Australia

Lake Eyre in outback South Australia is 15 metres belowsea level.

Do not confuse with Lake Erie, the smallest of the 5 Great Lakes of North America, whose waters, through the Niagara River, reach the 1,000-metre-wide Niagara Falls, dropping 176 feet [ 53.6 metres ] on their way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Australia's culture is essentially westernised, but also richly multicultural today, due to large numbers of immigrants, particularly since World War II. Because of this, many people celebrate a variety of cultural experiences from both Europe and and Asian influences. American influences have become stronger since the advent of TV and American television shows.

However, Australia still maintains something of its past, when it was based on pride in the land, on the bushies,stockmen, drovers and swagmen and the men who built their futures on the land, as well as the women who gave up everything to be with their husbands. The Bush and the Outback were concepts unique to Australia alone, so featured strongly in Australian literature, painting, popular music, films and foods - all of which make up the cultural experience. It was also from the bush (and the goldrush era) that bushrangers arose, along with the raising of certain bushrangers to legendary status.

Men such as Henry Lawson and Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson, who wrote about the land and the hardworking bushfolk, had a large part to play in the development of Australia's culture in this regard. They highlighted the courage of the Bush men and women, their endurance and determination, and their ability to overcome the impossible by sheer grit and hard work. These and later writers highlighted the way these people bounced back from tragedy (e.g. unpredictable bushfires and floods). Although the Aborigines were often treated poorly in reality, they, too, featured in Bush and Outback legends, being respected for their incredible stealth and tracking abilities, as well as sheer ingenuity at surviving in such a harsh land.

The Bush also epitomised freedom - freedom from authority (hence Waltzing Matilda and the swagman who escapes the law after stealing a sheep), spending one's days "on the wallaby track" and one's nights under the stars. The ability to live off the land transferred to the learning of survival skills, and this paved the way for the development of the ANZAC legends. Again, the common theme of grit, determination and surviving despite all odds is strong.

Oxley had hoped to solve the mystery of the westward-flowing rivers of New South Wales. He did not solve why the rivers flowed away from the coast instead of towards it, but he did make some significant discoveries.

• Oxley discovered and named the Bogan River, on 13 August 1817.
• On 26 August 1818 Oxley and George Evans climbed a hill and saw before them rich, fertile plains which they named the Liverpool Plains after Lord Liverpool, the British Prime Minister. This countryside is now some of the richest in New South Wales.
• On 23 October 1823, John Oxley sailed from Sydney to travel north along the coastline, with the aim of finding a suitable settlement for convicts in the north. In December, he came across the entrance to the Brisbane River, which ticket-of-leave convict timber-getters, Parsons, Pamphlett and Finnegan had already discovered by accident. Oxley was subsequently credited with the discovery of the Brisbane River. Just north of Brisbane also became the site of the first settlement in what is now Queensland.

Because either it is a whopping big island, or it's a small continent. And the decision was made to treat it as a big continent.

Further information:

Geographically, Australia is classed as a continent, not an island, for a number of specific reasons. As a landform, it could be considered an island as it is entirely surrounded by water and not joined onto any other land mass, and for this reason, it is often referred to as an island continent. Australia is too big to be formally classified as an island. The world's largest island is Greenland.

Another reason why Australia is also considered a continent is because it sits on its own tectonic plate. This is different from Greenland, which uses the same land mass as North America. That is why the geological appearances are much different in Australia from anywhere else. A place like Greenland shares the same geologic attributes as North America.

Australia and Antarctica are the only two true Continental Islands. That is, they are separated from all other continents by water. All other continents are connected by a landmass to at least one other Continent. If there are any waterways, they have been artificially created.

Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is primarily made of sandstone.

It is made up of around 50% feldspar, 25-35% quartz and up to 25% rock fragments.

There are major cities in Australia although, because of Australia's smaller population, they are certainly not among the world's most populated cities.

The largest city in Australia is Sydney, with a population of around 3.68 million people, ranks at number 80 on the list of the world's largest cities.

Australia has six states and two mainland territories.

The two mainland territories are:

• Northern Territory
• Australian Capital Territory

In addition, there are seven offshore territories:

• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Christmas Island
• Heard and MacDonald Islands
• Coral sea Islands Territory
• Australian Antarctic Territory
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands
• Norfolk Island