Outline of Australia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Australia:

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of 7,688,287 km² (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from Southeast Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke more than 250 distinct languages and had one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986.

General reference

Pronunciation: /əˈstreɪliə, ɒ-/
Common English country name: Australia
Official English country name: The Commonwealth of Australia
Common endonym(s): Land Down Under
Official endonym(s): Australia
Adjectival(s): Australian
Demonym(s): Aussie (colloquially)
Etymology: Name of Australia
International rankings of Australia
ISO country codes: AU, AUS, 036
ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:AU
Internet country code top-level domain: .au

Geography

Geography of Australia

Australia is:
- a continent
- a country
  - a nation state
  - a Commonwealth realm
  - a megadiverse country
Location:
- Australia is a region or subregion of:
  - The World (Australia is a continent on the planet Earth)
    - Southern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
    - Oceania
      - Australasia
- Australia lies between:
- Time zones:
  - Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) (UTC+10), Australian Eastern Summer Time (AEDT) (UTC+11)
  - Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) (UTC+09:30), Australian Central Summer Time (ACDT) (UTC+10:30),
  - Central Western Standard Time (CWST) (UTC+08:45)
  - Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) (UTC+08)
- Extreme points of Australia (mainland)
  - Northernmost Point – Cape York, Queensland (10°41' S)
  - Southernmost Point – South Point, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria (39°08' S)
  - Westernmost Point – Steep Point, Western Australia (113°09' E)
  - Easternmost Point – Cape Byron, New South Wales (153°38' E)
  - Highest Point – Mount Kosciuszko 2,228 m (7,310 ft)
  - Lowest Point – Lake Eyre −15 m (−49 ft)
- Land boundaries: none
- Coastline: 25,760 km
Population of Australia: 25,694,393 people ^[1] (December 2020) – 54th most populous country
Area of Australia: 7,741,220 km² (2,988,900 sq mi) – 6th largest country
Atlas of Australia
Surveying in Australia

Environment

An enlargeable satellite image of Australia

Environment of Australia

Iconic wildlife of Australia
A koala.
A kangaroo.
The Saltwater crocodile is the largest species of crocodile in the world.
An emu.
Frill-necked lizard.

Geographic features

Regions

Ecoregions in Australia

Multi-state regions

Administrative divisions

States and territories of Australia

States

Territories

Mainland territories

External territories

Municipalities

Local government in Australia

Cities of Australia

Demography

State/territory	Land area (km²)	Rank	Population (2012)^[1]	Rank	Population density (/km²)	Rank	% of population in capital	Rank
New South Wales	800,642	5th	7,348,900	1st	9.18	3rd	63.5%	5th
Victoria	227,416	6th	5,679,600	2nd	24.97	2nd	74.8%	4th
Queensland	1,730,648	2nd	4,610,900	3rd	2.66	5th	47.5%	7th
Western Australia	2,529,875	1st	2,472,700	4th	0.98	7th	76.7%	3rd
South Australia	983,482	4th	1,662,200	5th	1.69	6th	76.8%	2nd
Tasmania	68,401	7th	512,400	6th	7.49	4th	42.3%	8th
Australian Capital Territory	2,358	8th	379,600	7th	160.98	1st	98.7%	1st
Northern Territory	1,349,129	3rd	236,900	8th	0.18	8th	55.6%	6th