Outline of Australia

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The Flag of Australia		The Coat of arms 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

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.

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

1 General reference
2 Geography of Australia
3 Government and politics of Australia
4 History of Australia
- 4.1 History of the states of Australia
5 Culture of Australia
- 5.1 Art in Australia
- 5.2 Sport in Australia
6 Economy of Australia
- 6.1 Economy of the states of Australia
7 Education in Australia
- 7.1 Education in the states of Australia
8 Infrastructure of Australia
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

[edit] General reference

An enlargeable basic map of Australia

Pronunciation:
- Australian English: [əˈstræɪljə], [əˈstræɪliː.ə], [əˈstræɪjə]
- British English: [ɒˈstreɪlɪ.ə], [ɒˈstreɪlijə]
- American English: [ɑˈstreɪli.ə], [ɑˈstreɪljə]( listen)
Common English country name: Australia
Official English country name: The Commonwealth of Australia
Common endonym(s):
Official endonym(s):
Adjectival(s): Australian
Demonym(s):
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

[edit] Geography of Australia

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

Australia is...
- a continent
- a country
  - a nation state
  - a Commonwealth Realm
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:
  - Indian Ocean
  - Pacific Ocean
    - South Pacific Ocean
  - Southern Ocean by some reckonings
- Time zones:
  - Australian Eastern Standard Time (EST) (UTC+10), Australian Eastern Summer Time (EDT) (UTC+11)
  - Australian Central Standard Time (CST) (UTC+09:30), Australian Central Summer Time (CDT) (UTC+10:30),
  - Australian Western Standard Time (WST) (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: 21,370,000 people ^[4] (2008 estimate) - 53rd most populous country
Area of Australia: 7,741,220 km² (2,988,900 sq mi) - 6th largest country
Atlas of Australia

[edit] Environment of Australia

An enlargeable satellite image of Australia

Main article: 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.

[edit] Geographic features of Australia

[edit] Regions of Australia

Main article: Regions of Australia

Ecoregions in Australia

[edit] Multi-state regions

[edit] Administrative divisions of Australia

Australian external territories

Main article: States and territories of Australia

[edit] States of Australia

[edit] Territories of Australia

[edit] Mainland territories of Australia

[edit] External territories of Australia

[edit] Municipalities of Australia

Main article: Local Government Areas of Australia

Cities of Australia
- Capital of Australia: Canberra
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Hobart
- Brisbane
- Perth
- Adelaide

[edit] Demography of Australia

Main article: Demographics of Australia

State/territory	Land area (km²)	Rank	Population (2006)	Rank	Population density (/km²)	Rank	% of population in capital	Rank
Australian Capital Territory	2,358	8th	336,400	7th	137.53	1st	99.6%	1st
New South Wales	800,642	5th	6,817,100	1st	8.44	3rd	63%	5th
Victoria	227,416	6th	5,188,100	2nd	22	2nd	71%	4th
Queensland	1,730,648	2nd	4,264,590	3rd	2.26	5th	46%	7th
South Australia	983,482	4th	1,581,400	5th	1.56	6th	73.5%	2nd
Western Australia	2,529,875	1st	2,105,800	4th	0.79	7th	73.4%	3rd
Tasmania	68,401	7th	492,700	6th	7.08	4th	41%	8th
Northern Territory	1,349,129	3rd	215,000	8th	0.15	8th	54%	6th