Australia: 12 facts about the Green continent

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

On July 19, 1814, the English navigator M. Flinders, in his book, first named the Green Continent Australia. In honor of this event, one cannot but tell a few facts about this beautiful and interesting country.

• Australia is the only country in the world that occupies an entire continent.
• Despite the fact that Australia is called the Green Continent, it is not at all. Most of the mainland is an endless desert.

The flora of Australia is almost unique.

• Since the continent has almost always been isolated from other parts of the globe, its flora is almost unique. Of the 12 thousand plant species, 9 thousand can be seen only in Australia.
• The kangaroo population is three times the number of people living in Australia. There are only twice as many sheep as people in Australia, and sixteen times as many rabbits.

• Australia has a history of only two hundred years. At first, it was a British colony where convicts were exiled. Almost no one came there of their own free will.
• The oldest and largest city in Australia is Sydney. Many people mistakenly consider it the capital of the country, but it is not, the capital of Australia is Canberra.

• Australia has the longest fence in the world. It was built from the invasion of dingo dogs into the southeastern part of the continent. Its length is 5614 km.
• Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the largest on the planet. It is located in the Coral Sea and is 2000 km long.

The sand of Hyam Beach is the whitest in the world.

• Tasmania (one of the continent's regions) has the cleanest air in the world, and the sand of Hyams Beach, located on the shores of Jersey Bay, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the whitest in the world.
• The Australian Alps receive more snow than the Swiss.

• The Australian dollar is the world's first currency made of plastic rather than paper.
• Australia is in the top ten countries for quality of life.