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Australia Introduction

Introduction to Australia

Geography
          Australia is like a continent due to its large size, and has a total ares of 7,682,300 square kilometres, 1 out of 3 of its total areas make up of desert. Its coutry size is the 6th biggest comparatively to Canada, China, United States and Brazil. On the South-east and south-west corners of the continent have a very temperate climate.  The majority of the population usually lives along the temperate south-eastern sea coastline. At the northern part of the country, have a very tropical climate consisting of rainforest, and woodland and received heavy rainfalls. Because Australia is so large, there are huge variations in terms of climate throughout the country. Climates in Australia can be divided into hot zone and warm zone.  Northern territory, Queensland and some part of Western Australia are situated in a hot climate zone, have hot summers and mild winters, similar to Thailand.  Other States are situated in a more temperate climate or a warm climate zone, with average temperature of between 27 degree Celsius at the northern end and around 13 degree at the southern end.


 Seasons
Summer : December – February
Autumn  : March – May
Winter    : June – October
Spring    : September – November

Time Zone
        Because Australia has a large size, there is variation in time in accordance with Greenwich.  There are three time zones in Australia:
    Eastern Standard Time-EST : a head of GMT by 10 hours and 3 hours ahead of Thailand (apply to New South Wales, Victoria,  Tasmania, Queensland and Canberra)  
    Central Standard Time-CST : a head of GMT by 9.5 hours and 2.30 hours a head of Thailand (apply to South Australia and Northern Territory)  
    Western Standard Time-WST : a head of GMT by 8 hours and 1 hour ahead of Thailand (apply to Western Australia)
       Daylight Saving ในDaylight Saving-in summer a clock will turn 1 hour faster due to mid day time is longer than at night time.
       Except Western Australia State and Queensland State

Government System, State Control and Administration
  Australia has a State control system, which comprises of 6 states:

             1. New South Wales - Sydney(Capital City)
             2. Victoria - Melbourne (Capital City) 
             3. Queensland - Brisbane (Capital City)
             4. Western Australia - Perth (Capital City)
             5. South Australia - Adelaide (Capital City)
             6. Tasmania - Hobart (Capital City) 

Australia also has a control over its two main territories:

1. Australian Capital Territory-Canberra (The main Capital City of Australia)
2. Northern Territory-Darwin(Capital City

           Government of Australia is responsible for protecting Australia soil and territory, in terms of national security, maintain international relations with their neighboring countries. On other hand, State Government is mainly responsible in the areas concerns with education; transportation; health services; farming and agriculture and law enforcement. The local government bodies are created by state and territories government. They are locally known as a local council and main responsibility concerns local community services such as utilities (Gas, Electivity, and Water), swage system, local community parks and grounds, and also local libraries etc.

         Australia is known to be an independent nation; however Australia is long been linked to a British monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is also formally Queen of Australia. In Australia government is run by an elected party with a Prime Minister who managed the country.  At present, Prime Minister is Mr. John Howards.

Population
          Australia’s population is around 20,265,000, amongst the lowest in the world.  Most people live along the eastern seaboard and a smaller number of people live in the Southwestern Coast.  Australia is a multicultural country and considers being one of the most diverse in the world.  Most of their population number is derived from a large number of immigrants flowing into Australia general from non-English speaking countries.   In fact, in the past 50 years, 1 out of 10 of the populations are foreign born and 1 out of 20 is migrated from Asia and resided in Australia.   Due to this reason, Australia has enjoyed a rich of different culture, cuisines and lifestyles.

Religion
          Australia is based on the liberal democratic tradition, therefore it encourage harmonious and tolerance within different race and religions.  Due to this, people living in Australia have an absolute freedom of choice to practice their own religions.  The majority of people living in Australia practice Christian and since Australia is becoming more cultural diverse due to continues flow of immigrants.  Due to this reason, there is a growth of other religion being practice like Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Jew.  Because Australia is based on the liberal democratic tradition, therefore it encourages harmony within different race and great tolerance. It has been a custom in Australia that people from different ethnic groups whom practice different religions shall respect each other customs, practices and culture.