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Australia and Oceania is the name for the union of the island world of
Oceania and Australia into one continent.
Geography
Australia and Oceania comprise the main land mass of the country
of Australia itself, offshore New Zealand in the southeast as well as the entire
South Pacific region with the large island regions of Melanesia (including New
Guinea), Micronesia and Polynesia. The over 7,500 islands together cover a land
area of almost 1.3 million square kilometers and extend over a marine area of
approximately 70 million square kilometers. The state of Australia has a land
area of 8 million km².
According to
Countryaah - which mentions country facts - the continent of
Australia consists only of the state of Australia and the offshore islands of
Tasmania and New Guinea; the island world of Oceania is therefore not attributed
to Australia.
Climate and vegetation
The continent of Australia itself spans three climate zones. While the
interior of Australia is extremely dry and there are extensive desert areas, the
coasts of Australia are tropical or subtropical. There is very little rainfall
on large parts of the west and south coast. Due to the different climatic
regions, Australia has very different types of landscape. There are tropical
rainforests, various types of savannas and deserts.
The animal world is unique because marsupials (kangaroo, koala) and cloak
animals like the platypus live in Australia. The bird life is particularly
diverse. Bird species are extremely rare on New Zealand and many islands in
Oceania. The European settlers introduced dogs, cats, rats and rabbits, which
reproduce extremely strongly; this is why many of the native animal species are
now at great risk. The colorful flora of Australia and Oceania is just as
diverse as the animal world. The sea is an important habitat: there are many
fish and aquatic plants, especially near the coral reefs off the coasts of
Australia and the islands.
Population
A total of 33 million people live in Australia and Oceania, well below one
percent of the earth's population. Above all people of European descent (mostly
English or Irish) live in Australia, indigenous peoples like the Melanesians,
Micronesians and Polynesians in the South Pacific. The aborigines of Australia,
the indigenous Aborigines, make up a negligible proportion of the population of
Australia. Much of the population of this continent belongs to the Christian
faith.
Plant life in Australia
Plant life is very varied and much of it is unique to Australia. Some genera
are of a primitive type that exist only as fossils in other parts of the world.
The vegetation indicates that Australia has previously had a land link with
South Africa. The northern part of Queensland has a certain element of Malay
forms. Vegetation varies with rainfall. The most precipitous areas are wooded.
Forests grow in a belt along the entire east coast, all the way to the western
foothills of the Great Dividing Range. In the northeastern part of Queensland
there are some areas with species rich tropical rainforest. The rest of the east
coast down to the Bass Strait, as well as Tasmania, has subtropical rainforest.
In this forest, different species of eucalyptus dominate.
In southeastern Australia, huge forests of giant eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus
amygdalina) grow, with dense undergrowth. The coastal plain itself on the
east coast is drier than the mountainous areas, and here it is savanna or glitzy
savanna forest. The southwest corner of Western Australia has dense subtropical
forest. Here, 60-70 m tall curry trees (Eucalyptus diversicolor) grow
with an undergrowth of palm trees and shrubs. In a narrow belt on the western
slope of the inland plateau, the forest consists of jarrah trees (Eucalyptus
marginata). In a wide belt along the north coast there is forest water, and
in some areas there are denser forests of eucalyptus and palm trees. Where the
annual rainfall falls below 500 mm, the forest ends and the vegetation changes
to savanna and steppe.
Areas with an annual rainfall of less than 250 mm are desert-like, where
bushes of different acacia species dominate. When it rarely rains, a carpet of
annuals appears. Areas with an annual rainfall of less than 125 mm are desert
with sand dunes and sand plains. The vegetation consists mostly of different
grasses with hard, prickly leaves. Large areas are salt steppe, where various
halophilic plants (salt plants) grow. The Australian vegetation consists of an
unusual number of endemic (native) species. As an example, the Eucalyptus
tree genus consists of more than 500 species, of which only 2 or 3 are found
outside Australia.
Guam
At the beginning of 1998, the island relied on middle-class tourism, which
consisted mainly of tourists from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. These tourists
left about $ 300 million in the country per year. season. Governor Gutiérrez
wanted to increase this figure 50% over the following 5 years. The number of
tourists in 2000 exceeded 1 million.
On December 8, 2002, the typhoon hit Pongsona Island, destroying
communications links and many houses and trees. 4 people were killed and 400
injured.
Guam suffered major losses during World War II and in 2003 set up an
investigative committee to carry out investigations into the events of the war
until June 2004. It received 70 testimonies from survivors of the war that would
serve to build the arguments that the United States should treat the country in
the same way as other territories such as the Philippines and Micronesia, which
received compensation for the Japanese occupation during the World War.
In February 2004, a United States Air Force spokeswoman stated that six more
B-52 bombers and 300 soldiers would be sent to the island to reinforce existing
force and to increase pressure on North Korea.
Erosion in the country has doubled over the past 30 years. The main cause is
the destruction of forests ifbm. the construction of roads. Guam loses an
average of 243 tons of soil per day. acre pr. year.
During his speech to the nation in February 2010, Governor Felix Camacho
declared that the country's name should be changed to the Chamoros' version of
Guam: Guahan. This name was widely used about the country during the period
1521-1898, and the governor issued a directive on the same day confirming the
change of name. It was the United States that in 1900 christened the country of
Guam. Felix Camacho has already sat for two terms and therefore cannot be
re-elected when his term expires in 2011. The name change is a way to put his
fingerprint on the country's history, he has publicly admitted..
In preparation for future military conflicts with China, in 2010-14, the
United States conducted a gigantic expansion of its military bases on the
island. The construction workers temporarily increased the country's population
by 40% or 80,000 people. In 2010, US military bases accounted for 29% of the
country's total area. It grew to 40% in 2014. It was planned that the transfer
of marines and their relatives from the US base in Okinawa should begin as early
as 2010. 8,000 soldiers will be transferred as well as 9,100 relatives. However,
plans were slowed as the islands did not have enough fresh water to meet the
needs of the soldiers. The superpower base in Okinawa was facing increasingly
harsh criticism from the Japanese population as many young Japanese women were
subjected to rape by the soldiers.
In late summer 2017, the United States and North Korea escalated the
reciprocal security policy situation in the wake of North Korea's development of
nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles and an escalation of US military
and political threats to the country. In August, North Korea threatened to
launch medium-range missiles against Guam, which would land in the sea 20-40 km
from the island, serving as an advanced military base for the United States. |
