Environmental Geography

Environments at Risk
-Although Australia has a fairly low population there are many environmental problems that exist because of human activity. Issues such as globalization has environmentally impacted Australia. Mostly by outside sources the regions main natural resource base has been opened to development. By letting development occur Australia's environment is becoming threatened more and more. Mining operations put watersheds at risk of metals pollution, as well as the addition of pastures creating deforestation are among these threats. Another great threat is the introduction of exotic plants and animals such as nonnative rabbits that because of the lack of disease and predators they are able to continuously multiply and cover an excessive amount of land as well as consume great amounts of vegetation. 

Australian Environments
-Although Australia is known to be among the most urbanized societies most people relate it with its large Outback. The Outback is a land consisting of bare vegetation, abnormal animals, and faintly settled land. The Western Plateau, Lowland Basins, and the Great Dividing Range control Australia's physical geography. The Western Plateau is only about 1,000 to 1,800 feet high but covers a massive amount of land that covers more than half of Australia. The Lowland Basins are located on the east side of the continent and cover 1,000 miles of land from north to south. The last piece of land being the Great Dividing Range contains the most amount of mountainous as well as forested land which covers ground from southern Victoria to the  Cape York Peninsula.

Population and Settlement

Contemporary Population Patterns
-Although Australia's Outback is known for being scarce in terms of population, the country is among the most urbanized. With 91 percent of Australian residents living in either Melbourne or Sydney. This makes the inland area much less populated and is continuously declining.

Historical Settlement
-Coming from Southeast Asia into Australia were the ancestors of Aborigine populations about 60,000 years ago. During this time the last glacial period made sea levels much lower than they are currently making these ancestors more likely to have come to the country by some sort of watercraft. After much time had passed a British sea captain named James Cook spotted Australia between 1768 and 1780 as land worthy of European development. Eight years later European colonization began in Australia once the British were in need of remote penal colonies where convicts could be executed. Attracted by the agriculture more and more Irish and British English speakers began to move in to Australia occupying the coast as well as the inland areas. The desire for minerals such as gold was another important reason as to why Australia was an attractive area to settle.

Settlement Landscapes
-With Australia being very highly westernized, as well as urbanized the majority of their population live city, suburban lifestyles. This transformation towards urbanization came to be in the 20th century as intensive labor became more scare in the rural economy and the employment of urban manufacturing grew. The less developed cities of Australia strike a huge contrast with the westernized style of the urban environment. Wile the rural areas of Australia pose a significant cultural as well as economic influence. Although in such rural environments natives who have remained unchanged by the European changes still exist they are becoming exploited by such Global influences as foreign tourism and cash economy. Because the region is too dry for farming it has low agricultural value, although since 1960 the areas crop size has doubled due to the existence of new fertilizers.

Diverse Demographic Paths
-Although in the 20th century Australia's population boomed due to natural increases their low rate of birth today is equal to that of North America. Problems such as the younger generation leaving rural areas to achieve profitable jobs in the city occur with such detrimental shifts in population. Regions such as New Zealand and Australia seem to attract migrants although their neighbor Fiji have a remaining high rate of migration.

Cultural Coherence and Diversity

Multicultural Australia
- Many Globalization processes are illustrated though the cultural patterns of Australia. Although it is still dominated by European history it is open to all races and it is this characteristics are becoming increasingly fundamental. Wile opting for a hunting and gathering form of life the aboriginals of Australia have controlled its geography culturally for thousands of years. The Aboriginal peoples today account for only two percent of Australia's population, however because of the way they have distributed themselves thought that land their are thirty percent located in the Northern Territory of Australia. Because of this there are obvious clouts of diversity at work. Over seventy Percent of the regions population consists of immigrants who have migrated from and Irish or British background.

Geopolitical Framework

Roads to Independence
-Australia is one of the oldest independent states of the region. It is also a 20th- century creation that still considers whether or not they would like to complete the formal political separation from the British Crown. With Australia becoming independent six years before New Zealand in 1901 they were both able to create their own political identities. Although Australia is a commonwealth and has been for some time it still considers the British Crown to be the head of its government. Even after a referendum in 1999 asking if Australia would like to cut its ties to the British Crown and elect its own president 55 percent of the population decided to stay with the queen as its head of their government.

Persisting Geopolitical Tensions
-By using the political process the indigenous peoples of Australia have gained more control over resources and land in their country. New found political power is being found by the Aboriginal groups and is being used towards more effective lobbying. A good amount of Aboriginal reserves have been establishment by the Australian government just recently. These Aboriginals now have control over sacred national parklands like Uluru. In 1996 however efforts by Aboriginals to extend land rights have met strong opposition when the Australian court ruled that pastoral leases would not abolish Aboriginal land rights.

Economic and Social Development

The Australian Economy

-The elicitation and export of ample raw materials is what built Australia's preceding economic assets. One of the key advocates of Australia's economy has been the export-oriented agriculture for a long time now.However the mining sector of the economy has grown much faster since 1970 which has formed Australia into one of the worlds mining global force. This mining growth in Australia is due to an increase in trade with China, also making it the largest exporter of both coal and iron. A premise for Australia's economic future is due to the amount of Asian immigrants as well as economic links with future Asian markets.

The Global Economic Setting
-Both Australia and New zealand are the dominating countries in global trade patterns of the region. Australia imports less manufactured goods from Britain and Europe and more from China, the United States, and Japan. Australia now participates in an organization designed to encourage economic development in the Pacific Basin as well as in Southeast Asia called the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group or APEC. Australia also signed an in 1982 that slashed trade barriers between New Zealand and Australia called the Closer Economic Relations Agreement or CER.

Continuing Social Challenges
-One thing that Australians love is high levels of social welfare. However they face large challenges that appear in other areas of the developed world. The life span of Australia is about eighty years and child mortality rates are at a falling rate starting in 1960. The rate of skin cancer in Australia is also one of the highest when considering the world. Yet overall Australia provides a high-quality health care to its entire population.