The most famous travelers and their discoveries. History of Australia, briefly: discovery, exploration of the mainland and settlement by the British

The material presented in the article is focused on the formation of an idea of who is the discoverer of the continent. The article contains reliable historical references. The information will help to obtain truthful information from the history of the discovery of Australia by sailors and travelers.

Who discovered Australia?

Every educated person today knows that James Cook discovered Australia when he visited the east coast of the mainland in 1770. However, these lands were known in Europe long before the appearance of the famous English navigator there.

Rice. 1. James Cook.

The progenitors of the indigenous population of the mainland appeared on the continent about 40-60 thousand years ago. Ancient archaeological finds date back to this historical period, which were discovered by scientists in the upper reaches of the Swan River at the western tip of the mainland.

Rice. 2. Swan River.

It is known that people ended up on the continent thanks to sea routes. This fact also indicates that it was these pioneers who became the earliest sea travelers. It is generally accepted that at that time at least three heterogeneous groups settled in Australia.

Australian discoverers

There is an assumption that the ancient Egyptians became the discoverers of Australia.

French "trace"

What else Interesting Facts contains the history of the discovery of Australia and Oceania? We will also briefly tell that the French navigator Binot Polmier de Gonneville told that it was he who landed on unknown lands near the Cape of Good Hope in 1504. This happened after his ship blew the winds off the intended course. Thanks to this statement, this particular traveler for a long time credited with the discovery of Australia. After some time, it was found out that he was on the coast of Brazil.

Discovery of Australia by the Dutch

Let's continue the conversation about what is the history of the discovery of Australia and Oceania. Let us dwell briefly on the first indisputable fact documented in the winter of 1606. The expedition of the Dutch East India Company, led by Willem Janson, managed, together with his comrades, to land on the coast from the ship Dove. After sailing from the island of Java, they went to the southern part of New Guinea, moving along it, the Dutch expedition managed after some time to reach the shores of the Cape York Peninsula, located in the northern part of Australia. The team members were confident that they were still off the coast of New Guinea.

It is the history of the development of Australia that is briefly considered in the school course on geography. The expedition did not see which divides the coast of Australia and New Guinea. On February 26, members of the team landed near the site where the city of Weipa is currently located. The Dutch were immediately attacked by the natives. Later, Janson and his men explored about 350 kilometers of the coast of Australia, sometimes making landfalls. His crew constantly ran into hostile natives, so several Dutch sailors were killed during fierce battles with the natives. The captain decided to return. He never realized that he and his team managed to discover a new continent. Since Janson, in describing his exploration of the coast, described it as a swampy and deserted place, no one attached much importance to his new discovery. The East India Company sent expeditions in the hope of enriching themselves with jewels and spices, and not at all for serious geographical discoveries.

Luis Vaes de Torres

Describing briefly the history of the exploration of Australia, one can also say about how this traveler moved through the same strait through which Janson's team first passed. Geographers have suggestions that Torres and his comrades managed to visit the northern coast of the continent, but no written confirmation of this hypothesis has been found. After some time, the strait began to be called Torres in honor of Luis Vaez de Torres.

Notable expeditions

The story of the discovery and exploration of Australia is also of interest, briefly telling about the voyage of the next ship of the Dutch East India Company, which was driven by Dirk Hartog. In 1616, the ship managed to reach the western coast of Australia, near Shark Bay. For three days, sailors explored the coast, and explored the nearby islands. The Dutch found nothing of interest, so Hartog decided to continue sailing north along a coastline that had not been explored before. The team then headed to Batavia.

Where is the history of the discovery of Australia described? Briefly, grade 7 studies information about expeditions here from Europe in the 16-17 centuries. For example, educators talk about how in 1619 Jacob d'Erdel and Frederick de Houtman went on two ships to explore the Australian coast. As they moved north, they discovered a band of reefs called Houtman's Rock.

Continued research

After this expedition, other Dutch sailors repeatedly found themselves near these shores, calling the land New Holland. They did not even try to explore the coast, as they did not find any commercial interest here.

The beautiful coastline, even if it aroused their curiosity, clearly did not stimulate them to explore what useful resources Australia has. The history of the country briefly tells about the exploration of the northern and western coasts. The Dutch concluded that the northern lands were barren and unsuitable for use. The sailors did not see the eastern and southern coasts at that time, so Australia was undeservedly recognized as uninteresting for use.

First buildings

In the summer of 1629, the Batavia, an East India Company ship, was shipwrecked off the Houtman Rocks. Soon there was a mutiny, as a result of which a small fort was built by part of the crew for protection. It became the first European construction in Australia. Geographers suggest that at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, about fifty European ships reached the territory of Australia.

The history of the development and settlement of Australia briefly tells about the discoveries made by ships. In 1642, he tried to go around New Holland from the south, while discovering an island called Van Diemen's Land. Some time later it was renamed Tasmania. With the subsequent advance to the east, after some time, the ships ended up near New Zealand. Tasman's first voyage was not successful; travelers failed to approach Australia.

The history of Australia briefly tells that Tasman only in 1644 was able to study in detail the northwestern coast, to prove that all the lands that were discovered and analyzed in earlier expeditions are constituent parts one mainland.

English Studies

The history of Australia briefly notes the English contribution to its study. Until the second half of the seventeenth century, there was practically no information in England about the lands that were discovered by Dutch travelers. In 1688, a pirate ship carrying an Englishman, William Dampier, ended up on the northwest coast, near Lake Melville. This fact has been preserved by the history of Australia. Briefly, the surviving records say that after the repair, the ship returned to England. Here, Dampier published a story about the journey, which aroused genuine interest among the English Admiralty.

In 1699, Dampier set out on a second voyage to the coast of Australia on the ship Roebuck. But as part of this trip, he did not find anything interesting, so the Admiralty decided to stop funding the expedition.

Cook's expedition

Talking about the history of the discovery of Australia, one cannot leave without due attention the expedition of 1170, led by Lieutenant James Cook. On the sailboat "Attempt" his team went to the southern part Pacific Ocean. The official purpose of the expedition was to make astronomical observations, but in fact Cook received from the Admiralty the task of studying the southern part of the continent. Cook believed that since New Holland has a west coast, therefore, there must be an east coast.

At the end of April 1770, an English expedition landed on the east coast of Australia. The landing site was first named Stingray Bay, then it was renamed Botany Bay due to unusual plants that were found there.

The open lands were named Cook New Wales and then New South Wales. The Englishman had no idea how big the discovery made by him.

British colonies

The lands that Cook discovered were decided to be colonized, using them as the first colonies for convicts. The fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, included 11 ships. He arrived in Australia in January 1788, but, recognizing the region as inconvenient for settlement, they moved north. Governor Philip issued an order establishing the first British colony in Australia. The soils around Sydney Harbor were not suitable for farming, so farms were established near the Parramatta River.

The second fleet, which arrived in Australia in 1790, brought here different materials and supplies. During the journey, 278 convicts and crew members died, so in history it is called the "Death Fleet".

In 1827, a small British settlement was built at King Georges Sound by Major Edmund Lockyer. He became the first governor of a colony created for convicts.

South Australia was founded in 1836. It was not intended for convicts, but some of the former prisoners moved here from other colonies.

Conclusion

It was mastered almost fifty thousand years before its official discovery by European travelers. For more than one century, people with an original culture and religion have lived in the waterless deserts and tropical jungles of the continent. After the colonization of the Australian coast, a period of active exploration of the territory began. Among the first serious researchers who managed to study the channels of the rivers Macquarie, Loklan, geographers name John Oxley. Robert Burke became the first Englishman to cross the mainland from north to south. The discovery of Australia was the result of a centuries-old search for the Dutch, Portuguese, and British of the Southern country.

In 2006, archaeologists discovered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in Australia. This fact led to the promotion of an original hypothesis about the discovery of the contingent by the Egyptians.

Scientists agreed that 1606 can be considered the most likely time for the discovery of Australia. It was then that the famous Dutchman V. Janszon explored the northeastern part - the Cape York Peninsula.

The history of the settlement of Australia is briefly described in this material. Until now, it is associated with numerous mysteries that scientists have yet to solve. For example, cannons found during archaeological excavations give reason to believe that the Portuguese visited this territory in the fifteenth century. A complete map of the British colony, which was Australia, scientists managed to draw up only at the beginning of the last century.

Australia is one of the most exotic English-speaking countries in the world. With a high standard of living and an attractive immigration policy, many see it as a place to live or work. If you are learning English to move to Australia, or for work, study or pleasure, it will be helpful to get general idea about the history of this country.

prehistoric australia

About 50 thousand years ago, the first people arrived on the southern mainland of Australia - the earliest sea travelers in the world. Geologists believe that at that time the island of New Guinea in the north and Tasmania in the south were part of the continent.

After several thousand years, the mainland began to be actively settled. The earliest archaeological find of human remains in Australia is the so-called Mungo Man, who lived about 40,000 years ago. According to it, scientists have determined that the first inhabitants of Australia were massive and tall people.

In the prehistoric period, Australia was settled by people in several waves. About 5 thousand years ago, with the next stream of migrants, the dingo dog appeared on the mainland - the only non-marsupial Australian predator. Only by the 2nd millennium BC did the Australian Aborigines acquire their modern look, evolving and mixing with the newcomers.

The aborigines formed diverse tribes with their own languages, culture, religion and tradition. By the time the Europeans discovered Australia, there were about 500 tribes on the mainland who spoke about 250 different languages. None of them had a written language, so their history is not well known. They used symbolic drawings, retelling ancient legends in them. These myths and archaeological finds are the only data that historians studying Australia can use.

Since people began to settle in Australia quite a long time ago (for comparison, people came to the territory of America only 13 thousand years ago, as much as 27 thousand years later) and were not influenced by the rest of the world before the arrival of Europeans, the Australian aboriginal civilization is considered one of the oldest continuous cultures. in the world.

European studies of the mainland

Australia is officially considered to have been discovered by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszon in 1606. He sailed to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north of the mainland and landed on the Cape York Peninsula - the northernmost point of Australia, which is only 160 kilometers from New Guinea. A year before him, the Spaniard Luis Vaes Torres swam in these waters, who passed very close to the Australian coast and even supposedly saw the land on the horizon, but mistook it for another archipelago.

There are several other alternative theories for the discovery of Australia. According to one of them, Portuguese navigators discovered the mainland before Willem Janszon. A flotilla led by de Siqueira explored the route to the Moluccas and sent several expeditions around the archipelago. One of these expeditions under the command of Mendonsa in 1522 allegedly visited the northwestern shores of Australia.

The theory of the early discovery of Australia looks plausible, since 16th century cannons were found just on the west coast in the 20th century. On the territory of the mainland, unusual finds have been discovered more than once, which can only be explained by the early voyages of Europeans to the Australian shores. However, these theories are considered controversial. In addition, the discovery of Australia remained unknown to Europe until the voyages of the Dutch.

Janszon declared the found territories the possession of the Netherlands, although the Dutch did not begin their development. In the next few decades, the Dutch continued to explore Australia. In 1616 Derk Hartog visited the west coast, three years later Frederick de Houtman explored several hundred kilometers of the coast. In 1644, Abel Tasman launched his famous sea voyages, during which he discovered New Zealand, Tasmania, Fiji and Tonga, and also proved that Australia was a separate continent.

The Dutch explored only the western coast of Australia, the rest of the coastline and inland remained unexplored until the voyages of James Cook a century later, in 1769. It was believed that New Holland (the first name of Australia) discovered by the Dutch does not belong to the hypothetical southern mainland Terra Australis Incognita, the existence of which has been suspected since ancient times. New Holland was an inhospitable place with a difficult climate and hostile natives, so there was no interest in it for a long time.

In the middle of the 18th century, the British came up with the idea of exiling convicts to the islands of the Southern Ocean or to a supposedly existing mainland called the Unknown Southern Land. In 1769, English lieutenant James Cook set off on the ship Endeavor to Tahiti on a secret mission to find the southern mainland and explore the coast of New Holland.

Cook sailed to the east coast of Australia and landed in Botany Bay. After examining the coastal lands, he concluded that they were favorable enough for the establishment of a colony. Then Cook went along the coast in a northwesterly direction and found the strait between Australia and New Guinea (thus proving that this island is not part of the mainland). The navigator did not fulfill the task of finding the southern mainland.

During the second round the world expedition Cook explored the southern latitudes and came to the conclusion that there are no large lands in them except Australia. Dreams of Terra Australis were shattered, but a free name remained. In 1814, the English navigator Matthew Flinders suggested that New Holland should be called Australia. By that time, colonies from several states already existed on the mainland, which did not immediately accept the proposal, but eventually began to use this name. In 1824 it became official.

British colonization of Australia

Cook recommended Botany Bay for settlement. Here in 1787 the first fleet with settlers went. They were convicts - but for the most part not malicious criminals, robbers and murderers, but former merchants and farmers convicted of short terms for minor crimes. Many of them were soon granted pardons and allocated plots for farms. The rest of the settlers were infantrymen with their families, officers and other employees.

Ships found near Botany Bay comfortable spot for colonization - Port Jackson Bay, where they founded a settlement in Sydney Cove. The date of the creation of the colony - January 26, 1788 - later became national holiday, Happy Australia. A month later, the governor of the settlement officially announced the creation of a colony, which was called New South Wales. The settlement began to be named after the British Minister of the Interior, Viscount Sydney. This is how the city of Sydney appeared - now the largest and most developed in Australia.

The governor of the colony tried to establish relations with the natives, helped the convicts to improve, established trade and Agriculture. The first years were difficult for the settlers: there was not enough food, the convicts had few professional skills, and new convicts arriving in the colony turned out to be sick and disabled after a long and difficult voyage. But the governor managed to develop the colony, and from 1791 its affairs began to go uphill.

The living conditions of the convicts were harsh. They had to do a lot of work to create a colony: build houses and roads, help farmers. They starved and were severely punished. But the pardoned prisoners remained in Australia, received their allotments and could themselves hire convicts. One such ex-convict grew the first successful crop of wheat in 1789. Soon the colony began to provide itself with food.

In 1793, the first free settlers arrived in Sydney (except for the military guarding the convicts). They were given land free of charge, provided agricultural equipment for the first time, and were given the right to free movement and use the labor of prisoners.

Mainland exploration

After the founding of the colony, exploration of Australia continued. Europeans used the services of local guides, so most of the trips were successful. In 1813 an expedition by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth passed through the ranges of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney and found extensive pastures. In 1824, the Hume and Hovell expedition made many important discoveries, discovered the Murray River and its tributaries, and discovered many new pastures.

In 1828, Charles Sturt discovered the Darling River and reached the point where the Murray River flows into the Great Australian Bight. Then followed a whole series of expeditions, filling in the gaps of previous research. European and Australian explorers kept many original titles places instead of giving their own. In 1839, the Polish traveler Strzelecki climbed the highest peak in Australia - Mount Kosciuszko in the Australian Alps.

In 1829 Great Britain claimed the entire western part of Australia. The colony of New South Wales was divided into several, the colonies of Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, Swan River appeared. Settlers gradually spread across the continent. At this time, the major cities of Melbourne and Brisbane were founded.

Under the onslaught of European colonists, the natives retreated from the coasts inland. Their numbers greatly decreased due to the diseases brought by the settlers. In the middle of the 19th century, the entire indigenous population was moved to reservations, many were sent there by force.

By 1840 the tradition of sending convicts to Australia was being forgotten, and after 1868 it was no longer practiced.

Golden fever

In the 1850s, the gold rush began in Australia. The British authorities established licenses for gold mining, which was extremely disliked by gold miners. In 1854, prospectors from Ballarat raised an uprising, now known as the Eureka. The rebels created the Ballarat Reform League and made a number of demands to the government: to introduce universal suffrage, to abolish gold mining licenses, to abolish property restrictions for parliamentary candidates.

The resistance of the gold diggers was crushed, they were arrested and put on trial. But the court did not find the rebels guilty. Many of the miners' demands were met: licenses were canceled and the right to apply to parliament was given. The Eureka Rebellion stimulated the development of liberalism in Australia. This event became one of the key in the history of the country.

In 1855, New South Wales became self-governing while remaining part of the British Empire. Other Australian colonies soon followed. Their governments have been internal affairs, a foreign policy, defense and trade continued to be in charge of Great Britain.

The "Gold Rush" caused an economic boom in Australia. The next few decades were prosperous for Australians. In the 1890s, the economic situation began to deteriorate, at the same time it began to increase labor movement, new political parties, and the Australian colonies thought about unification.

Australian Union

For ten years, the colonies discussed the issue of unification and prepared to create a single country. In 1901, they created the Commonwealth of Australia, a federal state that was a dominion of the British Empire. In the early years, the capital of the Union was the city of Melbourne, but already in 1911, the future capital of Australia, the city of Canberra, began to be built on a specially allocated Federal Capital Territory. In 1927, the construction of the city was completed and the Union government settled in it.

A little later, the Federation included several territories that had previously been subordinate to Great Britain: the Norfolk Islands, Cartier and Ashmore. Australia was supposed to include New Zealand, but she preferred to seek independence from Britain on her own.

The Australian economy was heavily dependent on exports. The country had to import large quantities of grain and wool. The Great Depression, which began in the United States in 1929, and the global economic crisis that followed, severely affected Australia. The unemployment rate rose to a record 29%.

In 1931, the British Parliament adopted the Statute of Westminster, which established the position of the dominions. According to it, the British dominions received full official independence, but retained the right of the British monarch to hold the post of head of state. Australia ratified this statute only in 1942, becoming effectively independent from Great Britain.

History of Australia after Independence

Second World War boosted the Australian economy. The Australians received a promise of protection from the United States in the event of a Japanese attack, so they took part in hostilities without risk to themselves. After the war, many residents of dilapidated Europe decided to move to Australia. The Australian government encouraged immigration, wanting to increase the country's population and attract talented professionals.

By 1975, two million immigrants had arrived in Australia. Most of them are former residents of Great Britain and Ireland. Thus, most of the Australian population are carriers in English, which has evolved into an Australian dialect. official language the state does not.

In the 70s, the Australian government carried out a number of important reforms, the significance of which is still preserved: free higher education, the abolition of compulsory military service, the recognition of the right of aborigines to land, and others. From a former colony of convicts, Australia has become a highly developed country with one of the most high levels immigration.

The first stage of the voyage of the Dutch sailors of the 17th century.

Until the 17th century scattered information about Australia and New Guinea reached Europeans from Portuguese navigators. The year of discovery of Australia is considered to be 1606, when the Dutch navigator V. Janszon explored a section of the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula in the north of the continent. During the 17th century the main discoveries were made by Dutch travelers, with the exception of the Spanish expedition of 1606, in which L. Torres discovered the strait between New Guinea and Australia (later named after him). Due to the priority of the Dutch, Australia was originally called New Holland.
In 1616, D. Hartog, heading for the island of Java, discovered a section of the western coast of the continent, the survey of which was almost completely completed in 1618-22. The southern coast (its western part) was explored in 1627 by F. Theisen and P. Neyts.
Two journeys to Australia were made by A. Tasman, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia from the south and prove that it is a separate continent. In 1642, his expedition discovered the island, which he named Van Diemen's land in honor of the Dutch governor of the East Indies (then this island was renamed Tasmania), and the island "Land of the States" (present-day New Zealand). During a second trip in 1644 he explored the northern and northwestern coasts of Australia.

The second stage of the English and French sea expeditions of the 18th first half of the 19th centuries.

At the turn of the 18th century English navigator and pirate W. Dampier discovered off the coast of northwestern Australia a group of islands named after him. In 1770 during his first circumnavigation J. Cook explored the eastern coast of Australia, found out the insular position of New Zealand.
In 1788, a colony for English convicts was founded in Sydney, which was then called Port Jackson.
In 1798, the English topographer D. Bass discovered the strait separating Tasmania from Australia (later the strait was named after him).
In 1797-1803, the English explorer M. Flinders went around Tasmania, the entire mainland and mapped the southern coast and the Great Barrier Reef, surveyed the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1814, he proposed instead of New Holland to call the southern mainland Australia. Many geographical objects on the mainland and in adjacent seas are named after him.
In the same period, a French expedition led by N. Bodin discovered some islands and bays. Completed work on the study of the coast of Australia F. King and D. Wicken in 1818-39.

The third stage of land expeditions of the first half of the 19th century.

Initially, during this period, due to the difficulties of overcoming the vast inland deserts, expeditions were concentrated mainly in coastal areas. C. Sturt, T. Mitchell passed through the Great Dividing Range, reaching the vast plains, but without going deep into them, explored in southeastern Australia the basin of the largest river of the Murray continent and its tributary Darling.
In 1840, the Polish traveler P. Strzelecki discovered the highest peak in Australia, Kosciuszko.
The English explorer E. Eyre in 1841 made a voyage along the south coast from the city of Adelaide in the southeastern part of the mainland to King George's Bay.
In the 40s. study of the deserts of the interior of Australia begins. Sturt in 1844-46 explored the sandy and rocky deserts in the southeastern part of the mainland. In 1844-45, the German scientist L. Leichhardt crossed northeastern Australia, crossed the Dawson, Mackenzie and other rivers, reached the interior of the Arnhemland peninsula, and then returned to Sydney by sea. In 1848 his new expedition went missing. The unsuccessful search for the expedition was undertaken by the Englishman O. Gregory, who explored the interior of the Arnhem Land peninsula and crossed the eastern outskirts of the central deserts.

The fourth stage is intracontinental expeditions of the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries.

English explorers R. Burke and W. Wills were the first to cross Australia from south to north, from Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria, in 1860; Burke died on the way back near Coopers Creek.
The Scottish explorer J. Stuart crossed the mainland twice in 1862 and made a great contribution to the study of the central regions. In the subsequent expedition of E. Giles (1872-73, 1875-76), J. Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874), D. Lindsay (1891), L. Wells (1896) and other English travelers, they examined in detail the deserts of Central Australia: Great Sandy, Gibson and Great Victoria Desert.
In the first third of the 20th century, thanks to the work of mainly English geographers, the main little-studied areas in the interior of Australia were mapped.

The first stage in the exploration of Australia was the voyages of Dutch sailors in the 17th century.

In 1616, D. Hartog, heading for the island of Java, discovered a section of the western coast of the continent, the survey of which was almost completely completed in 1618-22. The southern coast (its western part) was explored in 1627 by F. Theisen and P. Neyts. Two journeys to Australia were made by A. Tasman, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia from the south and prove that it is a separate continent. In 1642, his expedition discovered the island, which he named Van Diemen's land in honor of the Dutch governor of the East Indies (then this island was renamed Tasmania), and the island "Land of the States" (present-day New Zealand). During a second trip in 1644 he explored the northern and northwestern coasts of Australia.

The second stage of exploration of Australia - English and French sea expeditions 18 - the first half of the 19 centuries.

At the turn of the 18th century English navigator and pirate W. Dampier discovered off the coast of northwestern Australia a group of islands named after him. In 1770, during his first round-the-world voyage, J. Cook explored the eastern coast of Australia and found out the insular position of New Zealand. In 1788, a colony for English convicts was founded in Sydney, which was then called Port Jackson. In 1798, the English topographer D. Bass discovered the strait separating Tasmania from Australia (later the strait was named after him). In 1797-1803, the English explorer M. Flinders went around Tasmania, the entire mainland and mapped the southern coast and the Great Barrier Reef, surveyed the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1814, he proposed instead of New Holland to call the southern mainland Australia. Many geographical objects on the mainland and in adjacent seas are named after him. In the same period, a French expedition led by N. Bodin discovered some islands and bays. Completed work on the study of the coast of Australia F. King and D. Wicken in 1818-39.

The third stage in the exploration of Australia was the overland expeditions of the first half of the 19th century.

Initially, during this period, due to the difficulties of overcoming the vast inland deserts, expeditions were concentrated mainly in coastal areas. C. Sturt, T. Mitchell passed through the Great Dividing Range, reaching the vast plains, but without going deep into them, explored in southeastern Australia the basin of the continent's largest river, the Murray, and its tributary, the Darling. In 1840, the Polish traveler P. Strzelecki discovered the highest peak in Australia - Mt. Kosciuszko. The English explorer E. Eyre in 1841 made a voyage along the south coast from the city of Adelaide in the southeastern part of the mainland to King George's Bay. In the 40s. study of the deserts of the interior of Australia begins. Sturt in 1844-46 explored the sandy and rocky deserts in the southeastern part of the mainland. In 1844-45, the German scientist L. Leichhardt crossed northeastern Australia, crossed the Dawson, Mackenzie and other rivers, reached the interior of the Arnhemland peninsula, and then returned to Sydney by sea. In 1848 his new expedition went missing. The unsuccessful search for the expedition was undertaken by the Englishman O. Gregory, who explored the interior of the Arnhem Land peninsula and crossed the eastern outskirts of the central deserts.

The fourth stage of the exploration of Australia is the intracontinental expeditions of the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries.

English explorers R. Burke and W. Wills were the first to cross Australia from south to north, from Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria, in 1860; Burke died on the way back near Coopers Creek. The Scottish explorer J. Stuart crossed the mainland twice in 1862 and made a great contribution to the study of the central regions. In the subsequent expedition of E. Giles (1872-73, 1875-76), J. Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874), D. Lindsay (1891), L. Wells (1896) and other English travelers, they examined in detail the deserts of Central Australia: Great Sandy, Gibson and Great Victoria Desert. In the first third of the 20th century, thanks to the work of mainly English geographers, the main little-studied areas in the interior of Australia were mapped.

Australia is the world's sixth largest country in terms of area, and it is the only country that occupies an entire continent. The Australian Union includes the Australian mainland and several islands, the largest of which is Tasmania. On the territory of the mainland, diverse nature coexists with modern densely populated megacities. Although most of the continent is occupied by semi-deserts and deserts, Australia has a variety of landscapes: - from alpine meadows to tropical jungles. Australia is home to unique species flora and fauna, some of which are not found in other parts of the world. Many plants and animals, including giant marsupials, became extinct with the advent of the natives; others (for example, the Tasmanian tiger) - with the advent of Europeans.

Australia is a cloudless blue sky, a bright sun, many kilometers of white sand beaches and an ocean to the horizon. The Great Barrier Reef stretches along the northeast coast of Australia, where a unique marine national park inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Great Barrier Reef is a range of coral reefs and islands in the Coral Sea, some of which are home to luxury hotels.

Australian continent - perfect place for all water sports. Surfing, windsurfing, diving, water skiing, rowing and yachting, as well as hiking in numerous nature reserves, cycling or horseback riding. In addition, you can go on a safari or go rock climbing.

The attractiveness of Australia lies not only in the nature of the mainland. Well-appointed cities, centers of cultural and business life of the state also contribute here. In all metropolitan areas - be it Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne or any other major city - historical sights coexist with skyscrapers, cozy parks - with crowded streets, and various museums - with chic shops.

The continent in the north is washed by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Torres Strait; in the east by the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea; in the south - the Bass Strait and the Indian Ocean; to the west by the Indian Ocean. The total area of the country is 7682292 km2 (the area of the continent is 7614500 km2). The Union also owns the Cartier and Ashmore Islands, Christmas Island, the Cocos Islands, as well as the Heard, McDonald and Norfolk Islands. There are no high mountain ranges in Australia, the average height above sea level is only 300 m. In the east, the coastal valley is separated from the central part of the country by the Great Dividing Range, the average height of which is about 1200 m. The ridge stretches from the Cape York Peninsula in the north to Victoria in the south -east. Parts of the range bear local names: the New England Plateau, the Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps. The highest point of the Australian Alps - Mount Kosciuszko (2228 m) - is also the highest point in Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range is located on the island of Tasmania. The western part of the continent is a huge plateau from 300 to 450 m above sea level. The Great Western Plateau contains three Australian deserts: the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Victoria Desert and the Gibson Desert. There are also low mountain ranges. The center of the country is occupied by vast plains between the Great Dividing Range and the Great Western Plateau. Along the southern coast of Australia, the almost deserted Nullarbor Plain stretches, with a huge number of caves and tunnels. Extinct volcanic craters are located in the southeastern part of the country. The amount of precipitation decreases from east to west from 1500 mm per year to 300-250 mm or less. 60% of the area of Australia are drainless areas. The main rivers of Australia are located in the eastern part of the continent. The rivers flowing to the east are Burdekin, Fitzroy and Hunter. The largest and deepest river in Australia is the Murray (Murray), which, together with its main tributary, the Darling River (the longest), stretches for 5300 km. The rivers of the center of the country and the western part dry up during the dry season (the so-called screams). Most of Australia's natural lakes are saline. In the south there is a whole network of salt lakes: Eyre, Torrens, Frome, Gairdner - these are the remains of a large inland sea, which in ancient times stretched from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Australia's largest freshwater lake is the man-made Lake Argyle.

The interior of Australia is occupied by deserts (the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Gibson Desert, framed by a belt of semi-deserts with thorny scrub scrub). In the north, east, southeast and southwest, semi-deserts turn into savannahs, which give way to forests of eucalyptus, palm trees, tree ferns along the coasts and in the mountains. Animal world endemic: marsupial mammals (kangaroo, marsupial mole, etc.), oviparous mammals (platypus, echidna), lungfish ceratodes. Most famous National parks and reserves: Mount Buffalo, Kosciuszko, South West, etc. The emu, cassowaries, and cockatoo parrots are characteristic.