Orange County NC Website
DocuSign Envelope ID:8COC6AOF-56EE-46F5-A733-01 0A357A1 EFA <br /> DIDGERIDOO DOWN UNDER <br /> Study Guide <br /> by Darren Liebman <br /> Imagine a mysteriously diverse and beautiful land on the entirely other side of the planet ... <br /> A land of endless coastline, vast deserts, verdant forests and towering cliffs ... <br /> A land containing some of the most unique and varied wildlife on earth ... <br /> A land that's been inhabited for many thousands of years by a mystical, nature-loving people ... <br /> A land that produces an instrument called the didgeridoo, which sounds and looks as exotic as its <br /> name ... <br /> A Land Down Under ... <br /> A land called Australia! <br /> AUSTRALIA: The Land <br /> ... is an island, country and continent located between the South Pacific and Indian Oceans in the <br /> area of the world known as Oceania. It's the world's largest island, the only island continent, and the only <br /> country that's a continent. It's the world's sixth largest country, but is the smallest continent, followed <br /> by Europe, Antarctica, North America, South America, Africa and Asia. <br /> ... is nicknamed The Land Down Under because it's located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. <br /> It is named after the Latin word oustralis, which means "southern." It was once connected to what is <br /> now known as Antarctica, via the super-continent Gondwana; about 50 million years ago, it separated and <br /> drifted north. Because Australia and North America are located in opposite hemispheres, their seasons <br /> are reversed. Australia's east coast is 14-16 hours ahead of Florida, depending on the month. <br /> ... is about the same size as the United States, minus Alaska and Hawaii, but has for fewer people. <br /> Australia, the world's sixth largest country, is home to approximately 22.7 million people, according to <br /> 2011 projections, while the U.S. has a population of about 312 million. Eighty percent of Australia's <br /> population lives along the coast. <br /> ... is the earth's flattest and driest continent, but includes a wide array of terrain: desert, <br /> mountains, swamps, rain forest (about one percent of the continent) and about 22,000 miles of coastline <br /> (more beaches than any other country). The vast desert area that takes up much of central and western <br /> Australia (about a third of the continent), including the Simpson, Gibson, Great Sandy and Victoria <br /> Deserts, is nicknamed the "outback." Uluru, a.k.a. Ayers Rock, the famous free-standing rock that sits <br /> near the country's center, is the world's second-largest monolith, measuring 1,000 feet high, 2.2 miles <br /> long and 1.5 miles wide. The tallest mountain is 7,310-foot Mount Kosciuszko, located in the Snowy <br /> Mountains range, New South Wales. The world's largest coral reef domain, the Great Barrier Reef, <br /> extends about 1,245 miles along the northeast coast. Australia's major rivers are the Murray and the <br /> Darling, located mostly in the southeastern part of the country. <br /> ... comprises six states - New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania (an island off <br /> the eastern-southern coast), Victoria and Western Australia - and two mainland territories, Australian <br /> Capital Territory and Northern Territory. These territories function similarly to states, but the <br /> Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their territorial parliaments. Australia also has <br /> several overseas territories, including two in Antarctica. <br /> ... has five cities of more than 1 million people each, as of 2011: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, <br /> Adelaide and Perth. Its capital, however, is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. Other <br />