Outline of Australia

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The Flag of Australia
The Coat of arms of Australia
Location of Australia
An enlargeable map of the Commonwealth of Australia
Continent of Australia showing the continental shelf (light blue) around the mainland extending to the islands of New Guinea and Tasmania
See also: Index of Australia-related articles

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

Australia refers to both the continent of Australia and to the Commonwealth of Australia, the sovereign country. Australia, the world's smallest continent, is in the southern hemisphere and borders both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

The Commonwealth of Australia comprises the mainland of the Australian continent, plus the major island of Tasmania, and other nearby islands.[1] The neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

The Australian mainland has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians.[2] After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and then European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606,[3] the eastern half of Australia was later claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation as part of the colony of New South Wales, commencing on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established during the 19th century.

Contents

[edit] General reference

An enlargeable basic map of Australia

[edit] Geography

An enlargeable topographic map of Australia
Climatic zones in Australia, based on Köppen classification.
Extreme Points of Mainland Australia
Main articles: Australia (continent), Australia, and Geography of Australia

[edit] Environment

An enlargeable satellite image of Australia
Main article: Environment of Australia

[edit] Geographic features

See also: Category:Landforms of Australia

[edit] Regions

Main article: Regions of Australia

[edit] Multi-state regions

[edit] Administrative divisions

Australia map. Western Australia in the west third with capital Perth, Northern Territory in the north center with capital Darwin, Queensland in the northeast with capital Brisbane, South Australia in the south with capital Adelaide, New South Wales in the northern southeast with capital Sydney, and Victoria in the far southeast with capital Melbourne. Tasmania, with capital Hobart, is off the coast of Victoria, across the Bass Strait. The Indian Ocean is to the west and northwest, the South Pacific Ocean to the east, the Southern Ocean to the south, and the Tasman Sea to the southeast. The Great Australian Bight to the south and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north are the major bays. The Timor and Arafura Seas are off the north coast, and the Great Barrier Reef guards the northeast coast from the Coral Sea.
Australian external territories
Main article: States and territories of Australia
[edit] States
[edit] Territories
[edit] Mainland territories
[edit] External territories
[edit] Municipalities
Main article: Local Government Areas of Australia

[edit] Demography

Main article: Demographics of Australia
State/territory Land area (km²) Rank Population (2009)[4] Rank Population density (/km²) Rank  % of population in capital Rank
Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales 800,642 5th 7,165,400 1st 8.44 3rd 63% 5th
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria 227,416 6th 5,473,300 2nd 22 2nd 71% 4th
Flag of Queensland.svg Queensland 1,730,648 2nd 4,450,400 3rd 2.26 5th 46% 7th
Flag of Western Australia.svg Western Australia 2,529,875 1st 2,259,500 4th 0.79 7th 73.4% 3rd
Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia 983,482 4th 1,629,500 5th 1.56 6th 73.5% 2nd
Flag of Tasmania.svg Tasmania 68,401 7th 504,400 6th 7.08 4th 41% 8th
Flag of the Australian Capital Territory.svg Australian Capital Territory 2,358 8th 353,600 7th 137.53 1st 99.6% 1st
Flag of the Northern Territory.svg Northern Territory 1,349,129 3rd 227,000 8th 0.15 8th 54% 6th

[edit] Government and politics

Political parties in government since 1945.
  Labor
  Liberal
  National/Country
  Other Coalition
  Other
  No government
Main articles: Australian governments, Government of Australia, and Politics of Australia

[edit] Federal government

Main article: Government of Australia

[edit] Branches of the government

Main article: Separation of powers in Australia
[edit] Executive branch
[edit] Legislative branch
[edit] Judicial branch
Main article: Judiciary of Australia

[edit] Military

Main article: Australian Defence Force

[edit] Foreign relations

Main articles: Foreign relations of Australia and Diplomatic history of Australia

[edit] International organisation membership

The Commonwealth of Australia is a member of the:[1]

[edit] Law and order

Main article: Law of Australia

[edit] State and territory governments

[edit] Local government

Main article: Local government in Australia
See also: Local government

[edit] History

Map showing the creation of the colonies/states and mainland territories.
Main articles: History of Australia, Timeline of Australian history

[edit] History of states

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of Australia

[edit] Art

[edit] Sport

Main article: Sport in Australia

[edit] Economy and infrastructure

Main article: Economy of Australia

[edit] State economies

[edit] Education

Main articles: Education in Australia and Lists of schools in Australia

[edit] States education

[edit] See also

Portal icon Australia portal
Portal icon Oceania portal
Portal icon Commonwealth realms portal
English language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Main article: Australia

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Australia". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 2 July 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html. Retrieved 23 July 2009. 
  2. ^ Both Australian Aborigines and Europeans Rooted in Africa – 50,000 years ago
  3. ^ MacKnight, CC (1976).The Voyage to Marege: Macassan Trepangers in Northern Australia. Melbourne University Press
  4. ^ a b "Australian Demographic Statistics September 2009". http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 

[edit] External links

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