with an average elevation of only 330 metres. It includes a number of hills, mountains and plateaux. Alpine forests, tropical rainforests, and a wide variety of plants and animals thrive there because of its geographic isolation from the rest of the world. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area. You can opt-out at any time. Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a vast body of water that is larger than all the Earth’s continental landmasses and islands combined. Australia is ancient and it has some of the oldest geological features in the world. Amanda Briney, M.A., is a professional geographer. In reality, it is a place so large and unique that the outsider view does not begin to describe its physical diversity. 35 Geography questions and answers for your home pub quiz We may earn commission from links on this page. It is an island nation that comprises the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and some other small islands. An Overview of the History and Geography of New Zealand, Geography and History of the Island Nation of Samoa, History and Geography of the Florida Keys, Geography of the Territories of the United States, M.A., Geography, California State University - East Bay, B.A., English and Geography, California State University - Sacramento. The legislative branch is a bicameral Federal Parliament consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Many international travelers visiting Australia underestimate the distances between cities and travel times. It is made up of more than 3,000 individual reef systems and coral bays and supports more than 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of hard coral, "one-third of the world’s soft corals, 134 species of sharks and rays, six of the world’s seven species of threatened marine turtles, and more than 30 species of marine mammals," including endangered species, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Australia is located in Oceania between the Indian and South Pacific Oceans. It is known for a high life expectancy, its education, quality of life, biodiversity, and tourism. Although most of Australia is arid desert, it supports a wide range of habitats, thus making it incredibly biodiverse. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged. They were: In 1901, Australia became a nation but remained a member of the British Commonwealth. This drainage basin comprises the major part of the interior lowlands of Australia, covering more than one million square kilometres, or about 14 per cent of Australia. Other island countries nearby Australia include East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Indonesia, and … Create account to play. Australia's climate is mostly arid to semiarid, but the south and east are temperate and the north is tropical. The country's judicial system is based on English common law and is composed of the High Court as well as lower-level federal, state, and territorial courts. The southeast, however, does have fertile plains. As such, 92% of its vascular plants, 87% of its mammals, 93% of its reptiles, 94% of its frogs, and 45% of its birds are endemic to Australia. Australia also has a number of large islands in the Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans and the Coral and Timor Seas as part of its External Territories as well as several closer to the mainland which are larger than 1000 square kilometres.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'australias_guide-medrectangle-3','ezslot_2',143,'0','0'])); Despite the popular references to Australia at the bottom of the world in the Southern Hemisphere. What can be seen above the surface of the surrounding plains today is merely the eroded remains of what was a much larger mass of sandstone that was thrust upward and tipped over by geological upheaval 300 -400 million years ago. No Ayers Rock or … Australia is comparable in size to the continental United States. Due to its isolation from the rest of the world, Australia was an uninhabited island until about 60,000 years ago. The runner up is the Great Sandy desert in Western Australia at 267,250 square kilometres. You can use these Australia worksheets in schools or at home and they are colourful and well designed. Australia is in fact the lowest continent in the world in terms of its elevation. Australia is most famous for its marsupial species, which include the kangaroo, koala, and wombat. You can use these to host your very own virtual pub quiz on Zoom or Houseparty with your friends, or simply play along at home right now as you scroll down the page. It shares its name with the country that claims control over it. It is separated because of its location in the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate and the fact that, due to its location, there was no mountain building during its development. The lengths of the 10 longest rivers in Australia were re-calculated in September 2008 by Geoscience Australia using data from the National Topographic Database. 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