澳大利亚国家概况英文版.docx

澳大利亚国家概况英文版.docx

《澳大利亚国家概况英文版.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《澳大利亚国家概况英文版.docx（22页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

澳大利亚国家概况英文版

FLYTOAUWITHME……

1Federation

TheCommonwealthofAustraliawasformedin1901whensixindependentBritishcoloniesagreedtojointogetherandbecomestatesofanewnation.

Thebirthofthenationisoftenreferredtoas'federation'.ThisisbecausetheConstitutioncreateda'federal'systemofgovernment.Underafederalsystem,powersaredividedbetweenacentralgovernmentandindividualstates.InAustralia,powerwasdividedbetweentheAustralianGovernmentandthesixstategovernments.

Australiahassix states:

NewSouth Wales （NSW）,Queensland （QLD）,SouthAustralia （SA）, Tasmania（TAS）, Victoria （VIC）and WesternAustralia （WA）—andtwomajor mainland territories—the AustralianCapitalTerritory （ACT）andthe NorthernTerritory （NT）. 

1.1Coverment

Australiaisa constitutionalmonarchy witha federal divisionofpowers.Itusesa parliamentarysystem ofgovernment with QueenElizabethII atitsapexasthe QueenofAustralia,arolethatisdistinctfromherpositionasmonarchoftheother Commonwealthrealms.TheQueenresidesintheUnitedKingdom,andsheisrepresentedbyherviceroysinAustralia（the Governor-General atthefederallevelandbythe Governors atthestatelevel）,whobyconventionactontheadviceofherministers.Supremeexecutiveauthorityisvestedbythe ConstitutionofAustraliainthesovereign,butthepowertoexerciseitisconferredbytheConstitutionspecificallyontheGovernor-General. ThemostnotableexercisetodateoftheGovernor-General's reservepowers outsidethePrimeMinister'srequestwasthedismissaloftheWhitlamGovernmentinthe constitutionalcrisisof1975.

Thefederalgovernmentis separated intothreebranches:

∙Thelegislature:

thebicameral Parliament,definedinsection1oftheconstitutionascomprisingtheQueen（representedbytheGovernor-General）,the Senate,andthe HouseofRepresentatives;

∙Theexecutive:

the FederalExecutiveCouncil,inpracticetheGovernor-GeneralasadvisedbythePrimeMinisterandMinistersofState;

∙Thejudiciary:

the HighCourtofAustralia andother federalcourts,whosejudgesareappointedbytheGovernor-GeneralonadviceoftheCouncil.

ParliamentHouse,Canberra

1.2NationalAnthem

‘AdvanceAustraliaFair’isthenationalanthemofAustralia.Arevisedversionofalatenineteenthcenturypatrioticsong,itwasofficiallydeclaredthenationalanthemon19April1984.

PeterDoddsMcComick

Australiansallletusrejoice,

Forweareyoungandfree;

We'vegoldensoilandwealthfortoil,

Ourhomeisgirtbysea;

Ourlandaboundsinnature'sgifts

Ofbeautyrichandrare;

Inhistory'spage,leteverystage

AdvanceAustraliaFair.

Injoyfulstrainsthenletussing,

AdvanceAustraliaFair.

BeneathourradiantSouthernCross,

We'lltoilwithheartsandhands;

TomakethisCommonwealthofours

Renownedofallthelands;

Forthosewho'vecomeacrosstheseas

We'veboundlessplainstoshare;

Withcourageletusallcombine

ToAdvanceAustraliaFair.

Injoyfulstrainsthenletussing,

AdvanceAustraliaFair.

2Geography

AustraliaisacountrycomprisingthemainlandoftheAustraliancontinent,theislandof Tasmania,andnumerous smallerislands.NeighbouringcountriesincludeIndonesia, EastTimor and PapuaNewGuinea tothenorth;the SolomonIslands andVanuatu tothenorth-east;and NewZealand tothesouth-east.

Australia'slandmassof7,617,930squarekilometres（2,941,300 sq mi） isonthe Indo-AustralianPlate.SurroundedbytheIndianandPacificoceans, itisseparatedfromAsiabythe Arafura and Timor seas,andtheTasmanSea lyingbetweenAustraliaandNewZealand.

Theworld'ssmallestcontinent andsixthlargestcountrybytotalarea.Australia--owingtoitssizeandisolation—isoftendubbedthe"islandcontinent", andissometimesconsideredthe world'slargestisland.

Australiahas34,218kilometres（21,262 mi）ofcoastline（excludingalloffshoreislands）, andclaimsanextensive ExclusiveEconomicZone of8,148,250squarekilometres（3,146,060 sq mi）.ThisexclusiveeconomiczonedoesnotincludetheAustralianAntarcticTerritory. Excluding MacquarieIsland,Australialiesbetweenlatitudes 9° and 44°S,andlongitudes 112°and 154°E.

The GreatBarrierReef,theworld'slargestcoralreef, liesashortdistanceoffthenorth-eastcoastandextendsforover2,000kilometres（1,240 mi）. MountAugustus,claimedtobetheworld'slargestmonolith, islocatedinWesternAustralia.At2,228metres（7,310 ft）, MountKosciuszko ontheGreatDividingRange isthehighestmountainontheAustralianmainland.

Australia'ssizegivesitawidevarietyoflandscapes,withtropical rainforests inthenorth-east,mountainrangesinthesouth-east,south-westandeast,anddrydesertinthecentre.

Itistheflattestcontinent, withtheoldestandleastfertilesoils;desert orsemi-aridlandcommonlyknownasthe outback makesupbyfarthelargestportionofland.Thedriestinhabitedcontinent,onlyitssouth-eastandsouth-westcornershavea temperateclimate. The populationdensity,2.8inhabitantspersquarekilometre,isamongthelowestintheworld, althoughalargeproportionofthepopulationlivesalongthetemperatesouth-easterncoastline.

3Climate

TheclimateofAustraliaissignificantlyinfluencedbyoceancurrents,includingthe IndianOceanDipole andthe ElNiño–SouthernOscillation,whichiscorrelatedwithperiodic drought,andtheseasonaltropicallow-pressuresystemthatproducescyclones innorthernAustralia.Thesefactorscauserainfalltovarymarkedlyfromyeartoyear.Muchofthenorthernpartofthecountryhasatropical,predominantlysummer-rainfall（monsoon）climate. Thesouthwestcornerofthecountry hasaMediterraneanclimate. Muchofthesoutheast（includingTasmania）istemperate.

4History

HumanhabitationoftheAustraliancontinentisestimatedtohavebegunbetween42,000and48,000yearsago, possiblywiththemigrationofpeopleby landbridgesandshortsea-crossingsfromwhatisnowSouth-EastAsia.

ThefirstrecordedEuropeansightingoftheAustralianmainland,andthefirstrecordedEuropeanlandfallontheAustraliancontinent,areattributedtotheDutchnavigator WillemJanszoon.HesightedthecoastofCapeYorkPeninsula inearly1606,andmadelandfallon26Februaryatthe PennefatherRiver nearthemoderntownof WeipaonCapeYork. TheDutchchartedthewholeofthewesternandnortherncoastlinesandnamedtheislandcontinent"NewHolland"duringthe17thcentury,butmadenoattemptatsettlement.WilliamDampier,anEnglishexplorerandprivateer,landedonthenorth-westcoastofNewHollandin1688andagainin1699onareturntrip. In1770, JamesCook sailedalongandmappedtheeastcoast,whichhenamedNewSouthWalesandclaimedforGreatBritain. WiththelossofitsAmericancoloniesin1780,theBritishGovernmentsentafleetofships,the"FirstFleet",underthecommandofCaptain ArthurPhillip,toestablishanew penalcolony inNewSouthWales.Acampwassetupandtheflagraisedat SydneyCove,PortJackson,on26January1788, adatewhichbecameAustralia'snationalday, AustraliaDay althoughtheBritish CrownColony ofNewSouthWaleswasnotformallypromulgateduntil7February1788.Thefirstsettlementledtothefoundationof Sydney,theestablishmentoffarming,industryandcommerce;andtheexplorationandsettlementofotherregions.

ABritishsettlementwasestablishedin VanDiemen'sLand,nowknownasTasmania,in1803anditbecameaseparatecolonyin1825. TheUnitedKingdomformallyclaimedthewesternpartof WesternAustralia （theSwanRiverColony）in1828. SeparatecolonieswerecarvedfrompartsofNewSouthWales:

 SouthAustraliain1836, Victoria in1851,andQueenslandin1859. The NorthernTerritory wasfoundedin1911whenitwasexcisedfromSouthAustralia.

A goldrush beganinAustraliaintheearly1850s andthe EurekaRebellion againstmininglicencefeesin1854wasanearlyexpressionofcivildisobedience. Between1855and1890,thesixcoloniesindividuallygained responsiblegovernment,managingmostoftheirownaffairswhileremainingpartofthe BritishEmpire. TheColonialOfficeinLondonretainedcontrolofsomematters,notablyforeignaffairs,defence, andinternationalshipping.

On1January1901, federationofthecolonies wasachievedafteradecadeofplanning,consultationandvoting. TheCommonwealthofAustraliawasestablishedanditbecamea dominion oftheBritishEmpirein1907.TheFederalCapitalTerritory（laterrenamedtheAustralianCapitalTerritory）wasformedin1911asthelocationforthefuturefederalcapitalofCanberra.Melbournewasthetemporaryseatofgovernmentfrom1901to1927whileCanberrawasbeingconstructed. TheNorthernTerritorywastransferredfromthecontroloftheSouthAustraliangovernmenttothefederalparliamentin1911. In1914,AustraliajoinedBritaininfightingWorldWarI,withsupportfromboththeoutgoing CommonwealthLiberalParty andtheincoming AustralianLaborParty. Australianstookpartinmanyofthemajorbattlesfoughtonthe WesternFront.Ofabout416,000whoserved,about60,000werekilledandanother152,000werewounded. ManyAustraliansregardthedefeatofthe AustralianandNewZealandArmyCorps （ANZACs）atGallipoli asthebirthofthenation—itsfirstmajormilitaryaction. The KokodaTrackcampaign isregardedbymanyasananalogousnation-definingeventduring WorldWarII.

Britain's StatuteofWestminster1931 formallyendedmostoftheconstitutionallinksbetweenAustraliaandtheUK.Australia adoptedit in1942, butitwasbackdatedto1939toconfirmthevalidityoflegislationpassedbytheAustralianParliamentduringWorldWarII. TheshockoftheUnitedKingdom'sdefeatin