Colloquially referred to as Oz and Officially recognized as the Commonwealth of Australia, the continent Australia is comprised of both the Australian mainland and the island known as Tasmania as well as several other smaller islands. By far the sixth-largest country in total area Australia neighbors to the north the regions East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, to the north-east Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands and to the south-east New Zealand.
Australia’s landmass consists of over 2,941,000 square miles on the Indo-Australian Plate and is surrounded by both the Pacific and Indian oceans. Separated from Asia by the Timor and Arafura seas Australia with the Coral Sea located off the coast of Queensland and the Tasman Sea bordering New Zealand is also the smallest continent and often referred to as the world’s largest island.
In spite of the fact that most of the continent is semi-arid or desert, Australia is known for its richly diverse habitats ranging from its tropical rainforests to its alpine heaths and as such is acknowledged as a harboring the majority of the Earth’s species and thus considered to enjoy a level of extreme biodiversity.
Facts About Australia
- Australians are commonly referred to by one another as Aussie.
- The earliest record of the word Australia as occurring in the English language dates as far back as 1625 in a hand written note by Sir richard Hakluyt of Australia del Espiritu Santo, which was published in Hakluytus Posthumus by the English cleric Samuel Purchas.
- It was the explorer Matthew Flinders in 1804 who advocated for the name Australia to be formally recognized. In his manuscript and charts, Finders during his preparation of his 1814 journal best known as A Voyage to Terra Australis was convinced by Sir Joseph banks (who at the time was his patron) to include the term Terra Australis as the more popular name to the public.
- It is theorized that Australia may have experienced human habitation as far back as between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago from a possible migration of humans using land bridges from the region which is known today as South-East Asia. It is believed that the first Australian inhabitants were ancestors of recent native Australians.
- During the 18th century and around the period of European settlement most native Australians lived as hunter-gathers and had a complex oral culture and spiritually based beliefs and values in reverence to the land and a Dreamtime ideology. The native people of the Torres Strait Islands ethnically from the subregion of Oceania known as Melanesia were previously hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists while the northern costal waters of the continent was occasionally visited by fishermen from the maritime region of Southeast Asia.
- Australia for the past 400 years prior to british settlement during the late 18th century was mostly inhabited by a race of indigenous Australians who were known for speaking a series of languages classified into about 250 language groups. In 1606 following the Australia’s European discovery by the Dutch explorers, the eastern half of the continent was claimed in 1707 by Great Britain and later colonized through penal transportation from January 26th 1788 to the colony of New South Wales. In later years the exploration of the continent resulted in the formation of an additional five self-governing Royal Colonies.
- The Commonwealth of Australia was formed following the federation of six colonies on January 1 1901. And ever since, Australia has preserved a stabilized liberal democratic governmental system in operation as a federal parliamentary democracy and monarchy law consisting of the six original colonies later known as states along with several regions.
- Today Australia has six states; New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and Southern Australia as well as its two primary mainland territories; the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory
- Australia has a known population of over 23 million, extremely urbanized and mostly concentrated within the eastern states of the continent and along the coastline.
- Acknowledged as one of the wealthiest nations in the world today Australis is ranked 12th for having the world’s largest economy and in 2012 boasted the world’s fifth-largest per capita income.
- Australia is ranked 13th among other world countries in its military expenditure and the second highest in the human development index. And widely accepted when compared internationally in its offering of a quality of lifestyle, education, health, economic liberty, the preservation of civil liberties and the political rights of its citizens.
- Australia has the world’s largest coral reef known as the Great Barrier Reef located just off the north-east coast extending for a distance of over 1,240 miles.
- Located in Western Australia is the world’s largest monolith Mount Augustus. Notably Mount Augustus in in fact an inselberg or monocline and not a monolith as frequently depicted in tourist literature.
- Australia is a recognized member of ANZUS, the Asia-Pacific Economic Organization, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G2O, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
http://youtu.be/JoccT1oYoJU
Australia North Bondi Beach cam
Australia’s North Bondi Beach features a live webcam located on the balcony of the North Bondi RSL club overlooking the southern end of the world renown Bondi Beach. Click on the link below to enjoy a firsthand view of the Bondi beach to check out the weather and surf.
View Australia North Bondi Beach cam.
Australia Great Barrier Reef Web cam
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia features a number of webcams including one located underwater capturing Australia’s marine life by a reef. The Web cams shown in the link provided below were set up by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and features live videos from the Hardy Reef, AIMS Wharf, Bowling Green Bay, Davis Reef, Lizard Island and the Agincourt Reef.
View Great Barrier Reef Web cam.
Australia Sydney Skyline Web cam
Australia’s Sydney Skyline Web cam offers online viewers with a breathtaking view from several cameras located in Australia’s Lower North Shore suburb of Linley Point, Lane Cove Municipality as well as in the leafy community of Kirribilli overlooking the Harbor, the Skyline and the impressive Harbor Bridge.
View Australia’s Harbor Cam.
View Australia’s Sydney Skyline Web cam.
View Australia’s Harbor bridge Web cam.
Port of Melbourne Webcams
Here you can view several different webcams from the Port of Melbourne, Australia. Four cams located at the shipping management center show ships in the port and views of Melbourne. You can also see cams from Point Lonsdale Lighthouse.
View Live Webcam: Port of Melbourne Webcams
North Bondi Beach Webcam in Australia
This webcam gives a live view of Bondi Beach in Australia. Watch people laying out in the sun or riding and walking on the sidewalk. Excellent views of this popular beach in Sydney, Australia.
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Elwood Australia Webcam
This webcam is located in Elwood, Victoria, Australia and gives a live view of the ocean, boats, marina and more courtesy of St Kilda Boat Sales. Excellent quality with streaming video.
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Mount Beauty Weather Camera
Beautiful view of Mount Beauty in Australia from the Bogong Moth (sounds like a Godzilla villain) motel.
View Live Webcam: Mount Beauty Weather Camera
Goolwa Wharf Webcam Australia
This webcam gives a live view of Goolwa Wharf in Goolwa, Australia. See the Murray River flowing into the ocean, a park and a railroad track. Keep an eye on it and you may spot a train passing through. This is a Mobotix M12 webcam.
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Port Douglas Australia Webcam
Gives a live view of a street and intersection in Port Douglas, Queensland Australia. See palm trees, foliage, traffic and pedestrians. You might even spot a bird or two. Road on webcam leads to Four Mile Beach. You can also view another webcam that shows inside Zinc Restaurant.
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Skyrail Webcam in Australia
This is an amazing webcam that gives a view of a rain forest in Cairns, Australia. Watch cableway cars coming and going from Skyrail. Also catch a glimpse of Barron Falls. Webcam has streaming video.
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Sydney Harbor Australia Webcam
Awesome remote control webcam gives a live streaming view of Sydney Harbor in Australia. Pan, tilt and zoom.
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Sydney Australia Skyline Webcam
Live webcam gives a view of the skyline in Sydney, Australia. Camera updates every 10 minutes. Also be sure to watch time lapse videos made by the webcam.
View Live Webcam: Sydney Australia Skyline Webcam