Some Facts About Australia
- Australia is the world's smallest continent and the sixth largest country. Its area is equal to the United States without Alaska, or double the size of Europe, excluding Russia.
- More than one-fifth of its land area is desert. More than two-thirds of the country is classified as arid or semi-arid.
- The length of mainland Australia's coastline is about 33.535km. If it was possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60km/h it would take 23 days to reach your starting point.
- The tip of Queensland's Cape York is the continent's northernmost point (latitude 10°41'S), while Australia's most northerly town is Thursday Island.
- Queensland and Western Australia account for more than half Australia's land area. WA alone spreads over more than one-third of its surface.
- The hottest temperature recorded in Australia was 53.1°C at Cloncurry in Queensland in January 1889.
- Australia is the lowest and flattest of all the continents because it lies near the centre of a tectonic plate.
- Australia is the only continent without current volcanic activity. The last eruption took place more than 1400 years ago at Mt Gambier.
- Since European settlement, Australia has lost about 75% of its rainforests and about 40% of its total forest area. Almost 70% of native vegetation has been removed or modified for agriculture, urban development and forestry since 1788. Land clearing continues at a rate of more than 600,000ha each year, with most occurring in NSW and Queensland.
- We have more species of venomous snakes than any other continent. Our spiders are also among the world's most poisonous.
- More than 500 shark attacks have been recorded off the Australian coastline since 1791. Less than half were fatal.
- The first recorded landing by Europeans on Australian soil was made in 1606 by Dutch explorers.
- Between 200,000 and 750,000 Aborigines are thought to have lived in Australia when white settlement began. By 1930 this number had been reduced by about two-thirds through a combination of disease and violence.
- More than one in five people living in Australia were born overseas. With their Australian-born children, they account for about 40% of the population.
- Australia, the only continent entirely in the southern emisphere. It lies between 10° 39' and 39° 111/2'S., and between 13° 5' and 153° 16' E.
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