Australia

===General characteristics===
[[File:Reliefmap of Australia.png|thumb|upright=1.3|right|alt=Map showing the topography of Australia, showing some elevation in the west and very high elevation in mountains in the south-east|Topographic map of Australia. Dark green represents the lowest elevation and dark brown the highest.]]

Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans,{{Refn|Australia describes the body of water south of its mainland as the [[Southern Ocean]], rather than the Indian Ocean as defined by the [[International Hydrographic Organization]] (IHO). In 2000, a vote of IHO member nations defined the term "Southern Ocean" as applying only to the waters between [[Antarctica]] and [[60th parallel south|60° south]] latitude.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/fifthocean.htm|last=Rosenberg|first=Matt |title=The New Fifth Ocean – The World's Newest Ocean – The Southern Ocean|publisher=About.com: Geography|date=20 August 2009 |access-date=5 April 2010 |archive-date=26 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126025233/http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/fifthocean.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>|name="Southern Ocean"|group="N"}} Australia is separated from Asia by the [[Arafura Sea|Arafura]] and [[Timor Sea|Timor]] seas, with the [[Coral Sea]] lying off the Queensland coast, and the [[Tasman Sea]] lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent<ref name="NatlGeo">{{Cite web |url=http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/continents/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714145306/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/continents/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2008 |title=Continents: What is a Continent?|publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=22 August 2009}} "Most people recognize seven continents — [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[North America]], [[South America]], [[Antarctica]], [[Europe]], and Australia, from largest to smallest — although sometimes Europe and Asia are considered a single continent, [[Eurasia]]".</ref> and [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|sixth largest country by total area]],<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43654/Australia |title=Australia |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-date=22 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922214422/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43654/Australia |url-status=live }} "Smallest continent and sixth largest country (in area) on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans".</ref> Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the "island continent"<ref>{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423151730/http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/islands.jsp|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/islands.jsp |publisher=Geoscience Australia |title=Islands |archive-date=23 April 2010}} "Being surrounded by ocean, Australia often is referred to as an island continent. As a continental landmass it is significantly larger than the many thousands of fringing islands{{Nbsp}}..."</ref> and is sometimes considered the [[List of islands by area|world's largest island]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/island_continent.html |title=Australia in Brief: The island continent|publisher=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) |access-date=29 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604082917/http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/island_continent.html |archive-date=4 June 2009 |url-status=dead}} "Mainland Australia, with an area of 7.69 million square kilometres, is the Earth's largest island but smallest continent".</ref> Australia has {{Cvt|34218|km}} of coastline (excluding all offshore islands),<ref name="Coast">{{Cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/142/index.html |title=State of the Environment 2006|publisher=Department of the Environment and Water Resources |access-date=19 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710224519/http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/142/index.html |archive-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> and claims an extensive [[Exclusive economic zone|Exclusive Economic Zone]] of {{Convert|8148250|km2|sqmi}}. This exclusive economic zone does not include the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].<ref>{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620022412/http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/oceans-seas.jsp|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/oceans-seas.jsp |publisher=Geoscience Australia |title=Oceans and Seas – Geoscience Australia |archive-date=20 June 2009}}</ref>

Mainland Australia lies between latitudes [[9th parallel south|9°]] and [[44th parallel south|44° South]], and longitudes [[112th meridian east|112°]] and [[154th meridian east|154° East]].<ref name=lat>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/continental-extremities|title=Continental extremities|date=15 May 2014|publisher=Geoscience Australia|access-date=2 April 2021|archive-date=25 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825063142/https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/continental-extremities|url-status=live}}</ref> Australia's size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/national-landscapes/index.html |title=Parks and Reserves—Australia's National Landscapes|website=environment.gov.au|date=23 November 2011 |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104114011/http://environment.gov.au/parks/national-landscapes/index.html |archive-date=4 January 2012}}</ref> The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the [[outback]] makes up by far the largest portion of land.<ref name="portrait">{{Cite book |title=Australia: Portrait of a continent|last1=Loffler|first1=Ernst|first2=Anneliese|last2=Loffler |author3=A. J. Rose|first4=Denis|last4=Warner|year=1983|publisher=Hutchinson Group (Australia)|location=Richmond, Victoria|isbn=978-0-0913-0460-7|pages=37–39}}</ref> Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500&nbsp;mm.<ref name=bomclim/> The [[List of countries and dependencies by population density|population density]] is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/3218.0Main%20Features702016-17?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3218.0&issue=2016-17&num=&view=|title=Population Density|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=26 March 2019|access-date=25 April 2020|archive-date=3 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503083301/https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs%40.nsf/Previousproducts/3218.0Main%20Features702016-17?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3218.0&issue=2016-17&num=&view=|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 {{!}} FAO {{!}} Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=FAODocuments |date=2023 |language=en |doi=10.4060/cc8166en |isbn=978-92-5-138262-2 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215161116/https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Fitzroy Island.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|left|[[Fitzroy Island (Queensland)|Fitzroy Island]], one of the 600 islands within the main archipelago of the Great Barrier Reef]]

The [[Great Barrier Reef]], the world's largest coral reef,<ref name=UNEP>{{Cite web|author=UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre|year=1980 |title=Protected Areas and World Heritage – Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area|url=http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/gbrmp.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528210526/http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/gbrmp.html |archive-date=28 May 2007 |publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts |access-date=19 May 2007}}</ref> lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over {{Cvt|2000|km}}. [[Mount Augustus (Western Australia)|Mount Augustus]], claimed to be the world's largest monolith,<ref name="Monolith">{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Mount-Augustus/2005/02/17/1108500208314.html|title=Mount Augustus|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=17 February 2005|access-date=30 March 2010|archive-date=6 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206233728/http://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Mount-Augustus/2005/02/17/1108500208314.html|url-status=live}}</ref> is located in Western Australia. At {{Cvt|2228|m}}, [[Mount Kosciuszko]] is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are [[Mawson Peak]] (at {{Cvt|2745|m}}), on the remote Australian [[States and territories of Australia|external territory]] of [[Heard Island and McDonald Islands|Heard Island]], and, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, [[Mount McClintock]] and [[Mount Menzies]], at {{Cvt|3492|m}} and {{Cvt|3355|m}} respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/highest-mountains.html|publisher=Geoscience Australia|title=Highest Mountains|access-date=2 February 2012|date=15 May 2014|archive-date=21 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321184228/http://ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/highest-mountains.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Eastern Australia is marked by the [[Great Dividing Range]], which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than {{Cvt|1600|m}} in height.<ref name="Johnson2009p202">{{Cite book|last=Johnson|first=David|year=2009
|title=The Geology of Australia|edition=2|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-5217-6741-5|page=202}}</ref> The [[Eastern Australian temperate forests|coastal uplands]] and a [[Brigalow Belt|belt of Brigalow grasslands]] lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland.<ref name="Johnson2009p202"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Seabrooka
|first1=Leonie|last2=McAlpinea|first2=Clive|last3=Fenshamb|first3=Rod|year=2006 |title=Cattle, crops and clearing: Regional drivers of landscape change in the Brigalow Belt, Queensland, Australia, 1840–2004
|journal=Landscape and Urban Planning|volume=78|issue=4|pages=375–376|doi=10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.11.007}}</ref> These include the [[Southeast Australia temperate savanna|western plains]] of New South Wales, and the [[Mitchell Grass Downs]] and [[Mulga Lands]] of inland Queensland.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Einasleigh Uplands savanna|id=aa0705|access-date =16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Mitchell grass downs|id=aa0707 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Eastern Australia mulga shrublands|id=aa0802 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Southeast Australia temperate savanna|id=aa0803 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref> The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical [[Cape York Peninsula]].<ref name=lat/>

[[File:Uluru, helicopter view, cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|[[Uluru]] in the semi-arid region of Central Australia]]

The landscapes of the [[Top End]] and the [[Gulf Country]]—with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Arnhem Land tropical savanna|id=aa0701 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=27 June 2009 |title=Rangelands – Overview|work=Australian Natural Resources Atlas|publisher=Australian Government |url=http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/rangelands/overview/qld/ibra-gup.html|access-date =16 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313224717/http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/rangelands/overview/qld/ibra-gup.html |archive-date=13 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Cape York Peninsula tropical savanna|id=aa0703 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref> At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|The Kimberley]], and below that the [[Pilbara]]. The [[Victoria Plains tropical savanna]] lies south of the [[Kimberley tropical savanna|Kimberley]] and [[Arnhem Land tropical savanna|Arnhem Land]] savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Van Driesum|first=Rob|year=2002 |title=Outback Australia|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-8645-0187-2|page=306}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion |name=Victoria Plains tropical savanna|id=aa0709|access-date =16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Western Australian Mulga shrublands|id=aa1310 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref> At the heart of the country are the [[Central Ranges xeric scrub|uplands of central Australia]]. Prominent features of the centre and south include [[Uluru]] (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland [[Simpson Desert|Simpson]], [[Tirari-Sturt stony desert|Tirari and Sturt Stony]], [[Gibson Desert|Gibson]], [[Great Sandy-Tanami desert|Great Sandy, Tanami]], and [[Great Victoria Desert|Great Victoria]] deserts, with the famous [[Nullarbor Plain]] on the southern coast.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Central Ranges xeric scrub|id=aa1302 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Banting|first=Erinn
|year=2003 |title=Australia: The land|publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7787-9343-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/australia00bant_2/page/10 10]
|url=https://archive.org/details/australia00bant_2/page/10}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{WWF ecoregion|name=Tirari-Sturt stony desert|id=aa1309 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Great Sandy-Tanami desert|id=aa1304 |access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref> The [[Western Australian mulga shrublands]] lie between the interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate [[Southwest Australia]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Western Australian mulga shrublands|id=aa1301 |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>
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