The driest continent. The driest continent on the planet

"The smallest continent on Earth" - Mainland Pangea. The smallest continent. Indigenous people of Australia. Australia. Causes of sparsely populated mainland. Continental drift hypothesis. The immigrant population of the mainland. The population of Australia. The most remote continent. Australia Square. The smallest, remote, sparsely populated mainland.

"The hottest continent" - Methods. East coast of the mainland. Australia's position. Climate maps of Australia. Meaning of an Australian joke. Climate indicators. Australia is the hottest continent. Climate of Australia. Climatic zones of Australia. Australia is the hottest and driest continent. Australian joke. Weather in Australia. The driest continent. Climate map of Australia.

"Australia is the hottest continent" - Deserts and semi-deserts. The mysterious continent of the planet. marsupial animals. State symbols. Australia. Australian nature. Endemic. Unique birds. Do you want to know more. Mysterious Continent. Can Australia be called a mysterious continent. natural areas Australia. vegetable and animal world mainland. Ancient oviparous. Unique plants.

"The smallest continent" - The most urbanized among the continents. The oldest race of people. The most best country. The most endemic continent. Great Barrier Reef. The largest number of sheep. climatic zones. Description plan geographical location. History of discovery and research. The oldest tropical forest on earth. The most flat continent. The smallest continent. The most big square internal drain. The most sparsely populated of the inhabited continents.

"Description of mainland Australia" - Number of people. Wild camels. independent colonies. Economy. political device. Predominance of the extractive sector. Geological structure. humanitarian organizations. Eucalyptus and acacia. The period after the Second World War. East Timor. Higher education. Music. Hydrology. Australia. Natural resources. Geographical position. Parliament. Relief. Political system. Britannia. Language. Armed forces.

"Australian mainland" - Flora and fauna. Australian zone. Climate. Biographical regions of the Earth. anthropogenic factors. The hottest part of all land. Geographical position. One pass animals. Australia. Temperate zone. Semi-deserts and deserts.

The six continents of the Earth are absolutely different from each other. For example, in Eurasia - the most diverse climatic conditions in the world. According to the climate, one can distinguish - Africa, the coldest - Antarctica. The wettest continent is South America. But Australia is the driest continent on Earth.

Reasons for low rainfall

Australia is divided almost in half, which means that tropical air prevails here. In most of the mainland, dry and hot tropical masses persist throughout the year, so there is very little rainfall. Above the tropics in both hemispheres of the Earth, areas of increased atmospheric pressure. In them, the air sinks and becomes drier, which leads to constant clear weather and an almost complete absence of precipitation.

Most of Australia receives no more than 250 mm of precipitation during the year. This is several times less than in the Moscow region. And given that it is much warmer, you can understand that the dryness of the air here is much greater than ours.

There is another reason that this is the driest continent on Earth. These are mountains in the east of the continent. In Australia, there are trade winds - winds blowing from the tropics to the equator. They are directed from Pacific Ocean to the mainland. Encountering mountains on their way, air masses rise up the slope, pouring rain on the east coast. And in the interior, the air comes already dried up and does not give precipitation.

Consequences of a dry climate

As a result of the aridity of the climate in the prevailing part of Australia, the most famous are located - Big Big Sandy, Gibson, Simpson. And in the area nicknamed the "dead heart of Australia", precipitation does not exceed 125 mm. And here no more than 20-30%.

There are few rivers in Australia. They mainly originate from the Great Dividing Range. The largest is the Murray with its main tributary, the Darling. But there are rivers in the north of the mainland, where the subequatorial climate prevails.

Flora and fauna of the driest continent on Earth

In such conditions, only adapted species of plants and animals that can withstand the dryness of the climate survive. In eucalyptus, dense leaves turn edge-to-edge. sunbeams to reduce evaporation. BUT long roots can extract water from a depth of tens of meters. There are also dwarf species eucalyptus trees, and tall trees. Thickets of this plant are dangerous with frequent fires, as essential oils, contained in the leaves, easily self-ignite in hot and dry conditions.

In the deserts, cereals (spinifex) and shrubs are also common - acacia, various saltworts, quinoa. Introduced in the 20th century, prickly pear cactus quickly spread and became a malicious weed.

Of the inhabitants of the desert, the most interesting is the Moloch - a small lizard, all covered with growths and spikes. It is able to absorb moisture from the entire surface of the skin. Other animals include various birds feeding on seeds of cereals, reptiles and insects.

Which continent is the driest?

Strange question, right? But the whole point is how to determine the driest continent on Earth.

If you take the driest place in the world, South America is ahead. Here, in the coastal Atacama Desert, there is no rainfall for years. Fog associated with cold weather is practically the only source of moisture.

According to the average amount of precipitation, Antarctica can also be attributed to the driest continents. On most of its precipitation is no more than 100 mm per year, and they fall in the form of "diamond dust" - small ice needles. But due to the exceptionally cold climate, snow accumulates, forming ice sheet mainland.

But among the places inhabited by man, the driest continent on Earth is Australia. Big stocks here groundwater used both for irrigation and for watering pastures.

Mainland Australia is the only one in the world where only one country with the same name is located. This continent is the smallest of all existing on the planet. And the state, which is located within its borders, is still quite young, with its independent history of just over a hundred years.

The geographical position of Australia is such that the nearest mainland inhabited by people, and this is Eurasia, is located at a distance of 3000 km.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, present-day Australia was part of the Gondwana continent, located in the southern part of the world. This supercontinent included Africa, South America, Antarctica, New Zealand. Mainland Australia consists of two parts: the east is occupied by the folded belt of the Proterozoic time (about 2.5 billion years), and the west and center - by the Precambrian platform (age - more than 500 million years).

Such geological structure This part of the world was determined by the variety of minerals that are contained in its bowels. And the country is very rich in them and by many indicators bypasses the regions that are considered not deprived of minerals. Data on those parameters where Australia really excels many are shown in the table.

In addition to the fact that Australia is the leader in terms of the number of these resources, its subsoil also contains many other minerals, representing almost the entire periodic table. Large deposits of oil and gas have been explored on the shelf and on the mainland.

The relief of the continent

The geography of Australia depends largely on its relief, and it consists mainly of deserts and lowlands. The most extensive deserts:

• Great Victoria Desert.
• Great Sandy Desert.
• Gibson Desert.

There are also mountains in the Australian open spaces, they are located in the eastern part and are not very high - the Great Dividing Range.

The highest point is Mount Kosciuszko (2228 meters). But the height of the second mountain of the country Townsend is 2209 meters.

Speaking about the geography of Australia, it must be said about Oceania, and this a large number of islands located in the central and southwestern parts of the Pacific Ocean and directly adjacent to Australia. By the way, some scientists tend to consider the Australian mainland a part of it.

Climate of Australia

In general, the climate on the continent is hot, as Australia is located in the southern part of the hemisphere, close to the equator. But because of the size of the continent, three climatic zones are distinguished.

1. Tropical climate in the central part. The air temperature characteristic is as follows: throughout the summer, the thermometer almost never drops below + 35⁰ C.
2. Subtropics in the south, where the weather is similar to that of Spain or that of the south of France.
3. Subequatorial climate in the north of the continent.

Summer in Australia starts in November-December and ends in February. These are the hottest months on the continent. Autumn begins from March, and from June to August - winter period. The table below shows how the air temperature changes in climatic zones.

From the above data, it can be seen that Australia on the map of our planet must necessarily attract the attention of a lover of resort holidays. Because at any time of the year you can sunbathe and swim in the warm sea. The conditions of stay will meet the most demanding requirements.

Seas surrounding the mainland

Australia is washed by the seas, which are part of two oceans, the Indian and the Pacific. The waters of the latter wash the east and south, the Indian - the west and north of the country. Under their influence is the continent, and cold and warm currents significantly affect the climate. The shores of the Australian continent are washed by the waters of such seas:

• Timor - in the northwest, part of the Indian Ocean;
• Arafura - in the northwest, part of the Indian Ocean;
• Coral - in the east of the coast, part of the Pacific Ocean;
• Tasmanova - in the southeast, part of the Pacific Ocean.

Of all the seas, the most famous is the Coral, because here, close to the coast of Australia, is the Great Barrier Reef. It is formed by a peculiar form of life - coral polyps, the skeletons of which also form the basis of the islands. The barrier reef is the longest in the world, its length is 2200 km.

Rivers and lakes

If we characterize the continent as a whole, then it can be called one of the driest in the world. During the summer, small rivers dry up, lakes shrink to the size of large puddles. The main source of food for both rivers and lakes is rain.

The largest river in Australia is the Murray, its length is 2508 km. It never dries up and is fed by the waters of the melting glacier of the Great Dividing Range. Its tributary, the Murrumbidgee River, becomes navigable during the rainy season. But the Cooper Creek in the south of the country almost completely disappears during the drought period and is reborn again during the rainy season.

Of the lakes, the largest is Eyre, the first description of which was made by the scientist Edward John Eyre (they named him after him). In summer, the lake partially dries up, dividing into two parts. But after heavy rains fall, it fills up again, and in some places the depth of Lake Eyre reaches 20 m.

Of great importance for the water supply of cities and villages are artificial reservoirs, such as Burley Griffin, located in Canberra. There are also exotic lakes that can only be found in Australia. These include Lake Hiller, the water in which Pink colour: It has a large amount of pink clay.

All lakes on the mainland are salty. Therefore, the main source fresh water are underground storage facilities, from where production comes from by drilling wells.

Flora and fauna

Australia's nature is no different great variety flora and fauna, for example, there are only 379 species of mammals.

An interesting fact: 90% of the animals and 75% of the plants of the country are endemic, that is, they are found only on this mainland and nowhere else in the world.

But the natural areas of Australia are just distinguished by diversity. The reference book on geography gives the following information about natural areas:

1. Wet forests.
2. Savannah.
3. Semi-deserts and deserts.
4. Evergreen forests.

We offer you to watch the movie "Wild Australia":

In these four zones, such an animal as a kangaroo lives. This mammal is a symbol of Australia, there are a total of 20 of its species. There are also two species of marsupial mole and eucalyptus leaf lover koala.

Australian animals are echidna, platypus, wombat, marsupial bears. All these and many other representatives of the fauna are found only in Australia. Some were brought by Europeans and became a kind of hallmark continent. These include the wild dog dingo, the main predator of the mainland.

As of 2018 statistics, the population is 24,872,415. Australia is characterized by a tendency to increase its numbers. About 90% of Australians live in cities, most of which are concentrated on the coast.

The population of Australia is mainly from Europe and Asia, who arrived on the continent in different time, the share of natives - only 2%.

The population of the country is very unevenly distributed over its territory, which is clearly seen in the table below.

How did the population in Australia change from 1950-2016

The eighth state of Tasmania is an island that is located next to the mainland. The table shows that climatic conditions become the determining factor in resettlement. Western Australia, the largest in terms of area (and these are deserts and semi-deserts), is inhabited in less than two states - South Wales and Victoria, which are located in the temperate zone.

AT climatic conditions the western part does not meet the requirements necessary for comfortable life person.

Australia is a multinational country. There are people from many countries of the world, and from all continents. By the way, more than 20 thousand Russians live in this territory.

Distribution of the Australian population by religious beliefs

It is also a multi-confessional country, although there is not a single creed that has state status. At the same time, 70% of the population belongs to various Christian confessions and denominations, of which the largest is Catholics (30%).

"Mainland Africa" ​​- PHYSMINUTKA Game "Arms, legs, head" Hands - west-east, legs - south, head - north. Geographic location of Africa. OBJECTIVES: 1. Introduce the physical and geographical position of the mainland; 2. Learn to characterize the physical and geographical position of the mainland; 3. Continue to form the ability to work with cards.

"Mainland Australia" - The population of Australia. The most important industry, traditionally, is Agriculture. Australia. Australia occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of the number of fine-fleeced sheep. Australia is the most sparsely populated continent. Communication is well developed: telephone, radio, television, Internet. Australian Union.

"Southern Continents" - II Main stage 1. Motivation. The class is divided into groups. Flight pedagogical ideas Knows neither end nor limit... Applications. Check the readiness of your workplace. General Features geographical position of the southern continents. 3. Homework. Prepare a description of the GP of any island in the Southern Hemisphere using the plan.

"Australia mainland" - Alien. ? What an ocean. Tropical deserts and semi-deserts are located in the central and western parts of the mainland. Children attend co-ed schools. There are many plants and animals that cannot be found on other continents. Australia is entirely in the south. p. - (from lat. Australians strive to preserve the uniqueness of their nature.

"Mainland North America" ​​- 3. In which city does it fall the largest number rainfall and what season? Theme of the lesson: "North America". Climate North America. In summer, the temperature depends on the latitude of the area and increases when moving from north to south. Inland waters. Which city experiences the highest summer temperatures and why?

"Continents Grade 7" - Will I be able to answer questions? Let's think! How is the largest island different from the smallest mainland? 3. Answer the question: what is the difference between the concepts of "mainland" and "part of the world"? What is an island? Which continent has the deepest depression? Which continent is the highest? Read the material of the textbook "Views of the Islands".

"Theme Australia" - And on the branches the Little koala sleeps sweetly. Paint natural areas contour map. I'll still get it. Homework. Emblem of the Commonwealth of Australia. The ostrich runs merrily, the shadow has become shorter. Irina Yavorovskaya. Table: "Natural areas of Australia." Theme of the lesson: "Natural areas of mainland Australia." Theme of the lesson: "Natural areas of Australia."

"Regions of Australia" - Hunting, fishing, gathering, wandering. Placement of the population. Aborigines before the arrival of Europeans. The population of Australia. Rock painting. Aboriginal Australians - belong to the Negroid-Australoid race. The faces of Australians are distinguished by prognathism, as well as a massive eyebrow. Aboriginal handicrafts.

Australia is in the 3rd climatic zones: subtropical, tropical and subequatorial. Climate. 2008 Australia. In 1770 James Cook discovered the east coast of Australia. Relief. Australia was the last to be settled and mastered by Europeans. Story. Australia is the driest of the continents on Earth.

"Australia as a continent" - Physical and geographical location. 5. How is the mainland relative to other continents. sq. Australia. The driest continent. 4. What oceans and seas wash the mainland. There is no volcanism, earthquakes, modern glaciation. It is entirely in the southern hemisphere. 6. Exploration of the mainland. Km.

"Continent Australia" - West of precipitation falls less and less. The Australian continent lies within the subequatorial, tropical, subtropical belts. "Land of paradoxes" is how Australia is often called. The world of birds is rich. In the south of the Western Australian Plateau lies the great Victoria Desert.

"Australia as a country" - Most of the southeast of the country (including Tasmania) has a temperate climate. For hundreds of kilometers stretch large sheep and cow pastures, or ranches. The sixth largest state in the world, the only state that occupies an entire mainland. Cockatoo. Almost three quarters of Australia are deserts and semi-deserts.

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