• Australia is the lowest, flattest and, apart from Antarctica, the driest of the continents

• The highest point in Australia is actually in Australian Antarctic territory

• It is the most urbanized Continent, 70% of the population lives in cities along the coast

• Sydney is the largest city in Australia • The large port of Sydney brings jobs and

money to the city which attracts people• The Sydney Opera House is the country’s most

famous building

Australia• The English colonized Australia in 1788 as a

place for convicts– Around 170,000 convicts from Britain were

shipped there

• Colonized by English, Irish, and Scottish• Famines, epidemics and massacres brought by

the English brought the Aborigine numbers down

Aborigines of Australia• Native people of Australia• One of the last completely hunter/gatherer

cultures on earth• The indigenous cultures of Australia are the

oldest on earth going back over 50,000 years• The land itself is the center of aboriginal

religious beliefs

White Australia• From 1901 until 1973

Australia only allowed white immigrants passage to Australia

• The goal was to keep out Chinese and Japanese immigrants

• Pacific Islanders who worked on plantations were deported

The Stolen Generation

• Under the White Australia policies aborigine children who were ‘not of full blood’ were encouraged to become assimilated into ‘white’ society so that eventually there would be no more Indigenous people left.

• This was an attempt to erase aboriginal culture

The Stolen Generation

• From 1907-1971 aborigine children and especially children of mixed heritage were taken to orphanages

• The government board could remove children without parental consent and without a court order – Combing their hair straight, learning and speaking

only English, becoming Christian

• 10 % of aboriginal children were ‘stolen’

End of White Australia

• During the Vietnam War and other conflicts in Asia Australia began to grant refugees asylum in Australia

• Asylum- The protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political refugee.

• Refugee- A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

• Indonesia is an archipelago made of approximately (about) 17,508 islands

• Indonesia is rich in Natural Gas and Oil • Was a Dutch colony during age of imperialism–Royal Dutch Shell oil company began in the

colony• Captured by the Japanese early in WWII for their oil

resources

Religion in Indonesia

• 88% of Indonesians are Muslim• Islam was introduced by traders from Arabia• The Dutch introduced Christianity to

Indonesia in 1846; 10% of Indonesia is Christian

• Christians are not often tolerated.– Churches are destroyed– Christians are blamed for misfortunate events

and beaten

The Spice Islands• Most of Indonesia was called ‘the spice

islands’ because of spices like nutmeg and mace that originated there

• European, Arabic and Chinese traders all competed for control of the Islands with the Dutch (from the Netherlands) gaining control in the 1600’s

• If you wanted nutmeg or mace you had to buy it from the Dutch.

Singapore• City-State– The city is the whole country

• Very strict laws in Singapore– Had the same leader for 31 years– Known as the land of ‘no’ because of

its forbidding laws

Singapore

• It’s geographic location on the Strait of Malacca make it one of the world’s busiest shipping ports and very wealthy

• Singapore is an Economic Tiger because of it’s developed economy and stable government

Pirates and Geography

• The strait of Malacca is an important shipping route connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans

• Singapore is near this valuable geographic area and has become wealthy because of it

Pirates and Geography• The strait of Malacca is also a perfect place for

pirates to raid cargo ships going through the strait.

• Piracy in this area has been going on since ancient times.

• Since 2002 there have been over 250 pirate attacks in the strait.

• Because of the geography merchants continue to use the strait despite the pirate threat.

Bikini Atoll

• Atoll- A ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of coral

• Part of the U.S. Marshall Islands

American Nuclear Bomb Testing

• BRAVO CRATER - This huge hole in the reef at Bikini Atoll is where thermonuclear hydrogen bomb was detonated.

Geographic impact• The 15 megaton thermonuclear device

vaporized two islands and half of a third, leaving a crater which is 6000 feet in diameter and 240 feet deep.

• 42 species of coral became locally extinct

Antarctica• Penguins are the only permanent residents of

Antarctica• Many countries own and operate scientific

work stations throughout the continent• These scientists stay for a short time

Antarctic Treaty

• Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom all claim territory in Antarctica

• Russia and the United States can reserve territory at any time

• Many countriesdo not recognize claims to Antarctic territory

What is a treaty?• A signed agreement between two or more

countries• If enough countries sign a treaty the treaty

becomes international law• The United Nations and International Criminal

Court are founded on treaties

Philippines

• The Philippines were originally a Spanish colony, but became an American colony in 1899

• This was America’s only colony• Spanish and American culture can be seen in

the Philippines today

American Influence

• English Language• Basketball and Baseball are popular sports• Hotdogs and Hamburgers

Spanish Influence

• 81% of Filipinos are Roman Catholic• Spanish last names• Filipino language has many words from

Spanish• Being far from Spain; Spanish culture came

mostly from Mexico

Acculturation

• 1: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture; also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact

• 2: the process by which a human being acquires the culture of a particular society from infancy

The Cold War• 1945-1991-America vs. U.S.S.R• Capitalism vs Communism• America supported any people fighting the

Soviet Union• The Soviet Union supported anyone fighting

the United States• “the enemy of our enemy is our friend”

• Ho Chi Minh was the nationalist and a communist leader of Vietnam

• Read the Vietnamese declaration of Independence which was almost exactly like America’s

• Wanted an independent Vietnam and one where everything was equal– Vietnam was a very un-developed and poor country in

the 1950’s

Vietnam

• The United States and Europeans convinced the United Nations to divide Vietnam into a north and south, like Korea

• North was Communistsupported by USSR

• South was capitalistsupported by USA

• Ho Chi Minh dreamed of a unified Vietnam• A corrupt government in the south limited

freedom of Buddhists • This lead to a war between the north and

south, with American and Australians fighting against the North Vietnamese fighters

• Following over ten years of war America withdrew from Vietnam

• Vietnam then invaded Cambodia, also a communist country, because they were killing any ethnic Vietnamese – This genocide took place in the ‘Killing Fields” of

Cambodia

• In 1979 Communist China invaded Vietnam and was also defeated

Vietnam Today• Since the ending of all the wars Vietnam’s

economy has grown exponentially• Now the 42nd largest economy in the world• The communist economy is still tightly

controlled by the government