About Australia - Geography and Climate

Australia has a current estimated population of 21 million people. The majority of the population has settled in the large cities which are mostly located around the coastline of Australia.

Australia is divided into 7 states or territories. These being (including their capitals) Western Australia (Perth), Northern Territory (Darwin), Southern Australia (Adelaide), Victoria (Melbourne), Tasmania (Hobart), Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), New South Wales (Sydney) and Queensland (Brisbane).

Australia is home to a number of the worlds most famous icons. There is Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, Opera House and famous city Beaches, the Northern Territory’s Uluru (Ayers Rock), Victoria’s Twelve Apostles and Great Ocean Road and Queensland’s Tropical rain forests to name but a handful. Maintaining a top 5 position in the annual Human Development Index, Australia continues to be an attractive destination for migrants and tourists alike. The last results show Australia as 4th behind Iceland, Norway and Canada.

Come and Live and Work in Australia

Geography

Mainland Australia, with an area of 7.69 million square kilometres, is the Earth’s largest island but smallest continent. It stretches about 3700 kilometres from north to south and 4000 kilometres from east to west.

In area, Australia is the 6th largest nation. It is about twice the size of the European Union and 32 times the size of the United Kingdom. Australia has the third largest ocean territory in the world which spans three oceans and covers around 12 million square kilometres.

Australia’s average elevation is only 330 metres, the lowest of all the continents. Its highest point, Mount Kosciuszko, is only 2228 metres. The lack of height is more than compensated for in landscape variety. The giant monolith Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory and the striking beehive mountains of Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) in Western Australia attract visitors from every corner of the world, as do the country’s beaches and rainforests.

Climate

Because of it’s size, Australia has several different climate zones. These vary from tropical regions in the north through to temperate regions in the south.

Australia experiences seasonal fluctuations with temperatures ranging from 50°+ to below 0° which varies from state to state. Australia is relatively dry, with 80% of the land having a rainfall less than 600 millimetres per year and 50% having even less than 300 millimetres.

Most people in Australia prefer to live along the East coast where the weather is more moderate.

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