Download Geography of Australia

Geography of Australia
The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being
the world's smallest continent but the sixth-largest country in the world. The population
of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. The geography of
the country is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow capped mountains of the
Australian Alps and Tasmania to large deserts, tropical and temperate forests.
Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the
north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the
east, and New Zealand to the southeast
Australia is a country, an island, and a continent. It is located in Oceania between the
Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean at 27°S 144°E27°S 144°E. It is the sixth
largest country in the world with a total area of 7,686,850 square kilometres
(2,967,909 sq. mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), making it
slightly smaller than the contiguous 48 states of the United States and 31.5 times larger
than the United Kingdom.
The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,876 km (22,292 mi) with an
additional 23,859 km (14,825 mi) of island coastlines. There are 758 estuaries around the
country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones. Australia claims an
extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,057 sq. mi).
This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on earth. It has no land
borders. The northernmost points of the country are the Cape York Peninsula of
Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory.
The western half of Australia consists of the Western Plateau, which rises to mountain
heights near the west coast and falls to lower elevations near the continental center. The
Western Plateau region is generally flat, though broken by various mountain ranges such
as the Hamersley Range, the MacDonnell Ranges, and the Musgrave Range. Surface
water is generally lacking in the Western Plateau, although there are several larger rivers
in the west and north, such as the Murchison, Ashburton, and Victoria river.
The Eastern Highlands, or Great Dividing Range, lie near the eastern coast of Australia,
separating the relatively narrow eastern coastal plain from the rest of the continent. These
Eastern Australian temperate forests have the greatest relief, the most rainfall, the most
abundant and varied flora and fauna, and the densest human settlement.
Between the Eastern Highlands and the Western Plateau lie the Central Lowlands, which
are made up of the Great Artesian Basin and Australia's largest river systems, MurrayDarling Basin and Lake Eyre Basin.
Off the eastern coast of Australia is the world's largest coral reef complex, the Great
Barrier Reef. The State of Tasmania, a large and mountainous island, resides in the southeastern corner of Australia.
Political geography
Main article: States and territories of Australia
Australia consists of six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor
territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania,
Victoria and Western Australia. The two major mainland territories are the Northern
Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Australia also has several minor territories; the federal government administers a separate
area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, as a naval base and sea port for
the national capital. In addition Australia has the following, inhabited, external territories:
Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely
uninhabited external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard
Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Climate
By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid – 40% of the landmass is
covered by sand dunes. A total of 18% of Australia's mainland is desert. Only the southeast and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The
northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part
grasslands, and part desert.
Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons thought to be
caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Occasionally a dust storm will
blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large
tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas is ravaging the
landscape.
Australia's tropical/subtropical location and cold waters off the western coast make most
of western Australia a hot desert with aridity, a marked feature of the greater part of the
continent. These cold waters produce little moisture needed on the mainland. A 2005
study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the
interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived
about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented
monsoons from reaching interior Australia. The outback covers 70 percent of the
continent.
List of cities in Australia by population
Rank Statistical Division/District State/Territory June 2009[2]
1
New South Wales 4,504,469
Sydney
2
Victoria
3,995,537
Melbourne
Queensland
2,004,262
3
Brisbane
4
Western Australia 1,658,992
Perth
5
South Australia 1,187,466
Adelaide
June 2010[3]
4,575,532
4,077,036
2,043,185
1,696,065
1,203,186
Geography of Oceania
As an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New
Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, the
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separate Australasia
ecozone. In geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania, and Australia and
Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania too.
Geography of Antarctica
The geography of Antarctica is dominated by its south polar location and, thus, by ice.
The Antarctic continent, located in the Earth's southern hemisphere, is centered
asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle. It is
surrounded by the southern waters of the World Ocean – alternatively (depending on
source), it is washed by the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean or the southern Pacific,
Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. With an area of more than 14 million km², it is the fifthlargest continent and is about 1.3 times larger than Europe.
Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, the world's largest ice
sheet and also its largest reservoir of fresh water. Averaging at least 1.6 km thick, the ice
is so massive that it has depressed the continental bedrock in some areas more than
2.5 km below sea level; sub glacial lakes of liquid water also occur (e.g., Lake Vostok).
Ice shelves and rises populate the ice sheet on the periphery. Only about 2% of the
continent is not covered by ice
Physically, Antarctica is divided in two by Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck
between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. Western Antarctica and Eastern Antarctica
correspond roughly to the eastern and western hemispheres relative to the Greenwich
meridian. This usage has been regarded as Eurocentric by some, and the alternative terms
Lesser Antarctica and Greater Antarctica (respectively) are sometimes preferred.
Western Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. There has been some
concern about this ice sheet, because there is a small chance that it will collapse. If it
does, ocean levels would rise by a few meters in a very short period of time.