DISCOVER AUSTRALIA
Australia is an island continent located in the Southern Hemisphere. It lies between the Pacific and Indian oceans and has a land area of over seven million square kilometres.
The climate in Australia ranges from tropical in the far north to temperate in the south. Aproximately one third of Australia is desert. Because it is a geographically isolated country, Australia has many animals that are unique. Some of these are the kangaroos, koalas, emus, dingoes and platypuses.
The first people to come to Australia were the Aborigines. It is believed that they arrived here about 60,000 years ago. In 1770, Captain Cook was the first European to land on the east coast to claim Australia for Britain. In 1788, Governor Phillip arrived in Port Jackson (now Sydney) to set up the first colony. Originally it was a place for British prisoners. When the Europeans came to stay, there were approximately 300,000 Aboriginal people living in Australia.
The population of Australia reached 20 million in 2005. Sydney is the largest city with 4,305,500 people as at July 2004. Australia is a multiracial and multicultural society where people from over 200 countries have made Australia their home.
When tourists visit Australia, they can visit such place as the Great Barrier Reef off the Queensland coast, Sydney with its beaches, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and numerous other places - too many to mention here. Whether a visitor likes the country or city, there is much to see here in Australia.
QUESTION: Why does Australia have many animals that are unique?