Unit 1 · Where Am I?
Islands, coral reefs & the world's emptiest spaces
A whole continent that's also a country. Mostly desert outback — 90% of people live on the coast. Has animals found nowhere else: kangaroos, koalas, platypus. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth (visible from space!).
Two main islands, 5.2M people, 30M sheep. Filmed Lord of the Rings here because the landscapes are THAT dramatic. The Māori arrived 700+ years ago. New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote (1893).
Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and more — scattered across the world's largest ocean. Many are volcanic. Tonga's king once held the Guinness record for world's heaviest monarch. Vanuatu has an active volcano you can stand on the rim of.
Nauru: world's smallest island nation (21 km²). Tuvalu: might disappear underwater from climate change. Palau: Jellyfish Lake has millions of stingless jellyfish you can swim with. Kiribati: spans all 4 hemispheres!
The most linguistically diverse place on Earth — over 800 languages for 10 million people. Many tribes were uncontacted until the 20th century. Shares an island with Indonesian Papua. Incredibly rugged terrain kept communities isolated.
Australia's outback is so empty that some cattle stations (ranches) are bigger than Belgium. New Zealand has no native land mammals (only bats). Fiji's 330 islands — only 110 inhabited. The Pacific Ocean alone is bigger than all land on Earth combined.
Answer all ten, then see your stars. You can retake it as many times as you like.
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