Geography
Australia's capital city
Canberra
Which country's colony was Australia before?
Great Britain's colony
What's Australia's national animal?
The kangaroo
What's the name of Australia's indigenous people?
Aboriginals / Aborigines
Which Australian city is famous for its opera house?
Sydney (Sydney Opera House - opened in 1973)
What place has Australia in the top 10 largest countries by size?
3rd - 6th - 9th largest country
6th largest country in the world
What colours are included in the Australian flag?
red, white, blue
What is the deadliest animal around? (a water animal)
the box jellyfish
Which of these instruments is a traditional Aboriginal one?
didgeridoo - Jembe drums - flute
The didgeridoo (the longest playable one is 4 metres long!)
What is the population of Australia?
About 19, 25 or 27 million?
About 27 million inhabitants
Which desert covers much of central Australia?
The Great Victoria Desert
When did the first Europeans arrive in Australia (on an expedition)?
1590 - 1770 - 1812
1770 arrived James Cook with the first European ship.
What is the Uluru? Name 2 facts.
a red sandstone rock formation / in the centre of Australia / sacred site for Aboriginals / old name: Ayer's Rock
True or false?
The Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth.
TRUE! Their ancestries are stretching back roughly 75,000 years.
What is the name of Australia’s national airline?
Delta - Quantas - Condor - Saudia
Quantas (since 1920)
Name 3 federal states and/or territories of Australia.
Queensland, Northern Territory, Southern Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales
Who's the Head of State / monarch in Australia?
The British monarch / King Charles III (as head of the Commonwealth)
The Great Barrier Reef is in great danger from pollution and climate change.
True or false?
TRUE. The world's largest reef is changing dramatically and many species are endangered now.
How have the Aboriginals (without any written language) handed their knowledge down from generation to generation? (name 2 ways)
Through music (songlines and dancing), stories and paintings/carvings.
What is considered Australia's national dish?
Roast lamb
How high is the highest mountain in Australia:
around 1500 m, 2000 m or 3000 m?
Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 metres)
[mownt ko·zee·o·skow]
What does PENAL COLONY mean (which Australia was between 1788 and 1868)?
The British government transported about 162,000 convicts (80% were thieves) from Great Britain and Ireland to various places in Australia. There they had to work hard as punishment for their crime (e.g. clearing forest for farming or working in service).
Which animals are ONLY found in the Australian wilderness?
Name three animals.
Koalas, (tree) kangaroos, platypus, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, wombats, quokkas, spiders (e.g. funnel-web spider and redback spider)
What happened to the "Stolen Generations" between 1910 and the 1970s (as shown in the film "The rabbit-proof fence")?
Many First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of various government policies. The claim was that Aboriginal children would assimilate more easily into white society by growing up in camps and orphanages run by churches, welfare organisations and the state.
Which is the closest country to Australia?
New Zealand - Indonesia - Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest neighbour (roughly 4 km separate the two countries at Saibai Island in the north of Australia).