They also live along the east coast in Queensland and around Perth in the extreme south west. But much of the rest of Australia is virtually uninhabited. In the east, the Great Dividing Range divides the relatively damp coastal plain from the much drier outback, where millions of sheep and cattle are grazed on vast ranches called stations. Beyond the outback lies the vast desert heart of the continent, stretching almost all the way to the west coast. Ayers Rock , in the heart of Australia, is a massive sandstone formation popular with tourists - and is also sacred to the Aborigines.
Sheep shearing Australia exports more wool than any other country in the world.
The Sydney Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background is a famous Australian landmark. The people Hunters called Aborigines have lived in Australia for 40,000 years. When the British arrived in the late 1700s, the Aborigines were driven from their homes into the dry interior. Many now live in poverty in the southern cities. Few of the original British and Irish settlers wanted to go to Australia.