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Geographical center






 

Located in the Northern Territory, it is about 14 km south-east of Central Mount Stuart and a little over 200 km north of Alice Springs (capital of the Northern Territory). The first European to stand there was John McDouall Stuart who wrote in his diary on 22 April 1860: " Today I find from my observations of the Sun that I am now camped in the center of Australia."

John McDouall Stuart


Geographical center of Australia


Land

 

Most of Australia is low and flat (average elevation 300 m). Clouds blow over without hitting mountains, and much of the country lacks rain.

 

The highest and most mountainous land lies along the east coast.

 

Australia's highest mountains rise in the Australian Alps. Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, rises 2, 228 meters above sea level in the Snowy Mountains. It was named in 1840 by the Polish Count Paul de Strzelecki, the first European to climb it. The mountain was named, in 1840, after the Polish statesman, Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817).

 

KOSCIUSKO, Thaddeus (1746-1817).

 

The Polish general Thaddeus Kosciusko fought for freedom on two continents.

In 1776 he came to America from Warsaw to serve in the American Revolution. He became an engineer and a colonel of artillery in the Continental army.

Later he defended his native land, though he was by then a United States citizen.

 

Kosciusko was born on Feb. 4, 1746, in Mereczowszczyzna in the Kingdom of Poland (now in Belarus). He was educated at the military academy in Warsaw, where he later served as an instructor.

 

After the American Revolution Kosciusko was rewarded with the rank of brigadier general and an annual pension. Poland meanwhile was suffering from external aggression and internal anarchy. In 1792 Kosciusko returned to fight but unsuccessfully against a Russian invasion.

 

In 1794 Kosciusko became dictator and commander in chief of Poland and successfully defended Warsaw against siege by Russian and Prussian armies. On Oct. 10, 1794, his army of 7, 000 Poles was defeated by 16, 000 Russians at Maciejowice, where he was wounded.

 

Kosciusko was released from a Russian prison in 1796. He revisited America, living for a time in Philadelphia, Pa. He died in Switzerland on Oct. 15, 1817.

 


Uluru (Ayers Rock), in the center of Australia in Uluru National Park, is believed to be the largest monolith in the world. Its measurements are impressive: 3.1 kilometres east to west, 1.9 kilometres north to south, a height of 348 metres above the surrounding plain, a circumference of 9.4 kilometres and an area of 3.3 square kilometres.

 

The 'Rock' is Australia's best-known scenic attraction. The monolith, which the Aborigines call Uluru, is composed of sandstone, which changes colour according to the attitude of the Sun. Tens of thousands of visitors, many of them from overseas, flock to it each year to experience something of its mysterious power.

 

 

Shallow caves at the base of the rock are sacred to several Aboriginal tribes and contain carvings and paintings. Sighted in 1872 by Ernest Giles, the rockwas named for former South Australian premier Sir Henry Ayers.

 

In 1985, official ownership of Ayers Rockwas given to the Aborigines, who thereupon leased the rockand UluruNational Park (surrounding it) to the government for 99 years.

 

 

 



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