Australia In Color [antikvár]

AUSTRALIA Six sovereign states, federated in 1901, and seven territories, including the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and various islands, comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite the fact that it has the world's lowest density of population, Australia is the most urbanised nation. Eighty-two per cent of its thirteen millión people live in its cities. The largest city, Sydney, capital of New South Wales, is a bustling, vitai city blessed with a magnificent harbour. The capital of Victoria, Melbourne, is more conservative and 'English', with its Victorian architecture, fine parks, gardens and tree-lined streets. The smaller state capitals, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart, have been less subject to overseas influence and are more truly Australian. Canberra, an imaginatively designed city, is the nation's capital. Australia is a large island continent with a broad fertile coastal strip, which supports most of the population, separated from the overwhelming desolation of the inland by mountain ranges. Its vast land mass provides a magnificent diversity of scenery, including the world's largest coral formation, the Great Barrier Reef, mountain ranges that are alpine in character and ideál for winter sports, and the Red Centre, with its huge rocky outcrops sculpted by wind and sand. Diversity is alsó reflected in Australia's flóra and fauna. The beauty and abundance of Australian wildflowers is unsurpassed. Geographically isolated, Australia provided a refuge for many unique species of animals, such as the koala and the kangaroo, Australia's best-known ambassadors.