Australia Webquest

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Genially inspiré de Isabelle Beaubreuil

Australia Webquest

Geography and demography

The Aborigines

History

Amazing facts

Geography

Australia is situated in the Southern hemisphere under the Equator. That's why Australia is nicknamed the "Land Down Under". It is a country, an island and a continent at the same time.Australia is divided into six states: Queensland (North east of Australia), New South Wales (South east), South Australia, Victoria (the smallest state), Western Australia and Tasmania (a small island). There are also two territories: the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (a small land in New South Wales). Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania and Lauceston is on the north coast of this small island. Melbourne is the main city of Victoria and Alice Spring is right in the middle of the country in the Northern Territory. Perth, which is famous for its beautiful beaches, is in Western Australia. Brisbane is in Queensland as well as Cairns, which is on the north coast. Adelaide is in South Australia and Darwin is in the north of the Northern Territory. Canberra is the capital city of Australia, and Sydney is between Canberra and Brisbane. 85% of the country is covered by a vast arid desert called The Outback. Seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere. So, when it is winter in France, it is summer in Australia.

There are 24 million inhabitants in Australia. Few people live in the central region, called the Outback. Almost 90 percent of all Australians live in cities, mostly along the coasts. Five major cities have a population of more than one million: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. More than 90 percent of Australians have European roots. A small percentage of the population is made up of Torres Strait Islander peoples and Aboriginal peoples.Almost 70 percent of Australians are Christians. There are also small groups of Buddhists and Muslims. Many people do not follow any religion.

Demography

Amazing facts

Amazing facts

History

Aboriginal peoples lived in Australia for at least 45,000-50,000 years before Europeans arrived. They came from Asia by boat or by land that is now underwater. Aboriginal peoples lived in groups that had their own language, culture, and traditional lands. In the 1600s, several Dutch explorers reached the continent. The Dutch named the continent New Holland in 1644. But they did not settle there. In 1770, Captain James Cook, a British explorer and cartographer, landed in southeastern Australia and claimed it for Great Britain. He named the region New South Wales. Captain Cook thought that New South Wales was a good place for settlement. At the time, England’s prisons were overcrowded. So the British government decided to send prisoners to Australia to start a penal colony—a place where criminals are sent to live. Convicts and settlers worked to clear land and to establish farms. In 1851, the discovery of gold drew thousands of new immigrants to Australia. The flood of settlers nearly wiped out the Aboriginal population. Many Aboriginal people died while fighting for their land or from European diseases. Today, Australia is no longer a British colony. It became independent in 1901 and is part of the British Commonwealth.Adapted from Britannica Kids

Aboriginal peoples (also known as the First Nations people) have lived on the continent for over 50,000 years. They are one of the oldest living civilizations in the world. Aboriginal Australians share a close connection to the land, to waterways, and to living things. Before the British settlers arrived, there were about 600 different groups of Aboriginals and there were more than 200 Aboriginal languages! The Aborigines were traditionally nomadic, hunters and gatherers. They lived in clans. Each clan had its own language, cultural practices, and traditional lands. Within each clan, all members had specific roles and responsibilities. Men hunted animals, such as kangaroos, emus, birds, reptiles, and fish. Women collected fruits, honey, insects, eggs, and plants.When British settlers begin colonizing Austrlalia in 1788, between 750,000 and 1.25 million Aboriginal Australians are estimated to have lived there. Soon, epidemics ravaged the island’s Indigenous people, and British settlers seized their lands. Many Aborigines died defending their lands. Today, Aboriginal peoples make up less than 3 percent of the Australian population. Adapted from Britannica Kids and nationalgeographic

The Aborigines

The Dreaming is a commonly used term to describe important features of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and existence. It is the story of events that have happened, how the universe came to be, how human beings were created and how their Creator intended for humans to function within the world as they knew it. These Dreaming stories may differ from place to place, but they have common features. First Nations Peoples believe that the entire world was made by their Ancestors way back in the very beginning of time. The Ancestor Spirits created the rivers, streams, waterholes, the land, hills, rocks, stars, plants and animals. It is also believed that the Spirits gave them their hunting tools and each tribe its land, their totems and their Dreaming. The Dreaming is difficult to understand for non-indigenous people because norms such as the idea of time are not followed. It is not static or linear. It is the past, but it is also the present and the future. It is constantly evolving to explain events and changes today, such as floods, storms and occurrences in people's lives, both negative and positive.

The Aborigines

There is no written language for Aboriginal People. Instead, they use symbols in their artwork to pass down their important cultural stories through generations. That is why Indigenous art is centered on storytelling and closely linked to religious ceremonies or rituals. Dreaming stories are handed down through storytelling, paintings, song and dance. They educate the people on how to use the land and survive in it. Aboriginal art is very diverse and includes painting on leaves, wood carving, rock carving, sculpting, ceremonial clothing, body decoration, and sand painting. The traditional colors used are yellow (the sun), brown (the earth), red (the desert sand), and white (the clouds and the sky).

The Aborigines

From New Enjoy English 4e

The Aborigines