Explore the World: The Geography of Australia and the Pacific Realm

Explore the World: The Geography of Australia and the Pacific Realm — page 3
THINK LIKE GEOGRAPHER AMAZING AUSTRALIA The Great Dividing Range a mountain chain runs along Australia’s Australia is the largest island in the region covering 2,969,906 square miles 7,692,021 2 sq km The continent includes rain forests and farmland as well as dry desert lands Expansive forests can be found in Australia’s northern tropical regions east coast subtropical regions and warm and cool southeast temperate zones eastern coast The mountains are a source of water for Australia’s rivers and Australia’s main source of inland fresh water the Great Artesian Basin Many people settle along the coastline to enjoy its sandy beaches and famous water sports like surfing Australia can also be deadly It is home to deadly weather events like bushfires which can create fire tornados It is also home to some of the world’s deadliest animals like the box jellyfish the stonefish the inland taipan snake and the saltwater crocodile A ULURU ALSO KNOWN AS AYERS ROCK IS AN ISOLATED MASS OF WEATHERED ROCK IN AUSTRALIA’S SOUTHWESTERN NORTHERN TERRITORY AT 1,142 FEET 348 M ABOVE THE DESERT PLAIN IT’S THE WORLD’S LARGEST MONOLITH AND VERY IMPORTANT TO ABORIGINAL PEOPLE ABORIGINAL AN ADJECTIVE THAT DESCRIBES ANYONE FROM AN INDIGENOUS GROUP ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD OR SPECIFICALLY A MEMBER OF THE INDIGENOUS ABORIGINAL PEOPLES OF AUSTRALIA 6