8. Australia – the Blue Mountains NP, the Great Barrier Reef and Kangaroo Island

Watch the next part of the video about Australia. Then read and learn about the Blue Mountains National Park, the Great Barrier Reef and about Kangaroo Island.

(Noskaties nākamo video daļu par Austrāliju! Tad lasi un mācies par Zilo Kalnu nacionālo parku, Lielo Barjerrifu un par Ķengura salu!)

The Blue Mountains National Park

The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 267,954-hectare national park is situated approximately 80 kilometres west of Sydney. It was founded in 1932 by conservationist Myles Dunphy.

the Blue Mountains — [ˌbluː ˈmaʊn.tɪnz] — Zilie kalni

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life.

the Great Barrier Reef— [ˌɡreɪt ˈbær.i.ər ˌriːf] — Lielais Barjerrifs

coral — [ˈkɒr.əl] — korallis

dugong — [ˈdjuː.ɡɒŋ] — jūras govs

ray — [reɪ] — raja

Queensland — [ˈkwiːnz.lənd] — Kvīnslenda

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta ("island of the dead"), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia 112 km southwest of Adelaide. The native population of Aboriginal Australians that once occupied the island disappeared several thousand years ago. It was subsequently settled intermittently by sealers and whalers in the early 19th century. Since then the island's economy has been principally agricultural, with a southern rock lobster fishery and with tourism growing in importance. The largest town, and the administrative centre, is Kingscote. The island has several nature reserves to protect the remnants of its natural vegetation and native animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, wombats and platypus. There are also some small groups of dingoes.