Australia lies between the South Pacific and The Indian Oceans. It has a population of around 21 million people. Most of the Australian people live on the east coast of the country where the weather is not so hot and they are close to the beaches.
CitiesMost of the Australian Cities are on the coast of Australia. Adelaide and Melbourne in the South, Sydney and Brisbane in the East and Perth in the West. Canberra the Capital is the only main city which is inland.
A wide, brown landAustralia is the sixth largest country in the world. It's about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometer
Beach paradiseAustralia’s coastline stretches almost 50,000 kilometres and is linked by over 10,000 beaches, more than any other country in the world. More than 85 per cent of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast, making it an integral part of our laid-back lifestyle.
A hopping iconThe iconic kangaroo is unique to Australia and one of our most easily recognised mammals. There are an estimated 40 million kangaroos in Australia, more than when Australia was first settled.
Unique wildlifeAustralia developed a unique fauna when it broke away from the super-continent Gondwana more than 50 million years ago. Today Australia is home to a wealth of wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. We have around 800 species of birds, half of which are unique to this country. Our marine environments contain more than 4,000 fish varieties and tens of thousands of species of invertebrates, plants and micro-organisms. About 80 per cent of Australia's southern marine species are found nowhere else in the world.
