Music

the music in Australia it's to much varied, But the most popular style is the Rock, those are so many groups of Rock from Australia:

• AC/DC
• BB Steal
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Radio Birdman
• Silverchair
• The Celibate Rifles
• The Church
• The Easybeats
• The Living End
• The Sleepy Jackson
• The Spektors
• The Third Ending
• The temper trap



Sports

Sport, supported by a climate that encourages outdoor activities, plays an important role in Australian culture. 23.5% of Australians over the age of 15 regularly participate in organized sports activities. Internationally, Australia has significant teams in cricket, hockey, netball, rugby league and rugby union, and also excels in cycling, rowing and swimming. Nationally, other popular sports include Australian rules football, horse racing, football and motorsports. Australia has participated in each of the editions of the Olympic Games of the modern era and in every Commonwealth Games. Has hosted the 1956 Olympics and 2000 and was among the five countries with the most medals won since the 2000 games. Furthermore, it is the only southern hemisphere country to have won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. In Australia also held the Commonwealth Games, 1938, 1962, 1982 and 2006. Other major international events that take place frequently in this country include the Formula 1 race known as the Grand Prix of Australia, cricket competitions worldwide. In tennis Australians are known for their serve and volley game and enjoy quality tennis players Lleyton Hewitt, Samantha Stosur, Alicia Molik and others, also celebrate the Australia Open in Melbourne, one of four tennis tournaments Grand Slam. Corporate and government sponsorship of many sports and elite athletes is common. Televised sport is also popular, some of the highest marks in the audience rating was achieved by programs that televised the Olympics and the finals of football competitions, both local and international. In 1983 Australia II was proclaimed winner of the America's Cup sailing. Being the first time in the history of the Copa America, a non-American boat was proclaimed winner of the Cup of a hundred guineas.

Olimpic Games in Sydney

Culture

ª     Architecture of Australia

-Australian architectural styles

Architectural styles have been basically exotic and derivative. Only recently have climate and environment played a major role.
There are 2 main categories: "Residential" and "Non-Residential". Residential styles are the most prolific and account for the majority of the buildings constructed in Australia.
Buildings were often heavily influenced by the origins of their patrons, hence while the British would like to be reminded of their Gothic churches and Tudoresque cottages of a perfect England, the Dutch, German, Polish, Greek, Italian and other nationalities would also attempt to recreate the architecture of their homelands.

There are many notable structures, of particular importance are:

o   The Sydney Opera House, original design being by Jørn Utzon (UNESCO World Heritage)

o   The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne (UNESCO World Heritage)

o   Federation Square, Melbourne

o   Parliament House, Canberra

o   Sydney Harbour Bridge

                   

ª     Australian literature

Australian literature began soon after the settlement of the country by Europeans. Common themes include indigenous and settler identity, alienation, exile and relationship to place.

**Poetry

Poetry played an important part in the founding of Australian literature. Henry Lawson, son of a Norwegian sailor born in 1867, was widely recognised as Australia’s poet of the people and, in 1922, became the first Australian writer to be honoured with a state funeral. Two poets who are amongst the great Australian poets are Christopher Brennan and Adam Lindsay Gordon; Gordon was once referred to as the "national poet of Australia" and is the only Australian with a monument in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in England.

Both Gordon’s and Brennan's (but particularly Brennan’s) works conformed to traditional styles of poetry, with many classical allusions, and therefore fell within the domain of high culture. However, at the same time Australia was blessed with a competing, vibrant tradition of folk songs and ballads. Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson were two of the chief exponents of these popular ballads, and 'Banjo' himself was responsible for creating what is probably the most famous Australian verse, "Waltzing Matilda". Romanticised views of the outback and the rugged characters that inhabited it played an important part in shaping the Australian nation’s psyche, just as the cowboys of the American Old West and the gauchos of the Argentine pampa became part of the self-image of those nations.

Prominent Australian poets of the twentieth century include A. D. Hope, Judith Wright, Gwen Harwood, Kenneth Slessor, Les Murray and more recently John Forbes and John Tranter. More recent and emerging Australian poets include Peter Minter and Judith Beveridge.

Contemporary Australian poetry is mostly published by small, independent book publishers. However, other kinds of publication, including new media and online journals, spoken word and live events, and public poetry projects are gaining an increasingly vibrant and popular presence. Some of the more interesting and innovative contributions to Australian poetry have emerged from artist-run galleries in recent years, such as Textbase which had its beginnings as part of the 1st Floor gallery in Fitzroy. In addition, Red Room Company is a major exponent of innovative projects.

Enviroment

While much of Australia is desert or semi-arid, there exists a great diversity of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Due to the great age of the continent, low soil fertility, the different climates vary and their long isolation from other continents, the Australian biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, over 45% of birds, and 90% of fish in temperate coastal areas are endemic. Many of Australia's ecoregions and native species that live there are threatened by human activities and the introduction of exotic species. Minutes of Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation 1999 is the legal framework used for the protection of endangered species. Many protected areas have been created by the Action Plan of Biodiversity to protect and conserve the continent's unique ecosystems, 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention and there are also 16 sites declared World Heritage Site. Australia is ranked No. 13 in the world in the Environmental Sustainability Index 2005.

The Koala, symbol of Australia

 

Goverment

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is currently the head of the Australian State and use the formal title of Queen of Australia, to play a different role to that exercised in other realms of the Commonwealth. She is nominally represented by the Governor General at the federal level and the governor of each state. Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to Governor General, the implementation of them is usually held only on the advice of the Prime Minister. The most notable exercise of power reserved to the Governor General, out of the leadership of Prime Minister, was over from Gough Whitlam latter's political position during the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975. [12]
There are three branches in the government of Australia:
Legislature: Parliament of Australia, including the Queen, the Senate and House of Representatives. The Queen is represented by the Governor General, who in practice only exercises constitutional power with the approval of the Prime Minister. Executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor General in accordance with the Executive Directors). In practice, the directors are the Prime Minister and Ministers of State. Judiciary: the Supreme Court of Australia and other federal courts. The state courts formally became independent Judicial Committee of the Privy Council when the Australia Act was passed in 1986. 

Parliament Building

Geography of Australia

Australia is one of 14 independent countries that make up Oceania and is the sixth largest in the world. Surrounded by the Indian, Antarctic and Pacific Glacier is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor Seas.
The 7,686,850 km ² in area of Australia are in the Indo-Australian plate. Australia has a coastline of 25,760 km and calls for extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 km ². This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.
The Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world, is in Australia.
A huge part of the country is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited country and flat, and has less fertile soils. Only in the southeast and southwest there is a temperate climate. The northern part of the country with a tropical climate, has a vegetation consisting mainly of rainforests, forests, grasslands, swamps and deserts. The climate is strongly influenced by low pressure systems that produce seasonal tropical cyclones in the northern region, and ocean currents, including the oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon El Niño, which is correlated with periodic drought.



Australian History

The history of Australia, start more or less bwteen the year 1700 starting with the Settlement and colonization.

New South Wales (1788), Van Diemen's Land now Tasmania (1825), Western Australia (1832), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859). The Northern Territory was founded in 1863 as part of the colony of South Australia. Victoria and South Australia were founded as "free", ie they were never penal colonies, though you did receive some prisoners from Tasmania, never in the UK. Western Australia was also founded free, but later agreed to transport due to the severe shortage of manpower suffering. New Zealand belonged to New South Wales until 1840, when it became a colony by itself. The transportation of convicts was being gradually abolished throughout Australia until between 1840 and 1864.
From February 1, 1827 until June 12, 1831, the Northern Territory was divided by latitude 20 ° S in Northern Australia and Central Australia. A small portion of New South Wales, was founded in 1915 the Jervis Bay Territory, which covers only 6,677 hectares, belonged to the Australian Capital Territory until 1989, when the latter acquired self-government, after which Jervis Bay became a separate territory administered by the Ministry of Territories.

Australia

Is a country located in the southern hemisphere in Oceania. Occupies the main landmass called Sahul platform, plus a few islands in the Pacific, Indian and Antarctic. The countries closest to Australia are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world.
Its capital, Canberra, is located in the Australian Capital Territory. The population in 2006 was approximately 20.6 million habitants, concentrated mainly in large coastal cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Australia has been inhabited for more than forty-two thousand years by indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from northern and European explorers and traders began in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by England in 1770 and in 1788 he established a penal colony in New South Wales. Due to the installation of settlers, population growth and the exploration of new areas during the nineteenth century were established over five other British colonies.
On March 25, 1954, the six colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Since its inception has maintained a liberal democratic political system and has remained a monarchy within the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Austalia coat of arms