Australia

Overview

The Commonwealth of Australia is an independent country which comprises the Australian continent mainland, Tasmania Island and other several islands. It is the largest country on Oceania.

The country recorded a population of 24.99 million in 2018 and covers an area of 7.692 million km2.

Its capital city is Canberra and largest city Sydney. Other major urban areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

The Great Barrier Reef

History

The First British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 and claimed the country naming it “New South Wales”. It later became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.

Food & culture

Australian culture is influenced by Western culture. It is also influenced by Britain, its geography and Aboriginal.

The crops grown in the country are wheat, pulses, oats, sorghum, canola and barley.

The common foods include chicken parmigiana, sausages, pavlova, meat pies and barramundi.

Wildlife

Common wildlife animals that you find here include kangaroo, koala, echidna, dingo, wombat, wallaby and platypus.

Festivals & events

Byron Bay Bluesfest is a music festival held annually.

Australia Day is held on 26th January to commemorate the arrival of Captain Arthur Philip and 11 ships from Britain in New South Wales.

Sydney festival is held annually on January to usher in New Year in a style.

Things to see

Its coastline is home to the Great Barrier Reef, which is the largest coral reef system in the world with more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands extending for 2,300 km in the Coral Sea.

There is also the Great Ocean Road is a 243 km long road along the southeast coast of the country which is listed in the Australian National Heritage sites.

People also visit the Uluru also called Ayers Rock is huge sandstone in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park near Alice Springs.

Other must-visit places are Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge and Bondi Beach.