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An
island continent located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Australia
combines a wide variety of landscapes. The highest mountains are part of
the Great Dividing Range that line the east coast from Cape York Peninsula
south to the state of Victoria. Most people reside along the southeast
coast, in cities like Melbourne or Sydney, because winds from the
southeast release rain there—leaving the interior beyond the mountains
arid or semiarid. West of the Great Dividing Range the landscape consists
mostly of plains and plateaus; the Macdonnell Ranges near the country's
center are an exception.
The
Great Artesian Basin provides underground water for a region that would
otherwise be desert. Vegetation ranges from rain forests in the far north
to steppes and deserts in the vast interior (which Australians call the
outback). There are more than 130 species of marsupials, such as
kangaroos, koalas, and wombats. The Murray-Darling River Basin, covering
about 14 percent of the continent, helps sustain wheat and wool
industries. |
Uluru