Australia lies in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the largest country of Oceania. Its capital is in the city of Canberra. It covers an area of 7, 713, 364 square kilometers. Much of the country is outback, which is dry, flat desert. Rainfall and population density decrease from the coast to the interior, as does the richness of vegetation. Australia's major exports are its primary products --- minerals, wool, wheat and meat. The animals that live only in Australia are the kangaroo, the koala bear, the platypus and the dingo. Its major cities are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, which are also its chief ports. The name "Australia" comes form a Latin phrase which means "unknown southern land." In 1770, Captain James Cook (1728-1779) explored Australia's east coast and declared the land part of Great Britain. Australia became an independent commonwealth in 1901.

澳大利亞是大洋洲最大的國家，領(lǐng)土包括澳大利亞大陸和塔斯馬尼亞島等周圍島嶼，面積約7，713，364萬平方公里，居世界第六位。澳大利亞的首都是堪培拉，英語為官方語言。澳大利亞全境平均海拔300米，為地表起伏最和緩的大陸。澳大利亞大部分內(nèi)陸地區(qū)是干燥平坦的沙漠，人口多居住在沿海地區(qū)。澳大利亞是世界上最大的小麥、羊毛輸出國之一，也是重要的鐵、鋁土、鎳等礦產(chǎn)品出口國。澳大利亞的主要城市有悉尼、墨爾本、布里斯班等，大多數(shù)是港口城市。澳大利亞這個(gè)名字來自拉丁文，意思是“未知的南方大陸”。1770年英國人詹姆斯·庫克到達(dá)澳大利亞東部沿海地區(qū)，并宣布該地區(qū)為英國的一部分，此后澳大利亞一直受英國的管轄，直到1901年1月1日，澳大利亞才獲得獨(dú)立。