Lyla Lindsey
Australia is the smallest continent on Earth, covering an area of about 2.97 million square miles. While it may resemble an island, surrounded entirely by water, it is considered a continent. The continent of Australia includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea, and several other nearby islands. Australia sits on its own tectonic plate, has unique flora and fauna, and is home to the indigenous Aboriginal people, all of which contribute to its classification as a continent rather than an island.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Area | 2.97 million square miles or 7.7 million square km |
| Population | 22 million |
| Number of Islands | 8,222 |
| Flora and Fauna | Unique |
| Aboriginal Culture | Unique |
| Geological Distinction | Australia sits on its own tectonic plate |
| Biological Distinction | The flora and fauna are unique to Australia |
| Anthropological Distinction | Aboriginal people are limited to Australia |
| Geographical Status | Referred to as an "island continent" by some geographers |
| Oceania | Collective name for islands and island groups of the Pacific Ocean |
| Australasia | Geographic region encompassing Australia and New Zealand |
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Australia's size
Australia is the smallest continent on Earth, covering an area of 7,688,287 square kilometres (2,968,464 sq mi) or 2,989,000 square miles. This makes it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania.
Australia is about the same size as continental USA. The land area of Australia is 2.989 million square miles compared to the US's 3.797 million square miles. Travelling from Sydney to Perth (Australia's east coast to west coast) is a similar distance to travelling from New York to Los Angeles.
Despite being the smallest continent, Australia is still three times bigger than the world's largest island, Greenland, which covers 836,330 square miles. This size discrepancy is considered enough to draw a line between islands and continents.
While Australia is sometimes referred to as an "'island continent'", most geographers consider islands and continents to be separate entities. An island is generally defined as a landmass that is entirely surrounded by water and smaller than a continent.
Some people argue that Australia is too big to be considered an island. If it were considered an island, it would be a massive anomaly compared to other land masses classified as islands.
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Indigenous people
Indigenous Australians are the people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to British colonisation. Indigenous Australians consist of two distinct groups with many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea, located in Melanesia.
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from Southeast Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago during the last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had one of the oldest living cultures in the world. The Aboriginal people of Galiwnku Island in Australia received an apology from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for their mistreatment under earlier Australian governments in February 2008.
The first human beings in Australia are a matter of debate and ongoing investigation. The earliest conclusively human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady, dated to around 40,000 years ago, although Indigenous Australians have likely been living in Australia for upwards of 65,000 years. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is possibly the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia. The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains, dated to around 42,000 years ago.
The term 'Aboriginal' has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, meaning "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from the Latin 'ab' (from) and 'origo' (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia as early as 1789 to describe its Aboriginal peoples. It became capitalised and was used as the common term to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Today, the latter peoples are not included in this term. It is important to respect the preferences of individuals, families, or communities and allow them to define what they are most comfortable with when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Indigenous population prior to European settlement was small, with estimates ranging widely from 318,000 to more than 3,000,000 in total. A population collapse followed European colonisation, principally from new infectious diseases, including a smallpox epidemic that spread for three years after the arrival of Europeans. Massacres, frontier armed conflicts, and competition over resources with European settlers also contributed to the decline of the Aboriginal peoples. Numerous scholars have classified elements of the colonisation process as constituting genocide against Indigenous Australians.
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Flora and fauna
Australia is a megadiverse country, with a wide variety of landscapes and climates, from tropical rainforests to deserts. It is home to a huge diversity of plants, with 27,700 plant species according to the latest studies. The Eucalyptus tree is one of the country's best-known plants.
The continent has a high level of endemism, with over 80% of mammals, nearly 90% of reptiles, and over 90% of amphibians found on the continent being endemic to Australia. The country has a relative scarcity of native placental mammals, with only a few species, including the dingo, which is considered a cultural icon by many Australians. Instead, the ecological niches that placental animals occupy elsewhere in the world are taken up by marsupials, such as macropods, possums, and dasyuromorphs. Australia is home to two of the five known extant species of monotremes, including the platypus.
The country is also home to numerous venomous species, including spiders, scorpions, octopuses, jellyfish, molluscs, stonefish, stingrays, and snakes. In fact, Australia has more venomous than non-venomous species of snakes, with the most dangerous being the inland taipan, the tiger snake, and the common death adder. Saltwater crocodiles, the largest of all living reptiles, can be found along the northern coast of Australia.
Australia has about 25% of the world's species of fish, with 1,700 species of corals. It is also home to 48 species of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and the dugong, a marine mammal. The Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, is a popular spot for divers and snorkelers to observe this marine life.
The country also has over 800 species of birds, with half of them being endemic. The emu, the second-largest living bird by height, is able to run as fast as a horse. Other bird species include the Kookaburra, a species of kingfisher bird known for its laugh, and colourful parakeets and parrots.
The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 was enacted to protect Australia's native fauna and provide for the identification and protection of threatened species. At present, 380 animal species are classified as endangered or threatened under this Act, and other species are protected under state and territory legislation.
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Oceania
Australia is the smallest of the world's seven continents, covering an area of about 2.97 million square miles. While it may resemble an island, being surrounded by water, geographers insist that Australia is not technically an island. The continent of Australia is sometimes referred to as Oceania, Australasia, Sahul, Australinea, or Meganesia to distinguish it from the country of Australia.
The term Oceania was originally a "great division" of the world in the 1810s, encompassing the insular Pacific area between Asia and the Americas, including the Aleutian Islands in the north and Antarctica in the south. In 1854, Samuel Griswold Goodrich wrote that "geographers have agreed to consider the island world of the Pacific Ocean as a third continent, under the name Oceania." In 1879, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described Oceania as "the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon."
The continent of Australia is located within the geographical region of Oceania, specifically in the subregion of Australasia. It includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea), the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other nearby islands. Australia is the largest country in Oceania, and the sixth-largest country in the world.
The distinction between an island and a continent is not always clear-cut. While there is no strict scientific definition of a continent, a commonly used criterion is that a continent sits on its own tectonic plate. Australia sits on its own tectonic plate, whereas Greenland, the world's largest island, shares a tectonic plate with North America. Another criterion is size: an island is generally considered to be smaller than a continent. Australia is about three times bigger than Greenland.
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The continent's islands
Australia is the smallest of the world's seven continents. It is surrounded by water and looks like any other island on a map, but it is not considered an island by geographers. The continent of Australia includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea), the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and most of the Coral Sea Islands, among others.
The debate surrounding whether Australia should be considered an island or a continent stems from the fact that there is no strict scientific definition of a continent. However, there are a few criteria that are commonly used to distinguish a continent from an island. Firstly, there is a geological distinction. Australia sits on its own tectonic plate, whereas Greenland, the world's largest island, shares a tectonic plate with North America. Secondly, the diverse flora and fauna found in Australia are specific to the country. This is similar to the indigenous people from other continents, who are contained within their respective continent and its surrounding islands.
Some geographers refer to Australia as an "island continent", a term also used for Antarctica. This is because Australia is entirely surrounded by water, like an island, but is also a continent in its own right. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an island as "a piece of land completely surrounded by water", and Britannica adds that islands are "smaller than a continent". Australia is about three times bigger than Greenland, the largest island in the world, and this size difference is considered significant enough by geographers to draw the line between islands and continents.
Australia is also referred to as Oceania, a collective name for the islands and island groups of the Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas. The term was first used by geographers in the 1800s to refer to a third continent, separate from the New World and the Old World. While Australia is the only country in the world that spans an entire continent, it also contains many islands, including the island-state of Tasmania.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Australia is not an island. It is a continent.
An island is a mass of land that is entirely surrounded by water and smaller than a continent. A continent is distinguished by its size and the fact that it has its own tectonic plate.
Australia is too big to be an island. It is nearly four times the size of Greenland, which is considered the world's largest island.
Australia is spread over an area of about 2.97 million square miles (7.7 million square km), making it the smallest of the seven continents.
