Ask Me Everything!9

What is the outback?

Australia has dazzling beaches, lush vineyards, and steamy swamps, but three quarters of the country is desert or semidesert. These hot, dry areas are known as the outback, and people, plants, and animals have to be tough to survive there.

Helicopter

herders

The outback is home to some of the largest cattle ranches in the world. Several ranches cover such huge areas that ranchers have to use helicopters to move their herds around.

Aborigines

01: The Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for morę than 40,000 years.

02: They believe that the world was created by supernatural ancestors in a time before humans existed, called Dreamtime.

03: It is estimated that

04:

90 percent of the Aboriginal population was wiped out by diseases, such as smallpox, after the British arrived in Australia in 1788.

In 2006, the estimated Aboriginal population was 517,200, around 2.5 percent of the total population of Australia.

	3
3	The number of time zones across the country
3 3 3	6 Australia is the world's sixth-largest country, just slightly smaller than the U.S.A.
er	86 percent The percentage of the
(D	population that lives
	in Coastal areas
(A	2,500 miles (4,000 km) The width of the country from east to west 16,000 miles (25,760 km) The length of the Australian coastline 21 million The population of Australia

** v a

How to: make a digeridoo

V I ■ Take time to find the right piece of wood, such as eucalyptus. You need a tree that has been hollowed out by termites.

■ Cut the wood to the right length and strip off the bark. Smooth down the outside and then paint your instrument.

•" Outback animals

Ali these creatures have special techniques for dealing with desert life.

Thorny devil

The ridges over this lizard’s back allow it to collect water on its body and then pour it into its mouth.

rar g.

Emu

This is the second largest bird in the world. It keeps cool by panting, which helps take heat from its body.

Dingo

This desert dog preserves its energy by hunting at dawn or dusk and sleeping in the hottest parts of day.

Kangaroo

The kangaroo’s powerful hopping helps it cover a large area in search of something to eat.

L*(C) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. Ali Rights Reserved.