Geography and climate
Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi)[121] is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans,[N 5] it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and theTasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent[123] and sixth largest country by total area,[124]Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the "island continent",[125] and is sometimes considered the world's largest island.[126] Australia has 34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands),[127] and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.[128] Apart from Macquarie Island, Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44°S, and longitudes 112° and 154°E.
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef,[129] lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith,[130] is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak (at 2,745 metres or 9,006 feet), on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island, and, in the Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies, at 3,492 metres (11,457 ft) and 3,355 metres (11,007 ft) respectively.[131]
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 dry desert in the centre.[132] It is the flattest continent,[133] with the oldest and least fertile soils;[134][135] desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land.[136] The driest inhabited continent, its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm.[137] The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world,[138] although a large proportion of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.[139]
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 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) in height.[140] The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland.[140][141] These include the western plains of New South Wales, and theEinasleigh Uplands, Barkly Tableland, and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the east coast is the tropical-rainforested Cape York Peninsula.[142][143][144][145]
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