The Australian Continent

Size, shape, latitude, longitude

SIZE AND SHAPE

- The landmass of the Australian Continent extends over an area of about 7682 million square
kilometres.
- From West to East: you would travel 4000km, pass through 3 different time zones
- (Red Centre) North to South: you would travel 2500km, pass through several climate zones

​ ATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

L
Australia is in the Southern and Eastern Hemisphere, with ‘S’ always with the latitude and ‘E’ always
with the longitude.

Physical characteristics that make Australia Unique

Landforms, drainage basins, climate, weather, natural resources, vegetation, animals
The tectonic plates of folding, faulting and volcanic activity have created Australia’s major landforms.
The present appearance of Australia is due to the ​weathering, moss movement, erosion and
deposition.

LANDFORMS
The topography of Australia can be divided into four major landform regions including the
Western Plateau, Eastern Highlands, Coastal Plains and Central Lowlands.

Western Plateau Eastern Highlands Central Lowland Coastal Plains

● Huge area of ● Includes the ● Vast area of ● Narrow and

tablelands, Great Dividing flat, low lying discontinuous,
most of which Range land plains often
is 500m above ● Mainly a series ● Australia’s 3 take form of
sea level of tablelands major drainage river valleys
● Gibber (stony) and plateaus basins; the (e.g. Hunter
or sandy ● Rivers have cut Murray-Darling Valley near
deserts deep valleys; Basin in the Newcastle)
● Kimberley and most of the south,
MacDonnell region is very Capentaria
Ranges rugged lowlands in the
● Most of North, Lake
Australia’s Eyre basin in
largest rivers the centre
(e.g. Fitzroy,
Darling,
Murray)

CLIMATE AND RAINFALL

- The size and location of Australia allows it to have a wide range of climates.
 - Australia is a dry continent, around 80 percent of Australia's rainfall is under 600mm and 50
percent under 300 mm.
- Not only low but variable, so it is common to have droughts.

The main reason why Australia is so dry is because it is dominated by high pressure systems for most
of the year. High pressure systems drift from west to east across the continent bringing dry, stable,
sinking air.This results in atmospheric conditions not favourable for rainfall.

VEGETATION
- The Size and latitudinal extent of Australia resulted in a wide variety of vegetation.
- 40% of Australia is covered by grassland and shrubs - dry climate
- In areas of higher rainfall, trees dominate.
- In medium to high rainfall areas, much of the natural vegetation has been removed for
agricultural and urban development.

NATURAL RESOURCES
- Australia has a greater value of natural resources per head of population than any other
country in the world; but this is mainly due to Australia’s small population in comparison to
other resourceful countries

Renewable energy sustainable in Australia include:

- Geothermal Energy:​ Australia has huge underground energy resources known as ‘hot rocks’
- Wind Power
- Tidal Power
- Biomass Energy (combustion of organic matter)
- Solar Power -​ Two types of solar technologies are currently under development in Australia;
Photovoltaic cells convert solar energy directly to electricity, Solar thermal energy heats up
fluid such as water to turn the turbines which generate electricity
- Hydro-electric Power ​: Mostly generated by Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric
Scheme, and around 10 percent of Australia’s electricity is derived from hydro electric power,
however the numbers are difficult to be increased due to lack of water resources

Minerals:
- World’s largest exporter of iron ore, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc ores and mineral sands
- Second largest alumina, third largest gold

Soils:
Generally poor soils, especially when compared to soils of other continents.

Natural Hazards in Australia

A range of Natural Hazards occurring in Australia including tropical cyclones
- Natural Hazards are destructive events that are caused by forces of nature. Some natural
hazards are weather related, such as severe storms, tropical cyclones, droughts, floods and
 bushfires. Others are related to forces that come from within the Earth and include tsunamis
and earthquakes​.

1. Atmospheric — for example, cyclones, hailstorms, blizzards and bushfires

2. Hydrological — for example, flooding, wave action and glaciers
3. Geological — for example, earthquakes and volcanoes
4. Biological — for example, disease epidemics and plagues

Droughts
Australia is the driest continent. The main reason Australia is so dry is that much of the continent lies
in an area dominated by high atmospheric pressure for most of the year.

Probably the main cause of drought in eastern Australia is El Niño — a warm ocean current in the
Pacific. At irregular intervals, it spreads further south and the water in the central and eastern Pacific
becomes much warmer, bringing heavy rainfall and floods to arid parts of South America.

Bushfires
1. Large areas are covered with sclerophyll vegetation. The dominant trees are eucalypts, which have
highly flammable oil in their branches.
2. The area is also subject to prolonged periods of below average rainfall and droughts. Many of the
most severe bushfires have occurred during droughts and El Niño events.
3. South-eastern Australia is also subject to heatwaves and strong northerly winds during the summer
months. Two or three days of heatwave weather can often provide conditions suitable for bushfires to
occur.

Storms
- hailstones, which are two centimetres or more in diameter
- wind gusts of 90 kilometres or more per hour
- tornadoes, which are rapidly rotating columns of air that descend in a funnel shape from
thunderstorm clouds
- very heavy rain, which can result in flash flooding. A thunderstorm often moves slowly,
dropping a lot of precipitation in one area.

Cyclones
A cyclone, also known as a hurricane or typhoon, is a type low pressure system. Cyclones form and
maintain themselves over warm water, causing it to thrive in the tropic. They are generally
accompanied by storm surges, torrential rains, flooding and strong winds from 63km/h. Cyclones that
release winds of more than 118km/h classified as severe tropical cyclones. Cyclones are
unpredictable natural disasters which may last for just a few days, however can occur for weeks.
These factors make cyclones a dangerous, life threatening natural disaster in the tropics of the earth.
Floods

Earthquakes
Earthquakes happen a lot in some places, and hardly at all in other places. We are fortunate in
Australia because, unlike many other countries in the world, earthquake activity here is low. In fact,
until the Newcastle earthquake in 1989, most people thought that earthquakes were not a serious
natural hazard in Australia. Our most severe earthquakes have usually occurred in unpopulated areas,
but several have caused damage in urban areas and others have come very close.

Human characteristics that make Australia Unique

Demographic statistics- distribution, gender

- Australia is the only continent where it consists of just one country.

- It is also the driest inhabited continent with a larger proportion of desert than any other
continent.
- Australia has one of the LOWEST population densities in the world.
- Only a few areas along or near the coasts have enough rainfall to support a large population.

- Until 1788 indigenous people alone occupied Australia.

- They have lived in Australia for at least 50 000 years and since the british settlers arrived, the
proportion of Aboriginals in Australia’s population has decreased.
- Australia is now one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world from immigration from
southern europe and asia.

Where is Australia’s population growing?

- Most of Australia’s population growth occurs in towns with 1000 or more people.
- The fastest growing suburbs are generally those on the fringes of capital cities.
- New suburbs grow into areas that were previously used for farming.

- When Europeans arrived in Australia in 1788, they began to change the natural environment.
 - Within 200 years, nearly half of Australia’s forest had disappeared.
- This led to loss in plant and animal habitat ultimately causing decreased biodiversity and land
degradation.

- 1830: More than 100 000 new settlers, development of new technologies encouraged the
wheat and wool industries to expand
- 1851-1860: More than 600 000 migrants came to Australia, due to the discovery of gold and
the economic development that followed. Expansion of railways allowed farmers to move more
inland
- 1880: Irrigation schemes were set up, allowing intensive agriculture and settlement to develop
- Post World War II: Cities such as Sydney expanded, displacing agriculture as the most
significant economic activity, lowered farmer income compared to city dwellers, rural population
decline

POPULATION GROWTH IN AUSTRALIA

Population growth In 2008, Australia had a population of more than 21 million. The population of
Australia increased rapidly during the twentieth century, being about five times greater at the end of
the twentieth century than it was in 1900. There have been two main reasons for this increase:
- Natural increase. This occurs when the number of people born (birth rate) is higher than the
number of people dying (death rate). From 1861, natural increase has been the major
component of Australia’s total population growth.
- Migration. The proportion of Australia’s population born overseas increased from less than 10
per cent in 1947 to 23 per cent in 1996

POPULATION AGE
In Australia, people in the 0–15 and over 65 age groups are known as the dependent
population, because they are generally not part of the labour force and are supported by the
rest of the population. In other countries, especially those that rely heavily on agriculture,
children may begin work well before the age of 15, and people over the age of 65 may continue
to work.

During the twentieth century, the population of Australia gradually aged. In 1900, 4 per cent of the
population was over 65 years; in 2001 it was 14 per cent. The reasons for the change in Australia’s
population structure are:
1. Australia has one of the lowest crude death rates (7 per 1000) in the world.
2. Australia has one of the lowest crude birth rates (12 per 1000) in the world.
3. Australia has one of the highest life expectancies (78 for men and 83 for women).
4. Children of the postwar baby boom are reaching retirement age in the year 2010.
5. Twenty-five per cent of Australian women are electing not to have children. Other women are
having fewer children and giving birth at an older age. For example, in 1979, 25 per cent of births were
to women over 30 years compared with 50 per cent today.

The consequences of an ageing Australian population are numerous. Taxpayers will need to provide
more funds for pensions, because there will be more people collecting a pension, and they will be
collecting it for a longer time.
Summary
Population Distribution:
The Australian population has gradually aged during the last 50 years.
In 1956, the largest age group was 0–4 years old.
In 2006, the largest age group was 40–44 years old.
This ageing is a characteristic of all developed countries and is the result of a decreased fertility rate
and the postponement of the birth of the first child. Australia’s population has aged more slowly than
that of France and Japan because of the influx of young migrants. Government policies in recent years
have been directed towards encouraging families to have more children. Peter Costello, Federal
Treasurer until 2007, exhorted Australians to have ‘one for Mum, one for Dad, and one for the
country’.

Ethnic Composition:
In Australia today, nearly one in four people were born overseas; in fact, 43 per cent of all Australians
were born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas.
In recent years, people from around 185 different countries have made their home in Australia.
Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse nations on Earth, and it has been able to absorb this
diversity with a minimum of strife. A few of the advantages of this characteristic include:
- a wide number of languages being spoken fluently, which helps commerce
- overseas links, especially with China and India, for government and commerce
- a wide variety of ethnic foods.

Changing settlement patterns Over the last century, there has been a reduction in the percentage of
the population residing in rural areas, with increased settlement in coastal areas. The main changes in
Australia’s demography in the last century include:
- a different ethnic composition
- a declining birth rate
- an ageing population
- a larger Indigenous population
- a population that is overwhelmingly concentrated on the coast.

Geographical skills
Topographic maps interpretation, latitude and longitude and place geography, population pyramids,
synoptic charts, climatic graphs

The age and sex distribution of a population is usually presented as a set of graphs known as a
population pyramid. These graphs show the age and sex of the population, tell us about the past, and
make predictions for the future.