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 rivers. [154][155] These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The geography of the continent is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Australian Alps and Tasmania to large deserts, tropical and temperate forests, grasslands, heathlands and woodlands. Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a vast body of water that is larger than all the Earths continental landmasses and islands combined. These colonies formed the six states of Australia; New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia (included the Northern Territory at this time), Queensland and Tasmania. Continent | Definition, Map, & Facts | Britannica Other Oceanic countries, such as Tuvalu, argued that the international agreement unfairly disadvantages developing countries, especially small island states.The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) advocates increased support from the international community to assist these island states in their efforts to adapt to climate change. The South Australian Highlandsincluding the Flinders Range, Northern Plateau and Basinsincluding the, This page was last edited on 11 June 2023, at 04:00. [166][167][168][169] The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between the interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia. Australia 2023 population is estimated at 26,439,111 people at mid year. Over one-third of the mainland, the Plateaus are made of one stable block of igneous and metamorphic rock which is up to 3.6 billion years old. Australia (continent) - Wikipedia [62] At the time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians were complex hunter-gatherers with diverse economies and societies and about 250 different language groups. [390] Ballet and dance are represented by The Australian Ballet and various state companies. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. [332][333] Australia ranked 35th in the world in 2012 for its proportion of obese women[334] and near the top of developed nations for its proportion of obese adults;[335] 63% of its adult population is either overweight or obese. Mapped: The True Size of Africa. The population is heavily concentrated on the east coast, and in particular in the south-eastern region between South East Queensland to the north-east and Adelaide to the south-west. [160][161][162] At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley, and below that the Pilbara. [citation needed]. From 1788 to 1859, Britain established five colonies on the Australian mainland,[37] and one in Tasmania. [329], Australia's life expectancy of 83 years (81 years for males and 85 years for females),[330] is the fifth-highest in the world. . [23][24] It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east. Geoscience Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and community. [275], Australia has high levels of competitiveness and economic freedom, and was ranked fifth in the Human Development Index in 2021. This makes it the sixth-largest country in the world by area of jurisdiction, which comprises 7,686,850km2 (2,967,910sqmi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), which is slightly smaller than the 48 states of the contiguous United States and 31.5 times larger than that of the United Kingdom. Land Use Australia | Climateworks Centre [400] This relatively low ranking is primarily because of the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia;[401] most print media are under the control of News Corporation and Nine Entertainment Co.[402], Most Indigenous Australian groups subsisted on a simple hunter-gatherer diet of native fauna and flora, otherwise called bush tucker. [145], Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9 and 44 South, and longitudes 112 and 154 East. [85] The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany). The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world's smallest continent, while comprising the territory of the sixth-largest country in the world. Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on Earth. However, despite the common perception that Africa is a large landmass, it's still one that is vastly underestimated by most casual map viewers.. "Indigenous and settler relations". Australia population is equivalent to 0.33% of the total world population. [246] A regional power, Australia is a member of regional and cultural groupings including the Pacific Islands Forum, the Pacific Community and the Commonwealth of Nations, and is a participant in the ASEAN+6 mechanism and the East Asia Summit. [228] Due to the relatively unique position of Australia operating as a Westminster parliamentary democracy with an elected upper house, the system has sometimes been referred to as having a "Washminster mutation",[229] or as a semi-parliamentary system. [178], The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes,[179] but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot, recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene, in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and southeastern South Australia. [42], .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}27S 133E / 27S 133E / -27; 133, This article is about the main landmass of the Australian continent. Geography Physical map of Australia The Australian mainland's geology and climate is one of its defining features. .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}27S 144E / 27S 144E / -27; 144. For instance, Southern European migrants helped to build a thriving Australian coffee culture which gave rise to Australian coffee drinks such as the flat white,[406] while East Asian migration led to dishes such as the Cantonese-influenced dim sim and Chiko Roll,[407] as well as a distinct Australian Chinese cuisine. [380] Their works are still popular; Paterson's bush poem "Waltzing Matilda" (1895) is regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem. [6] In Australian Aboriginal mythology and the animist framework developed in Aboriginal Australia, the Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings formed The Creation. Annual freshwater withdrawals, industry (% of total freshwater withdrawal) Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita (cubic meters) Water productivity, total (constant 2015 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal) Capture fisheries production (metric tons) Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a . [146], The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Countrywith their tropical climateinclude forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. It can lead to overcrowding and depletion of isolated islands scarce resources. 12 January 2001. In 2020, Australia used coal for 62% of all energy (3.6% increase compared to 2013), wind power for 9.9% (9.5% increase), natural gas for 9.9% (3.6% decrease), solar power for 9.9% (9.8% increase), hydropower for 6.4% (12.7% decrease), bioenergy for 1.4% (1.2% increase), and other sources like oil and waste coal mine gas for 0.5%. Tourism often focuses on fishing and other recreational water sports. Australia Arable Land 1961-2023 | MacroTrends [136] The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin. Australians enjoy a very high rate of private property ownership. 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[267], Australian government debt, about $963 billion, exceeds 45.1% of the country's total GDP, and is the world's eighth-highest. The Festival of Pacific Arts is a festival hosted every four years in a different country. [25] The evaporation of this ocean left behind what we now know as the Western Plateau. Even taller are Mawson Peak (at 2,745m (9,006ft)), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island, and, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies, at 3,492m (11,457ft) and 3,355m (11,007ft) respectively.
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