A World of Words: Australia and New Zealand - Middle School and High School

G’day, mate! Get to know the land down under with this list of terms related to Australia and New Zealand. Explore geographical features like the Great Barrier Reef and the outback, as well as unique flora and fauna, including the kangaroo, platypus, and dingo. Give it a burl!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aboriginal
    relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning
  2. Aborigine
    a dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived
  3. Adelaide
    the state capital of South Australia
  4. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  5. Antarctica
    an extremely cold continent at the south pole almost entirely below the Antarctic Circle; covered by an ice cap up to 13,000 feet deep
  6. Arafura Sea
    a part of the western Pacific Ocean to the north of Australia and to the south of New Guinea and the eastern islands of Indonesia
  7. artesian well
    a well drilled through impermeable strata into strata that receive water from a higher altitude so there is pressure to force the water to flow upward
  8. Auckland
    the largest city and principal port of New Zealand
  9. Australia
    the smallest continent
  10. bandicoot
    any of various agile ratlike terrestrial marsupials of Australia and adjacent islands; insectivorous and herbivorous
  11. barrier reef
    a long coral reef near and parallel to the shore
  12. basin
    a natural depression in the surface of the land
  13. bight
    a broad bay formed by an indentation in the shoreline
  14. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  15. biome
    major ecological community with distinct climate and flora
  16. boomerang
    a curved piece of wood
  17. Brisbane
    capital and largest city of Queensland state
  18. Canberra
    the capital of Australia; located in southeastern Australia
  19. Cape York
    the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula at the Torres Strait
  20. cassowary
    a large black flightless bird with a distinctive head crest
  21. Christchurch
    industrial city at the center of a rich agricultural region
  22. coastal
    of or relating to the shoreline
  23. coastline
    the outline of a coast
  24. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  25. colonization
    the act of settling a group of people in a new place
  26. commonwealth
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  27. continent
    one of the large landmasses of the earth
  28. Cook Strait
    a narrow strait separating the North Island and South Island in New Zealand
  29. Coral Sea
    an arm of the South Pacific to the northeast of Australia
  30. Darling River
    an Australian river; tributary of the Murray River
  31. Darwin
    English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)
  32. democratic
    based upon the principles of social equality
  33. desert
    arid land with little or no vegetation
  34. dingo
    wolflike yellowish-brown wild dog of Australia
  35. doldrums
    a state of inactivity
  36. echidna
    a burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to Australia
  37. elevation
    distance of something above a reference point
  38. eucalyptus
    a Australasian tree valued for its timber and scented oil
  39. evergreen
    a plant having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year
  40. export
    sell or transfer abroad
  41. fauna
    all the animal life in a particular region or period
  42. fjord
    a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs
  43. flora
    all the plant life in a particular region or period
  44. geothermal
    of or relating to the heat in the interior of the earth
  45. geyser
    a spring that discharges hot water and steam
  46. Gibson Desert
    a desert area in western Australia
  47. Gondwanaland
    a hypothetical continent that (according to plate tectonic theory) broke up later into India and Australia and Africa and South America and Antarctica
  48. grassland
    land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life
  49. grazier
    a rancher who grazes cattle or sheep for market
  50. Great Australian Bight
    a wide bay of the Indian Ocean in southern Australia
  51. Great Barrier Reef
    the largest coral reef in the world
  52. Great Dividing Range
    a mountain range running along the eastern coast of Australia
  53. Great Sandy Desert
    a desert region in northwestern Australia to the north of the Gibson Desert
  54. Great Victoria Desert
    a desert region in south central Australia to the north of the Nullarbor Plain
  55. Gulf of Carpentaria
    a wide shallow inlet of the Arafura Sea in northern Australia
  56. hemisphere
    half of the terrestrial globe
  57. heritage
    practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
  58. highland
    elevated (e.g., mountainous) land
  59. Hobart
    a port and state capital of Tasmania
  60. hydroelectricity
    electricity produced by water power
  61. immigrant
    a person who comes to a country in order to settle there
  62. immigration
    movement of people into a country or area
  63. Indian Ocean
    the 3rd largest ocean
  64. invader
    someone who enters by force in order to conquer
  65. iron ore
    an ore from which iron can be extracted
  66. isolation
    a state of separation between persons or groups
  67. James Cook
    English navigator who claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain and discovered several Pacific islands (1728-1779)
  68. kangaroo
    a leaping marsupial with powerful hind legs and a thick tail
  69. kiwi
    a flightless bird native to New Zealand
  70. kookaburra
    Australian kingfisher having a loud cackling cry
  71. literacy
    the ability to read and write
  72. livestock
    any animals kept for use or profit
  73. mainland
    the main land mass of a country or continent
  74. marine
    relating to or characteristic of the sea
  75. market economy
    an economy that relies on market forces to determine prices
  76. marsupial
    a mammal the female of which has a pouch carrying the young
  77. Melbourne
    the capital of Victoria state and 2nd largest Australian city; a financial and commercial center
  78. mining
    the act of extracting ores or coal from the earth
  79. moa
    extinct flightless bird of New Zealand
  80. monolith
    a single great stone, often in the form of a column
  81. mountainous
    containing many mountains
  82. Murray River
    a southeast Australian river
  83. natural gas
    a fossil fuel in the gaseous state
  84. New South Wales
    an Australian state in southeastern Australia
  85. New Zealand
    an independent country within the British Commonwealth
  86. Northern Territory
    a territory in north central Australia
  87. outback
    the bush country of the interior of Australia
  88. parliament
    a legislative assembly in certain countries
  89. penal colony
    a settlement where prisoners are exiled
  90. Perth
    the state capital of Western Australia
  91. plateau
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  92. platypus
    an egg-laying mammal with a broad bill, a tail, and webbed feet
  93. population
    the number of inhabitants in a given place
  94. port
    where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
  95. protectionism
    the policy of taxing imports to shield domestic industries
  96. protectorate
    a state or territory partly controlled by a stronger state
  97. Queensland
    a state in northeastern Australia
  98. rain shadow
    an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
  99. ranch
    farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle)
  100. raw material
    material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing
  101. reparation
    compensation exacted from a defeated nation by the victors
  102. scrubland
    an uncultivated region covered with scrub vegetation
  103. Simpson Desert
    a desert region of central Australia
  104. South Australia
    a state in south central Australia
  105. southern hemisphere
    the hemisphere to the south of the equator
  106. subtropical
    of or relating to or characteristic of conditions in the subtropics
  107. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
  108. Sydney
    the largest Australian city located in southeastern Australia on the Tasman Sea; state capital of New South Wales; Australia's chief port
  109. Tasman Sea
    an arm of the southern Pacific Ocean between southeastern Australia and New Zealand
  110. Tasmania
    an island off the southeastern coast of Australia
  111. tectonic
    pertaining to the structure or movement of the earth's crust
  112. temperate
    mild or free from extremes
  113. timber
    land that is covered with trees and shrubs
  114. Timor Sea
    an arm of the eastern Indian Ocean between Timor and northern Australia
  115. tourism
    the business of providing services to travelers for pleasure
  116. trade
    the commercial exchange of goods and services
  117. tradition
    a specific practice of long standing
  118. transportation
    the act of moving something from one location to another
  119. Tropic of Capricorn
    a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the south of the equator
  120. typhoon
    a tropical cyclone in the western Pacific or Indian oceans
  121. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  122. Victoria
    a state in southeastern Australia
  123. volcano
    a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
  124. wallaby
    a small or medium-sized marsupial similar to a kangaroo
  125. Wellington
    the capital of New Zealand
  126. Western Australia
    a state containing the western third of Australia
  127. wombat
    a burrowing, plant-eating marsupial of Australia
  128. wool
    a fabric made from the hair of sheep
Created on Tue Jan 10 13:04:28 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 16:36:07 EDT 2017)

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