Australia

-official name is Commonwealth of Australia; capital Canberra
-some people say it is either smallest continent or largest island in the world
-it is situated in southern hemisphere, it lies between Indian and Pacific ocean
-it is about as large as USA-7,7mil.sq.km; about 17,4mil.inhabitants(95% English origin, 3% other European states, 2% Aboriginals), density is one of the lowest in the world
-it is divided into 6 states(Western Australia, southern australia, queensland, new south Wales, Victoria, Tasmania) and 2 territories(Northern territory, Canberra)
-official language: Australian English; currency: Australian dollar; official anthem: advance Australian fair, unofficial anthem: waltzing Matylda 
-largest cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin, Adelaide
-nearest neighbors-Indonesia, Papua new guinea, the Solomons, fiji, New Zealand

geography: the surface of A.is very flat, 1/20 of land is higher than 600m n.m.
Great barrier reef-it is supposed to be the largest coral reef in the world
Great western plateau-it occupies almost 1/2 of territory
Central A. includes 3 great deserts: Great sandy d., Great Victoria d., Gibson d.
Ayers rock-largest piece of rock in the world, color of red orange, yellow, brown

lakes: in dry season they became dry: l.Eyre, Torrens l., l.Gairdner
rivers: the Murray, the Darling
Central Easter lowland
Australian Cordilleras-3 parts: Great Dividing Range, New England Range, Blue Mountains
Australian alps-the highest mt.:Mt. Kosciusco(2230)

animals: kiwi, platypus, koala, kangaroo, dingo
climate: many different climate, in the north is tropical, the interior is continental and rest subtropical; worm summers, pleasant, mild winters, even we can find there snow in Australian alps for 1/2 of year

history: native inhabitants arrived in A. 40000 years ago; James Cook explored the eastern coast in 1770; the british got the entire continent in 1788 up to 1850; in these years it became a colony when the gold rush increased immigration; the commonwealth proclaimed in 1901; since 1945 3mil.europians settled in A. 

economy: very rich country, very high standard of living
industries, agriculture: wheat, wool, sheep, rich mineral deposits, especially coal, iron ore, silver, bauxit

flag: blue, in the upper left corner is union jack, several stars-5 stars in a constellation of  the Southern cross; under the union jack you can find 7 point(peak) star, which symbolize 6 A. states and 1 territory

political system: part of British monarchy, h.o.s.: British monarch represented by governor general, constitution of A. was written in 1st of January 1901 and each state has its own constitution; legislative control by the GB removed in 1986