Western Australia
Western Australia [ westən ɒstreɪliə ] ( German Western Australia ) is an Australian State. Its capital city is Perth.
Geography
The state of Western Australia is located west of the meridian 129 ° E.
It is divided from north to south in the multiform Kimberleyplateau with the Bungle Bungles, the Great Sandy Desert, the mountains Hamersley Range ( 1,235 meters ), the western part of the Great Victoria Desert and the Nullarbor Desert. Scenic dominant are the uniform hull countries of the Australian plate. But there are also interesting geological formations such as the undulating Wave Rock, the China Wall in Halls Creek or the Pinnacles, freestanding limestone columns ( Limestone ).
Western Australia can be divided on the geological division into eleven regions: Perth and Fremantle, Peel, South West, Great Southern, Goldfields - Esperance, Heartlands, Mid West, Gascoyne Outback Coast, Pilbara and Kimberley. The total land area of Western Australia is 2,529,880 km ² and is seven times the size of Germany.
In the Gascoyne Outback Coast region of Western Australia to find the group of the oldest life forms that have been found so far, the stromatolites, which debuted nearly 3.5 billion years ago. It is one of the few places where they still exist. You are in Hamelin on Shark Bay, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Population
In Western Australia live 2.3 million residents, of which 1.7 million in the Metropolitan Area Perth Perth and Fremantle. Most of the remaining 600,000 will focus on the relatively small part of the southwest tip of Australia. The second largest city of Western Australia 's Bunbury with 64,000 inhabitants (175 kilometers south of Perth ).
Climate
The north has tropical monsoon climate, hot, warm temperate in south-western winter rainfall climate, inland and in the south east there is a large area with sommerheißem and winterkühlem arid dry climate. The summer ( December to March ) bringing heavy rainfall in the north and oppressive humidity, while temperatures well above 40 ° C are to endure in the interior. Only the coast is then cooled by evening sea winds, such as the capital of Perth by the so-called Fremantle Doctor. Perth enjoys a pleasant Mediterranean climate with long, hot summer months (December to February ) and mild, cooler winter months (June to August) and has an average of eight hours of sunshine per day, more than any other Australian city.
Economy
The main industry of the state is mining or the individual prospecting for mineral resources. About 90 % of Australian ore production comes from Western Australia. These are particularly metal ores such as iron ore, uranium, nickel, tin ore and gold, among other minerals such as bauxite or coltan. Of energy resources coal, petroleum and natural gas is encouraged, since 2009 the world's largest GTL plant in the Gorgon gas project is created that will deliver in 2014 eight percent of the world's production of liquefied natural gas. The gemstone mining brings mainly diamonds.
Vast areas of Western Australia are available only as grazing land for sheep because of the dry and hot climate, other agricultural species are cattle and pig farming in arable areas and the cultivation of fruits, grains, potatoes and wine. Two-thirds of Australian wheat production comes from the Western Australian Heartlands.
The processing industry is concentrated in the area Perth, about 75 percent of the population lives there, these were just under 1.86 million people in 1998. Because of the variety of landscapes and interesting flora and fauna gradually tourism starts to play a certain role, such as Rottnest Iceland or the tame dolphins of Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, or even the diving paradise on the Ningaloo Reef. On the Lacepedeinseln are important breeding areas of sea birds and sea turtles, which are visited by tourists.
Import restrictions
Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables, plant parts, soil, honey, nuts and seeds is strictly prohibited. Containers, in which these materials were stored must also be cleaned. Compliance with the provisions for the protection of agriculture are controlled at the international airport of Perth, but also to the main access roads from the Northern Territory (Victoria Highway ) and South Australia ( Eyre Highway) ensured with quarantine controls. Heavily soiled vehicles shall be allowed only after cleaning the onward journey.
History
The area was settled around 40,000 years ago by Aboriginal people, including the Noongar and the Spinifex People belong.
Of Europeans the west coast was first achieved in 1616 by the Dutchman Dirk Hartog in Shark Bay. By the end of the 17th century other sailors had ( among them Abel Tasman and Willem de Vlamingh ) on behalf of the Dutch East India Company then explored the entire coastline. However, it was encountered with the Aborigines do not trade and lost interest in this area.
The first unofficial colonization attempt was made in 1826 by the British in the area of present-day Albany. 1827 Captain James Stirling came back from an expedition and reported to the British king much more positive from the area around the Swan River. Last but not least in order to forestall settlement attempts by other nations, he was commissioned to form a new colony.
In April 1829 Captain Charles Fremantle initially landed with his ship Challenger in May then Captain James Stirling with his ship Parmelia at the river mouth. They founded the Swan River colony, named after the numerous here occurring black swans. Later it was then Western Australia. They displaced the native inhabitants, the Aborigines.
In contrast to the eastern colonies, colonization was here first without prisoners. As germ cell served three settlements:
- The port of Fremantle directly at the river mouth ( named after the first captain ),
- The "residence" Perth about 20 kilometers upstream on a lake-shaped expansion of the river (named in honor of the father of Captain Fremantle, Sir Charles Murray, deputy of Perth in Scotland) and
- Another 20 kilometers upstream - as far as the ships could go - then Guildford (named after the father of Captain Stirling, the MP for Guildford in Surrey was ) as a gateway to the fertile Swan Valley, which should ensure the supply of the colony. Captain James Stirling himself was the first governor of the new colony.
Since the growing colony had a great shortage of manpower, about 10,000 convicts were in the period 1850-1868 then used for the construction of public facilities yet. The mineral wealth of natural resources in Western Australia in the 1880s led to the founding of the Geological Survey of Western Australia. In the 1890s, there was a gold rush. 1901 Western Australia became a state of the newly established Commonwealth of Australia as a founding member. After the Second World War, the European-derived population came to a certain level of prosperity, while many Aboriginal people still live in poverty on reservations.
Universities
- Curtin University of Technology ( CURTIN ), Perth
- Edith Cowan University (ECU), Perth
- Murdoch University ( MURDOCH ), Perth
- University of Notre Dame Australia ( UNDA ), Fremantle
- University of Western Australia ( UWA ), Perth Crawley