By THAN HTUN (MYANMAR GEOSCIENCES SOCIETY)
THIS article is the last article of “Seven Continents of the World” which was published by the Global New Light of Myanmar on 28 August 2021. I am grateful to the Editors of the GNLM for their editing and permission.
Australia, the largest island and the smallest continent in the world, lies entirely south of the Equator and is called the ‘land down under’ or even the ‘island continent’. The name Australia is derived from the Latin word ‘Australis ’ meaning southern. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Australia.
Australia is the only continent that has one nation and is the sixth-largest country in the world. It also includes the large island of Tasmania and many small islands. Australia is newer than the new world. Europeans settled first in the American Continent and did not discover Australia until the early 1770s unexplored even much later. The origins of modern Australia date only from the first British settlement in 1788. Dutch ships were saved along the coast of northern Australia in 1606 but with little interest in the island. In 1642, another Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasman sailed south of Australia and discovered the island, now known as Tasmania. Long after Tasman quit the British sent a ship led by James Cook to know more about the island. Captain Cook, on reaching the Australian coast in 1770, hoisted the flag on Australia’s fertile east coast and claimed it for England. He named this part – New South Wales. Australia celebrates its National Day on January 26.
Location
Australia entirely lies in the Southern Hemisphere of the globe. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through its centre. Australia’s location is 12°S to 38°S Latitude and 114°E to 154°E Longitude. The under Tasmania extends a little further south. Australia is bordered by the Indian Ocean in the west, the Southern Ocean in the south, and the Pacific Ocean in the east. The Great Australian Bight forms an arch along the southern coast and the Gulf of Spencer and Encounter Bay lie on the southeast. Australia lies close to South East Asia and maybe islands stretched between them. The remnants of the land bridge that once connected the two continents millions of years ago.
Beyond the east coast stretches the Pacific Ocean, with the Tasman Sea in the south and the Coral Sea in the north. The Timor Sea lies in the northwest, the Arafura Sea in the northeast, and the Gulf of Carpentaria along the northern coast. The Cape York Peninsula forms the northeast tip of Australia. The island of New Guinea lies to the north of Australia. Tasmania, lying to the south, is separated from Australia by the Bass Strait. New Zealand, lying to the southeast at a distance of nearly 2,000 kilometres, is separated from Australia by the Tasman Sea. Australia with its regular coastline and few inlets oversea have no natural harbours except in the south. The Great Barrier Reef, made up of coral deposits, runs parallel to the northeast coast for a length of 2,000 kilometres. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is the largest coral reef in the world.
Countries and Population
The countries in Australia Continent are Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Marshall Island, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, Palau, and Vanuatu. The Australia Continent is the sixth most populous country in the world and its population is around about 35,670,000. The largest countries by size are Australia (7,686,850 square kilometres), Papua New Guinea (468,840 sq. km), and New Zealand (268,680 sq. km) respectively. The largest countries by population are Australia (22,028,000), Papua New Guinea (5,172,033), New Zealand (4,108,037). The smallest countries by size are Nauru (21 sq. km), Tuvalu (26 sq. km), and Marshall Island (73,600 sq. km). The smallest countries by population are Tuvalu (11,046), Nauru (12,329), and Palau (19, 409) respectively.
Language
In Australia, English is the de facto national language. Australian English is a language with a distinctive accent and lexicon and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. English is the only language spoken in the home about 72.7 per cent of the population. Other common languages spoken at home are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Italian.
Physical Divisions
Australia can be divided into four major physical divisions; the Western Plateau, the Central Lowlands, the Eastern Highlands, and the Coastal Plains. The Western Plateau extends over almost twothirds of the continent. It spread across the whole of western and most of southern and northern Australia. Made up of ancient, hard crystalline rocks which are rich in minerals, most of the Plateau is flat, broken by occasional rocky ranges. The average elevation of the plateau is 365 metres making Australia the flattest continent in the world. The height increases only in Mac Donnell Ranges and Musgrave Ranges. Ayers Rock or Uluru is the most famous high point and is visible from more than 80 kilometres. The western edge of the plateau slopes steeply to the sea and much of the Western Plateau is a desert or semi-desert.
The Central Lowlands lie between the Western Plateau and the Eastern Highlands, stretching from the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north to Encounter Bay in the south. It can be divided into three parts on the basis of drainage. The Great Artesian Basin to the north, the Lake Eyre Basin in the centre, and the Murray-Darling Basin to the southeast.
The Great Artesian Basin, made of flatlands, is the largest artesian basin in the world. It is known for the underground water that is utilized through artesian wells. Although the water is hot with high salt content, it is very useful for cattle rearers in this dry region. Lake Eyre Basin is the low-lying area around Lake Eyre (named after E. J. Eyre, who discovered it in 1840) which is a large, shallow water lake with nothing but a dry white salt pan.
The lake depends on rain for water, which is not much in the region. Except for the rainy season, the lake is dry most of the time. The Murray-Darling Basin is made by the most important river system in Australia. The Murray, 2,574 kilometres long, is the main river and the Darling is its tributary. Both these rivers rise in the Eastern Highlands. The Murray has enough water. The Darling is erratic and dries up during drought.
The Eastern Highlands run parallel to the east coast from the Cape York Peninsula in the north through the Bass Strait and into Tasmania in the south. Australia’s longest chain of mountain ranges is in the Great Dividing Range or the Australian Alps. Mount Kosciusko (2,234 metres) is the highest peak in Australia. Murray and Darling rise on the western slope of the Eastern Highlands.
The Eastern Coastal Plains, lying to the east of the Great Dividing Range, has Australia’s most fertile farmland and receives plenty of rain. It is cut by several short fast-flowing rivers that rise in the Eastern Highlands and empty into the Pacific Ocean.
Mountainous Areas
The Mountainous areas in the Australian continent are Hamersley mountains, Mac Donell mountains, Musgrave mountains, Alpen mountains, and Great Devise mountains. The famous mountains are Bruce, August, Leisler, Ziel, Woodroffe, Cosciusco, Pauper, and Cook mountains.
Deserts
The deserts in the Australian continent are the Gibson Desert, Great Desert, Great Vitoria Desert, Tanami Desert, and Simpson Desert.
Rivers
The rivers in the Australian continent are the Fortescue River, Ashburton River, De Grey River, Daly River, Victoria River, Georgina River, Paroo River, Mitchell River, Darling River, and Murray River.
Climate
The upper half of Australia enjoys a tropical climate and the bottom half is a sub-tropical climate. Australia and the Antarctic were together for many millions of years and it took a long time to separate about 34 million years ago they finally separated and Australia has been moving northwards ever since. That is moved Australia into dryer parts, dryer latitudes within the world. And that is another reason why Australia is such a low rainfall continent. Therefore Australia is a low, dry, old, and red continent with really relatively few people living in it.
References:
1. Geoscience Australia
2. Iken Edu
3. K. F. Wirawan. Max Information for Australia Continent.
4. Nations online
