser.

Rural Press Limited group, which published among others The Canberra Times and The Land and a number of reviews of the agricultural world (Queensland Country Life, Stock & Land, Stock Journal and Farm Weekly) merged May 8, 2007 with the group News Corporation .

• John Fairfax Holdings has for its part: The Sydney Morning Herald , The Age (Melbourne) and the largest newspaper Financial : The Australian Financial Review.

Television

Steve Irwin , The Crocodile Hunter

Australia has two public broadcasters: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), has three channels of TV private: Nine Network , Seven Network and Network Ten.

The Logie Awards are the leading national television award in Australia since 1959 .

According to Reporters Without Borders in 2005, Australia is in 31 ^th position in the world for press freedom in the country. It is far behind New Zealand 12 ^th. With the Liberal government of John Howard taking control of the Senate in 2005, regulations on media ownership should be relaxed. This will allow a greater concentration of media in the hands of a few companies.

Some famous Australian exports of television include: Dame Edna Everage , Skippy the Kangaroo (1966-69), Clive James , Geoffrey Robertson ; Neighbors (Neighbours) (1985 -); Summer Bay (Home and Away) (1988 -); The Wiggles , and Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) (1996-2006).

Miscellaneous statistics

Canberra , the capital of Australia.

Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 25 760 km
Elevation Extremes: - 1555 m <2229 m +
Male life expectancy: 77.8 years (2001 to 2003)
Female life expectancy: 82.8 years (2001 to 2003)
Rate of population growth: 1.2% (in 2004)
Birth rate: 12.7 (in 2004)
Mortality rate: 6.1 (in 2004)
Infant mortality rate: 4.8 (in 2003)
Migration rate: 4.19 (in 2001)
Fertility rate: 1.8 children born / woman (2003)
Telephone lines: 9.58 million (in 1998)
Mobile phones: 6.4 million (in 1998)
Radios: 25.5 million (in 1997)
Televisions: 10.15 million (1997)
Internet users: 7.771 million (in 2000)
Number of ISPs: 264 (in 2000)
Roads: 913,000 km (including 353 331 km tarred) (1996)
Railways: 33,819 km (1999)
Waterways: 8 368 km
Number of airports: 411 (including 271 with paved runways) (2000)
Number of time zones: 3, divided between:
Western Australia
The Northern Territory, South Australia
Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania

World Rankings

• Human Development Index : ³ (in 2007)
• GNP per capita: 14 ^th
• Environmental sustainability: 46 ^th

Codes

Australia has the code:

• AS , according to the list of country codes used by NATO , alpha-2 code,
• AU , according to the standard ISO 3166-1 (country codes list), alpha-2 code,
• . In the national top-level domain (country code top level domain: ccTLDs)
• AUS , according to the standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 (list of country codes)
• AUS , according to the list of country codes IOC ,
• AUS , according to the list of international codes of plates ,
• AUS , according to the list of country codes used by NATO , code alpha-3,
• YB , YC , YD , YE , YF , YG , YH , YI , YJ , YK , YL , YM , YN , YO , YP , YQ , YR , YS , YT , YW and YY , according to the list of prefixes for codes ICAO Airports :

References

Notes