General features of the economic development of Oceania. Australia and Oceania theme. Population and economy What is the specialization of oceanic agriculture

Area - 7692.0 thousand km 2 Population (2018) - 24.1 million people. The capital is Canberra.

Australian Union - the only state occupying the entire continent. In addition to mainland Australia, the state includes Tasmania and a number of other islands. In the north, west and south it is washed by the Indian Ocean, its seas and bays, in the east by the seas of the Pacific Ocean. It is the sixth country in the world in terms of area.

The economic and geographical position of Australia is characterized by its location in the Southern Hemisphere, far from the main economic centers of the world. At the same time, modern sea and air transport provide a permanent and reliable link between the country and the outside world.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a kingdom of the British Commonwealth, with the British monarch as the official head of state. In fact, the prime minister plays the leading role in governing the country. Australia is a federation of 6 states and 2 territories.
Natural conditions and resources. The relief of Australia consists mainly of plains and heavily destroyed plateaus. Only in the east is the Great Dividing Range, in which the highest point of Australia is located - Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m).
Australia is rich in a variety of minerals. On a global scale, the country stands out for its reserves of iron, copper, nickel, uranium, bauxite, coal, gold, and diamonds.

The territory of Australia is located mainly in the subequatorial, tropical and subtropical zones, the most important feature of its climate is aridity. Most of the country's territory is occupied by deserts, semi-deserts and savannahs. The biggest disadvantage natural conditions Australia - lack of water resources. The water content of the largest river, the Murray and its tributary, the Darling, changes dramatically with the seasons.

Population. Australia occupies one of the last places among the countries of the world in terms of population density. There are an average of 3 people per 1 km 2 here. The population is mainly concentrated in the southeastern and eastern parts of Australia, while the interior is very sparsely populated.

natural growth Australia's population is low, accounting for 0.5-0.6% per year. External migration has a great impact on population growth. Annual mechanical gain of the country's population is 0.8-1.0%.

In general, the modern population of Australia was formed as a result of migrations. The indigenous population of the mainland - the Aborigines of Australia - now make up only 1% of the population. The main nation is the Anglo-Australians.

The Commonwealth of Australia belongs to a number of highly urbanized states. The share of the urban population is 90%. The largest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide.

Economy. Australia is an economically highly developed state. In terms of GDP, Australia is among the top twenty countries in the world, and the GDP per capita here is higher than in most European countries.

Australia's place in the world economy is largely determined by the mining and fuel industries. It is one of the three world leaders in the extraction of coal, uranium, iron, bauxite, gold, nickel, zinc. The main part of coal, liquefied gas, uranium, ferrous and non-ferrous metal ores is exported to Asian countries, primarily in China. Agriculture is also an important part of the Australian economy. The main branches of animal husbandry are sheep and cattle breeding. In terms of the number of sheep and sheared wool, Australia ranks 2nd, and in terms of the export of wool and beef, 1st place in the world. Farming specializes in grain farming, horticulture and viticulture.

Australia's main economic region is the southeast. 70% of the country's population lives here and 2 of its largest cities- Sydney and Melbourne.

Australia occupies one of the last places among the countries of the world in terms of population density. There are an average of 3 people per 1 km 2 here. The population is mainly concentrated in the southeastern and eastern parts of Australia, while the interior is very sparsely populated. The natural population growth in Australia is low, 0.5-0.6% per year. External migration has a great impact on population growth. The annual mechanical growth of the country's population is 0.8-1.0%.

A. Kayumov, I. Safarov, M. Tillabaeva "Economic and social geography World" Tashkent - "Uzbekistan" - 2014

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Australia and Oceania

1. general characteristics Australia: geographical location, natural conditions, population, cultural and historical development

Australia is a state that occupies an entire continent, Fr. Tasmania, as well as a number of small islands. Her official name-- Commonwealth of Australia -- indicates the federal structure of the country. The Union includes 6 states: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, as well as two territories: the Northern Territory and the Capital Territory (in addition, the capital Canberra is part of a special administrative unit). For many economic indicators(First of all, the volume of GDP and its size per capita) Australia is one of the most developed countries in the world. Australia is the only state in the world that occupies the territory of an entire continent, therefore it has only maritime borders. Its territory is isolated from other continents, large markets for raw materials and sales of products. One of the most favorable factors geographical location Australia is its relative proximity to the countries of the dynamically developing Asia-Pacific region.

Australia is the flattest continent in the world. Mountains and hills occupy only 5% of the area, the rest of the space is mostly deserts and semi-deserts, overgrown with thorny grass and shrubs. Located mainly in tropical and subtropical latitudes, where the influx of solar radiation is large, the Australian mainland is very warm. Due to the weak indentation of the coastline and the elevation of the marginal parts, the influence of the seas surrounding Australia has little effect in the interior of the continent. Therefore, the climate of most of Australia is characterized by a sharp aridity. Australia is the driest continent on earth. A noticeable amount of precipitation is observed only in the north and northeast of the mainland. The areas of the coastal plains and the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range are well moistened, as well as about. Tasmania.

The hot climate, insignificant and uneven precipitation over most of the mainland lead to the fact that almost 60% of its territory is deprived of runoff to the ocean and has only a rare network of temporary watercourses. On no other continent is there such a poorly developed network of inland waters as in Australia.

The comparative uniformity of the natural conditions of the Australian continent, associated with its small size, the low contrast of the geological structure and relief, as well as the position of most of it within the subequatorial and tropical zones, are the reason for the less pronounced natural differentiation in comparison with other inhabited continents.

A distinctive feature of Australian nature is its endemicity. Australia is a sanctuary country where "fossil" plants and animals are still preserved.

Australia has a variety of minerals. It is one of the richest countries in the world with mineral resources. New discoveries mineral resources made on the continent over the past decades, have advanced the country to one of the first places in the world in terms of reserves and production of minerals such as coal, uranium, iron, manganese, lead-zinc and copper ores, bauxite, nickel, gold, silver, diamonds, cobalt, tantalum, etc. Geological surveys It has been established that in the depths of the Australian mainland and on the shelf near its coast there are large deposits of oil and natural gas.

Under the deserts and semi-deserts of the continent, at a depth of 20 to 200 m, huge reserves of highly mineralized warm and hot water have been discovered, which can be used for household and other needs.

About 77% modern population Australia - the descendants of immigrants from the British Isles, who formed the Anglo-Australian nation. The rest are immigrants from other European countries, and in last years from Asian countries. More than 200 thousand people from the territory live in the country former USSR, including several tens of thousands of Russians. Indigenous people - Aboriginal people - make up 1.2% of the total population of Australia. Most of them are in the Northern Territory and the Torres Islands. There they lead a traditional way of life of hunters and gatherers, maintaining a mystical, from the point of view of Europeans, attitude towards mother earth.

Of all the major regions of the world, Australia is the least densely populated. At the same time, the contrasts of settlement within the continent are also extremely large. Approximately 1/4 of the country's area is populated and developed, which has natural prerequisites for this - the South-East, North-East and South-West. More than 80% of the country's population is concentrated here. The vast majority of Australian cities are also located here, including the largest ones - Sydney (4 million people), Melbourne (3.5 million), Brisbane (1.4 million), Perth (1.2 million), Adelaide (1. 1 million people). The overall level of urbanization (85%) in Australia is very high.

The deep regions are very sparsely populated. The population there lives on secluded farms located at a distance of tens or hundreds of kilometers from each other. In some areas there are small towns associated with the primary processing of agricultural products or minerals.

Australia is part of the Commonwealth, and the head of state is the British monarch, who is represented by a governor general appointed on the advice of the Australian government. According to the strict rule underlying the parliamentary system, this nominal head of state acts only with the knowledge of the government, in particular the prime minister. The Prime Minister is traditionally the leader of the parliamentary majority party.

The key role in the country's economy belongs to the mining industry and agriculture, which significantly distinguishes Australia from other industries. developed countries and somehow brings her closer to Canada. The country ranks first in the world in the extraction of bauxite, zinc, diamonds, second in the extraction of iron ore, uranium and lead, and third in the extraction of nickel and gold. It is also one of the world leaders in the extraction of coal, manganese, silver, copper, and tin. Australian fuel and raw materials are sent mainly to Japan, the USA and Western Europe. Oil and natural gas resources provide for the country's domestic needs.

Australia also occupies a leading position in the world in the extraction of precious (jewelry) stones, such as sapphire and opal.

Agriculture is highly commercial, diversified, technically well equipped, and has a pronounced export character. By total cost Australia's agricultural exports are second only to the United States, and their value per capita is second to none. The country exports wheat, meat, sugar, sheep wool, in terms of the number of which it ranks first in the world. The most important and specific branch of Australian animal husbandry is sheep breeding.

Australia's main trade relations are developing with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Leading trading partners include Japan, the United States, New Zealand, The Republic of Korea. Economic relations with Russia occupy an insignificant place.

australia oceania geographic population

2. General characteristics of Oceania: geographical location, natural conditions, population, cultural and historical development

Oceania is the largest cluster of islands in the world, concentrated in the central and western parts of the Pacific Ocean between 28 ° N. latitude. and 52°S, 130°E and 105°W total area region - more than 800 thousand km2, which is only 0.7% of the Pacific Ocean, where they are located. Therefore, the distance between the islands often exceeds many thousands of kilometers. Total population The population of the region exceeds 12 million people.

The division of Oceania into Melanesia (Black Islands), Polynesia (Multi-island) and Micronesia (Small Islands) is due to the proposal of the French explorer Dumont-Durville in 1832, who based his differentiation on a formerly racial basis. Micronesians (Marshall, Caroline, Mariana, Gilbert and Nauru) and Polynesians (Marquesas, Society Islands, Tuamotu, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Hawaiian, Easter) have many features of the Mongoloid race. The Melanesians (New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, Fiji) are close to the natives of Australia.

The beginning of the European exploration of Oceania was laid by the Portuguese and Spanish conquistadors in the era of great geographical discoveries. The process of sovereignization in Oceania began in the 60s. 20th century The states of the region are among the smallest and smallest. Even such a "giant" on the scale of Oceania, as Papua New Guinea(PNG), has a population of 5.3 million people, followed by the Republic of Fiji - less than 1 million. developing countries Oceania and states with a population of several thousand people.

Island states are distinguished by their extremely small population (the exception is Papua New Guinea, where the population exceeds 5.5 million people). Motley is ethnic composition the population of the islands. Local languages are divided into two groups - Papuan and Austronesian (or Malayo-Polynesian). The Papuans are settled more compactly, making up the majority of the population of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. As for the Austronesians (their number in Oceania reaches 500!), the inhabitants of the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia belong to the Melanesian group of peoples; the inhabitants of the Caroline, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Nauru belong to the Micronesian group of peoples; the inhabitants of the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau, Cook (Maori, Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tonga, etc.) - to the Polynesian group. The population of the Fiji Islands is Hindi speaking. On some islands there are colonies of Chinese, Filipinos, Javanese, etc.

Within Oceania, the following physiographic regions are more or less clearly distinguished:

1. New Guinea and adjacent islands (the natural specificity of one of the largest islands in the world - New Guinea, as well as the adjacent Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago and others, is determined primarily by the equatorial position; the dominant type of vegetation is forests, including humid tropical ; along the low coasts (especially in New Guinea) strips of mangroves stretch);

2. New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and Fiji (the region is further from the equator than New Guinea, and is under the predominant influence of the southeast trade winds);

3. Micronesia, which is a group of islands (Marian, Caroline, Marshall, Palau, Anson, Gilbert) of coral or volcanic origin;

4. Central and Southern Polynesia, which includes the archipelagos of Samoa, Cook, Society, Tubuai, Marquesas, Line and others, elongated, as a rule, from northwest to southeast along fault lines that cross the bottom of the Pacific Ocean;

5. Northern Polynesia, represented by the Hawaiian Islands, located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean (south of the Northern Tropic);

6. New Zealand is the only physical and geographical region of Oceania that lies in subtropical and temperate latitudes.

Before the advent of Europeans, the indigenous inhabitants of Oceania were engaged in hunting, fishing, and primitive agriculture. The colonialists, using fertile natural conditions and free labor, began to plant plantation farms specialized in export crops such as coconut palm, sugar cane, rubber plants, pineapples, bananas, coffee, and cocoa. The export of valuable wood species was widely carried out. As a result, the economy of the islands acquired an export monocultural character.

Oceania includes 26 territories, 10 of which (including New Zealand) are independent states (Table 11.2), and part of the possessions of developed countries. Most of the non-sovereign territories are, in fact, US colonial possessions (American Samoa, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Midway Island, Micronesia, Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, Wake Island), having the status of "non-aligned territories of the United States", "freely associated with United States" or "Commonwealth in political union with the United States".

There are also paradoxes. Thus, the independent state of Papua New Guinea, located in the eastern part of the island, belongs to Oceania, and the western part of the island is the territory of Indonesia and, therefore, is part of Southeast Asia. The Hawaiian Islands occupy a special place in Oceania. Geographically, they belong to the Oceania region, but are a territory (50th state) of the United States.

a state with a developed market economy is also New Zealand (related to the countries of Oceania), located mainly on two islands - North and South, separated by the Cook Strait.

A common feature for states and possessions in Oceania is the limited resources (labor, land, minerals), which, along with the difficulties of inter-island communication, hinders the independent development of the economy. Main sphere activities of the population Agriculture, which has an export monoculture sector (coconut palm, sugar cane, pineapples, bananas, coffee, cocoa). At the turn of XX - XXI centuries. The countries of the region have discovered deposits of many types of minerals, including chromites, bauxites, and oil. The largest of them are explored in Papua New Guinea, which can seriously count on the use of mineral resources for economic growth. Already now this state is being promoted to the number of prominent exporters of copper concentrate and gold.

The export of agricultural or mineral raw materials is the main, and sometimes the only source of obtaining the currency necessary for socio-economic growth. The vast majority of the employed population works in agriculture. Oceania accounts for about 10% of the world's copra exports, 90% of the world's pineapple harvest. The industry is represented only by small enterprises for the primary processing of export crops, timber and mining.

All countries in Oceania have significant marine biological resources. total sea area economic zone Oceania states exceeds 12 million km2. Fishing is expanding (the annual catch reaches 300 thousand tons, which is less than 0.25% of the world catch). Developing international tourism. All major branches of the export economy are under the jurisdiction of international monopolies. At the same time, extremely sharp social problem region is massive unemployment.

A special place among the young states of Oceania is occupied by the Republic of Nauru. The island of the same name, on which it is located, is a tiny piece of land 53 km south of the equator. Independent since 1968*, the republic with a population of 12,000 (almost half of them are foreigners) has its own president, parliament, cabinet of ministers, and several departments, including foreign affairs. The road network of about 20 km is overloaded vehicles. This creates difficulties not only for pedestrians, but also for the national airline, which uses part of the highway to take off and land several of its aircraft. The main thing the republic is famous for is phosphorites. Due to the unusually low cost of their extraction, carried out by a state-owned company, the country, by selling phosphorites on the foreign market, receives significant income. At present, the Republic of Nauru is the most wealthy state region.

Phosphorite deposits are already almost exhausted. However, due to income from their exports, a large money fund and made investments in real estate abroad (mainly in Australia) so that in the future, after the complete depletion of phosphorites, the country could exist on interest and dividends. In recent years, Nauru has also been actively developing offshore financial activities. There are about 400 offshore banks in the country. Opening a bank in Nauru is quite simple, which gives the island a reputation as a dubious offshore center.

In general, the countries of Oceania, in terms of the level of well-being of the local population, can be divided into at least into four groups:

1. the tiny state of Nauru -- the only country Oceania (without New Zealand), where GDP per capita in some years (due to income from the development of phosphorites) reached 15 thousand US dollars or more. It is easy to see that in terms of the type of economy, Nauru is closest to Bahrain, Qatar, Brunei, etc.;

2. The second group includes Fiji with a GDP per capita of about 6 thousand US dollars. For many years, this former English colony was the epitome of a plantation economy focused on growing sugar cane. Today, the former specialization has been supplemented by the tourism industry and the manufacturing industry;

3. Papua - New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu - countries where GDP per capita is approximately 2 -6 thousand US dollars. They are characterized by the preservation of traditional ways, the weak development of commodity-money relations, and the predominance of agriculture. Along with this, the mining industry is developing in Papua New Guinea, the fish processing industry in the Solomon Islands, and the service sector in Vanuatu;

4. small island states - Tonga, Kiribati and Tuvalu with GDP per capita from 1 to 2 thousand US dollars and specialization of the economy in agriculture (production of copra and other products of tropical agriculture).

At the same time, all the countries of Oceania have many common strategic aspects of economic development associated, for example, with the development of marine biological resources and seabed resources, the development of highly commercial tropical agriculture, etc.

When analyzing the current socio-economic situation, one should keep in mind the fact that the reason for the capture of the islands of Oceania was not economic, but military-strategic. Very often the islands "changed" their owners, passed from hand to hand. Some states, having achieved independence, adopted various forms devices. Former British colonies remained in the Commonwealth, a number of territories declared free association with the United States, French Polynesia has the status of an "overseas territory" of France, etc.

IN early XXI V. the countries of Oceania are characterized by territorial disunity, small statehood and small population, relative poverty of the natural resource base, the predominance of the consumer agricultural sector, economic specialization in the development of recreational and tourist industries, transit and transport, etc.

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Population

Indeed, despite the fact that Australia is developing according to all European demographic laws - low birth rate and low mortality, it also has its own differences. A large influx of the working-age population into this country sets a population growth figure of more than 215,000 people in 2016.

Another feature of the population is its density. It is considered the lowest in the world - 2 people per 1 sq. km. km among the total indicators by country. And although urbanization, again European, is very high - 86%, a city with a population of more than 1000 people is considered a city here. There are only 5 cities in Australia with a population of over 1 million - Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. In the capital of the country - Canberra - only about half a million inhabitants.

By last census population, Australia has twenty-four and a half million inhabitants. Australia is a multinational country, and here is another amazing statistic - 25% of all residents were not born in the Commonwealth of Australia, and another 25% of the population have both parents who are not indigenous, and the next 25% have at least one of the parents born not in Australia.

Australian industry

For the development of industry, and especially energy and engineering, the country always needs its own minerals. Australia has ample reserves of natural gas, as well as hard and lignite coal. There is little oil here, and it is mostly imported. But in terms of uranium mining, the country ranks second in the world. A large number of colored and precious metals. The country ranks first in the extraction of lead, opals, manganese, gold and silver and iron ore.

Energy

(Coal plant in the mountains of Australia)

Power plants run on their own fuel, and in the mountains of Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains, hydroelectric power plants produce 10% of the electricity of the Commonwealth.

mechanical engineering

(Australian car manufacturer Holden, originally independent, now part of General Motors)

Automotive industry, aircraft industry in the country at the proper level. Australia is one of the few countries in the world that is engaged in its own automotive industry from design inventions to production. Agricultural engineering in the country is a vital industry, and it is developing according to modern quality standards.

Transport

(Australia's neat rail lines)

Since Australia is located at a great distance from other states, it has a lot of ports. Sea freight transportation takes the first place in the entire logistics of the country. Numerous iron and car roads solve the problems of transportation within the state.

Agriculture

For most of its history, Australia has been an agricultural country. The phrase "Australia rides a sheep" meant that the country has a well-developed sheep breeding. And today, sheep breeding is not the last place in animal husbandry in Australia. Export of mutton today is more than 400 thousand Australian dollars. But the breeding and sale of cattle is now in first place in the agricultural sector of the country. Last year, beef exports amounted to more than 900 thousand AU$. The sale of own dairy products is in 4th place in the country's exports.

(Sheep farming in Australia)

Australia manufactures a large number of wool and cotton. Fish farming and aquaculture - growing every year. But poultry breeding and beekeeping are focused mainly on the domestic market.

(Australia's amazing blue salt ponds)

Like any state, the Australian economy directly depends on its geophysical and climatic conditions. With the exception of remoteness and frequent droughts, the rest of the problems are overcome by the country painlessly, and Australia has long been solving these two shortcomings with small losses.

Due to the long period of colonial domination and some other factors in the vast majority of countries in Oceania has not received significant development. These are mainly agrarian countries, whose economy is based on tropical - the cultivation of various vegetables and fruits, and partly animal husbandry. Such types of agricultural production, in which the colonial powers were interested, were predominantly developed (for example, the cultivation of coconut palms - their fruits are in the form of dried pulp - copra is used to produce various products). Only in some countries (Caledonia, Nauru), where mineral raw materials were available, a mining industry was created.

A significant brake on social economic development were also the geographical disunity of most of the island territories, their remoteness from each other, and their position on the periphery of the world capitalist market. All these factors taken together contributed to the social and economic conservation of the oceanic countries.

As a result of the rule of the colonizers of the countries of Oceania over time, they turned into raw material appendages of the metropolises, which exported agricultural and industrial raw materials from there. And although, as already mentioned above, at present, many countries have received or achieved self-government, their economic and social enslavement continues, but in the form of neo-colonialism. Using the economic backwardness of countries, their lack of funds to finance the economy, monopoly associations, individual entrepreneurs from Japan, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand invest their capital in the development of industries that are beneficial to them. Foreign capitalists are also attracted by mineral raw materials, favorable conditions for the production of products of tropical agriculture: fruits of coconut palms, coffee, cocoa beans, bananas; fish wealth, the opportunity to develop a very profitable sector of the economy - and much more. And they organize forest development here, create mining enterprises, fish, develop transport and communications, build airfields and piers, trade enterprises, hotels and tourist centers.

Controlling the economies of Oceania, the imperialist powers also direct their social life, establishing the rules and norms inherent in the bourgeois social system.

For modern economy Oceania is characterized by the presence of different social structures. In most countries, the basis of the economy is the subsistence or semi-subsistence farms of the islanders, where they are grown for own needs tropical and, contained in a small number of birds and livestock. Part of the products produced in these farms is sold.

In many countries there are large capitalist plantation farms using cheap labor force. some of these farms were created by the colonialists on the lands taken away by the indigenous people. Now these large-scale capitalist enterprises, where the fruits of coconut palms, bananas and other crops that are in great demand on the world market, are produced, are owned not only by individual farmers, but also by monopoly associations. The latter carry out the storage of the crop, its processing and marketing. They also lease land to small farmers.

With the development of the capitalist plantation economy and economic ties with outside world traditional local economic has undergone profound changes. Small tenant farmers from among the local population appeared, and the development of commodity-money relations intensified. However, to this day, a significant part of the indigenous population is not drawn into the commodity sector of the economy.

Oceanic countries conduct foreign trade mainly with Australia, New Zealand, USA, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, France. As mentioned above, these states export mineral raw materials, various agricultural products from Oceania, and import industrial and food products there. Thus, it remains one of the channels for the economic expansion of the major capitalist powers. The table below shows (in %) their participation in foreign trade some oceanic states in the late 70s.

Dependence of the countries of Oceania from the big capitalist powers in the sphere of trade, as well as the penetration of foreign capital into all areas of their economic and social life, hinders the achievement of economic independence of the island states, poses a threat to their sovereignty. This prompts the oceanic states to look for ways and means to unite in order to overcome economic and social backwardness by joint efforts and solve problems common to all.

: · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Plan:

Introduction.

Geographic location of Australia and Oceania.

Natural resources and conditions.

Population of the country. Demographic situation.

Household:

Industry.

Ferrous metallurgy

Non-ferrous metallurgy

Fuel and energy industry

Chemical and oil refining industry

building materials industry

Light industry

food industry

mechanical engineering

Agriculture.

Geography of transport.

Foreign economic relations.

Import

Export

Conclusion.

List of literary sources.

Introduction:

Realizing that in the 11th grade it is necessary to take a lot of subjects and there is such an opportunity to reduce the number of subjects, I decided on this, I decided that it would be nice to start doing it, but I found out that I was not the only one taking the same subject, I decided to compete. And find out whose project will be better.

Why Australia? I just would like to get there, get to the whole continent, go there, admire the business part of Sydney, look at people to show themselves. The abstract is a good excuse to get to know this country better. Get to know everyone better. Find out what Australia is. Find out why there is little fresh water. As I described in the abstract.

The structure of this essay is not something unusual and extraordinary

What I mean to say is that history influences natural conditions, the many changes in Australia's frontiers have affected geographic location and consequently natural conditions), which in turn affect the distribution of population, and all this already affects the geography of industry and foreign economic relations.

G
geographical position.

Australia is the only state in the world that occupies the territory of an entire continent, therefore Australia has only maritime borders. Australia's neighboring countries are New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other island states of Oceania. Australia is remote from the developed countries of America and Europe, large markets for raw materials and sales of products, but many sea routes connect Australia with them, and Australia also plays an important role in the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia has a federal structure and includes 6 states:

The capital of Australia is Canberra.

A state located on the mainland of Australia and a number of nearby islands, the largest of which is the island of Tasmania. Total area - 7,682,300 km 2 (land area - 7,617,930 km 2). The length of the coastline is 25,760 km. The Great Barrier Reef stretches along the northeastern coast in the Karal Sea, the length of which is 2,500 km. Along the eastern coast, leaving a narrow coastal strip, from Cape York in the north to Bass Strait in the south and continuing on the island of Tasmania, stretches the Great Dividing Range, 3,300 km long. Its average height is 300-400, the highest part is the southern Australian Alps (Mount Kostyusha 2228 m). In the center of the mainland there is a vast zone of lowlands, most of which are the basins of the Murray (Mary) River and Lake Eyre, as well as the Nullarbor Plain. In the west of the country is the Great Western Plateau with four deserts: the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy Desert, the Gibson Desert and the Simson Desert. Australia is very poor in fresh water. The main part of the rivers is located in the north: the Murray (Murray), Darling and others. The rivers located in the center and in the west are strange, they dry up in the summer season. Most of the country's lakes are salty. The largest Lake Eyre is no exception, with a water level below sea level by 12m. Australia has minerals: coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, lead, zinc, diamonds, there is also natural gas and oil. Meadows and pastures occupy most of the country's territory (58%), 6% is allocated for arable land.

Oceania

Oceania is the world's largest cluster of islands in archipelagos in the central and southwestern Pacific Ocean. The islands and archipelagos of Oceania are located in the vast Pacific Ocean between 29 0 N. latitude. and 53 0 s. sh. and 130 0 east. and 109 0 w.d. All of Oceania, except for two relatively large land masses - New Guinea (829 thousand sq. Km.) And New Zealand (265 thousand sq. Km.), consists of nearly 7 thousand islands. The total area of Oceania is only about 1.3 million square meters. km.

Melanesia, located in the western part of Oceania, includes New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the D Antcasto Islands, the Louisiade Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, the Santa Cruz Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, the Fiji Islands and a number of others. The total area of Melanesia (Black Island) is 969 thousand square meters. km, of which almost 6/7 falls on New Guinea - this microcontinent of Melanesia.

Polynesia (multi-island), stretching from the extreme southwest to the eastern limits of Oceania, includes the islands: New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis, Horn, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Cook, Tubuai, Societies, Tuamotu, Marquesas, Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island and others. The area of Polynesia without New Zealand is only 26 thousand square meters. km, and 17 thousand of them are in the Hawaiian Islands.

Micronesia (small island), occupying the northwestern part of Oceania, is a collection of small, tiny islands and archipelagos, predominantly of coral, but also of volcanic origin. The most important island groups of Micronesia are the Caroline, Mariana, Marshall and Gilbert Islands. The total area of the islands of Micronesia is only about 2.6 thousand square meters. km, but these islands are scattered over a vast expanse of water with an area of 14 million square meters. km.

On most of the islands of Oceania, natural conditions are basically favorable for human life. It is not surprising that man has populated almost all of Oceania, mastered even the most remote and small patches of land, having had a considerable impact on the natural world of the islands over the past millennia.

The total population of Oceania is currently about 10 million people. Of these, 5 million live in Melanesia, 4.5 million in Polynesia and over 0.3 million in Micronesia.

The modern population of Oceania consists of three main components. The first component is the indigenous people, whose ancestors mastered the archipelagos of Oceania a millennium ago. The second is the newcomer population. These descendants come from Europe, Asia and America, whose migration continues to this day. And the third - the most diverse groups of mixed origin.

The basis of modern political map Oceania was formed as a result of the long and stubborn struggle of the colonial powers for the division among themselves of the oceanic archipelagos and individual islands. Until the beginning of the 60s of our century, there was only one independent state in Oceania - New Zealand, created by colonists from England, Scotland and Ireland. In the last decade, in the context of the general crisis of capitalism and the collapse of the world colonial system in Oceania, the national liberation movement has intensified.

Oceania is an ethnographic concept rather than a geographical one. Many of the oceanic islands differ significantly from one another in their size, vegetation, soils, natural resources. These differences are connected, first of all, with their origin. Islands in the ocean are a special natural-territorial complexes, including various rocks, fresh ground or surface waters, soils, terrestrial vegetation and wildlife. These are peculiar micromeres scattered on the surface of ocean waters and representing ecological systems.

By origin, the islands of Oceania belong to four types: volcanic, biogenic, geosynclinal and continental. Volcanic islands range in size from a few square kilometers to several thousand kilometers. Biogenic islands are formed by animal organisms. These are coral reefs, including. Geosynclinal islands are found in the western part of the ocean, in the continuation of the earth's crust of the transitional continent. The mainland islands are entire mountainous countries.

Islands in Oceania are washed by the waters of warm seas. Almost all of it lies in the tropical zone, and only New Zealand and its neighboring islands are in the subtropics. At the same time, the water environment is diverse in its properties, and these differences are clearly manifested in the landscapes of the islands and affect the life of the peoples inhabiting them. Water currents not only carry heat or cold, but also contribute to the settlement of organisms. The main direction of movement of surface water masses in Oceania is from east to west. The waters of the seas and oceans washing the islands of Oceania are rich in biological resources. The mineral resources of the seabed are significant.

Climate. Warm, even, mild - such a climate can be described in Oceania. The position of the islands in the equatorial and tropical latitudes causes high air temperatures. At the same time, the winds from the ocean significantly soften the heat, so the climate of the tropical islands is one of the most comfortable on the globe. It is no coincidence that the Pacific Islands attract a huge number of tourists. There are two climatic regions in Oceania: trade winds and monsoons. The first occupies the eastern and central parts of this territory of the Pacific Ocean, the second - its western part, including the island of New Guinea.

However, different islands have different climates. Within the vast expanse of Oceania, there are great differences in the temperature conditions of winter and summer, in the amount of atmospheric precipitation and its constancy, in the susceptibility of the islands to tropical hurricanes.

Natural resources and conditions.

Australia is rich in a variety of minerals. New discoveries of mineral ores made on the continent over the past 10-15 years have pushed the country to one of the first places in the world in terms of reserves and extraction of such minerals as iron ore, bauxite, lead-zinc ores.

The largest deposits of iron ore in Australia, which began to be developed since the 60s of our century, are located in the region of the Hamersley Range in the north-west of the country (the Mount Newman, Mount Goldsworth, etc. deposits). Iron ore is also found on the Kulan and Kokatu Islands in King's Bay (in the northwest), in the state of South Australia in the Middleback Range (Iron-Knob, etc.) and in Tasmania - the Savage River deposit (in the Savage river valley).

Large deposits of semi-metals (lead, zinc with an admixture of silver and copper) are located in the western desert part of the state of New South Wales - the Broken Hill deposit. An important center for the extraction of non-ferrous metals (copper, lead, zinc) has developed near the Mount Isa deposit (in the state of Queensland). Deposits of semimetals and copper are also found in Tasmania (Reed Rosebury and Mount Lyell), copper - in Tennant Creek (Northern Territory) and in other places.

The main gold reserves are concentrated in the ledges of the Precambrian basement and in the southwest of the mainland (Western Australia), in the area of the cities of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, Northman and Wiluna, as well as in Queensland. Smaller deposits are found in almost all states.

Bauxites occur on the Cape York Peninsula (Waype Field) and Arnhem Land (Gow Field), as well as in the southwest, in the Darling Range (Jarradale Field).

Uranium deposits have been found in various parts of the mainland: in the north (Arnhemland Peninsula) - near the South and East Alligator rivers, in the state of South Australia - near Lake. Frome, in the state of Queensland - the Mary-Katlin field and in the western part of the country - the Yillirri field.

The main deposits of coal are located in the eastern part of the mainland. The largest deposits of both coking and non-coking coal are developed near the cities of Newcastle and Lythgow (New South Wales) and the cities of Collinsville, Blair Atol, Bluff, Baralaba and Moura Kiang in Queensland.

Geological surveys have established that large deposits of oil and natural gas are located in the bowels of the Australian mainland and on the shelf off its coast. Oil has been found and produced in Queensland (the Mooney, Alton and Bennet fields), on Barrow Island off the northwestern coast of the mainland, and also on the continental shelf off the south coast of Victoria (the Kingfish field). Deposits of gas (the largest Ranken field) and oil have also been discovered on the shelf off the northwestern shores of the mainland.

Australia has large deposits of chromium (Queensland), Gingin, Dongara, Mandarra (Western Australia), Marlin (Victoria).