Australian Facts and Stats

Located southeast of Asia, Australia is a single continent occupied by a single country. The continent and nearby island of Tasmania, form the 6th largest country on Earth. Australia is 7,682,300 sq km (2,966,200 sq mi and is inhabited by 22 million people. This makes Australia the most sparsely populated continent with the exception of Antarctica.

Six states and two territories make up Australia. States include: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the island state of Tasmania. Territories include Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory which is the location for Canberra, the capital city of Australia.

Australia is the world's flattest and driest landmass after the Antarctica. The vast interior of Australia is known as the outback, consisting of the world's biggest desert area after the Sahara in Africa. The green eastern coastal plains are separated from the outback by the world's fifth longest mountain range aptly named The Great Dividing Range. Most of Australia's ski fields are located in this range around the New South Wales and Victoria border giving both these states a skiing industry.

Australia borders no other country because it is surrounded by ocean and the country has more beaches than any other country, about 37,000. The Great Barrier Reef on Queensland's is the most impresive coastal feature as is the largest reef and coral formation on Earth, extending for 2001 km (1250 miles) in length. The reef is the world's richest area of marine life, and forms a natural barrier from the Pacific Ocean. For this reason, Queensland is on the world's top diving areas, but is also less suitable for surfing. However the rest of the Australian coastline contains countless beaches with a reputation for some of the best surf breaks on the planet. Surfing is a popular national pastime and sport and explains why Australians regularly win international surfing competitions.

The Australian continent contains almost all the Earth's climatic zones including tropical, subtropical, semi arid, arid, mediterranean, temperate, and sub-alpine. The country has large areas as diverse as savanna plains in the north, a huge desert area to compete with the Sahara, snowy mountains in the Australian Alps, and the densly forested mountains and hills of Tasmania. The seasons in reverse to the northern hemisphere, so January and February are the warmest months, while June and July are the coldest.

Australia is geographically isolated from the rest of the world. This has given rise to distinctive plants and animals found nowhere else. Eucalyptus forests dominate much of coastal and inland Australia. Scrub species are interspersed with trees in the outback due to less rainfall which stand in direct contrast to the world's largest subtropical rainforest on the north east coast encompassed within the Gondwana Rainforest region. Large areas of temperate rainforest can be found further south in New South Wales, Victoria, and one of the world's largest tracts of temperate rainforest in the island state of Tasmania. The Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland is considered the oldest continous rainforest on Earth. Karri forests on Australia's south west corner contain some of the world's highest trees, with some trees surpassing 90 m (300 ft) in height.

Australia is also home to many unigue animal species such as the platypus, a venomous aquatic furred mammal with a duck like bill that lays eggs. When this animal was first discovered by Europeans, a pelt was sent to England where scientists initially thought it to be elaborate fraud. The Platypus belongs to an animal group known as monotremes. Another animal belonging to this group is the spiny anteater, or echidna.

Most native mammals are marsupials. These include koalas, kangaroos, possums, flying foxes, and the ferocious Tasmanian Devil. Australia also contains many varieties of reptiles, including the saltwater crocodile the largest crocodilian in the world, and lizards of which there are over 500 different species including goannas, geckos, and dragons.

The Australian continent is also home to the world's most venomous snakes and spiders, as well the deadly Box Jelly Fish and Blue Ring Octopus which are among the most poisonous creatures on Earth. Australia is populated by many colourful bird species such as parrots, budgerigars, rosellas, gallahs, finches and cockatoos. The Emu is Australia's largest bird and is related to the African Ostrich. An early name for Australia on some maps was "The Land of Parrots".