Damon Mcknight
Australia is a country and continent that includes the Australian mainland, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the smallest continent in the world and one of the largest countries by land area. Australia is geographically located in the region of Oceania, which includes 14 countries in total, according to the United Nations. The Australian continent is sometimes referred to as an island continent due to its isolation and distinct boundaries. The country of Australia is the largest sovereign state within the Australian continent, occupying about 86% of the region's total area. The other independent nations that make up the Australian continent are New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
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What You'll Learn
Australia is a continent
The continent of Australia includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands, such as the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and most of the Coral Sea Islands. It also includes the island of New Guinea, which comprises Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea (Papua and West Papua, provinces of Indonesia).
The term Sahul is sometimes used to refer to the continent of Australia, deriving from the Sahul Shelf, which is part of the continent's continental shelf. During the Pleistocene ice age, around 18,000 BC, the Australian continent was a combined landmass with New Guinea and Tasmania, connected by dry land. Rising sea levels over the past 18,000 to 10,000 years separated the continent into its current form, with the two mountainous islands of New Guinea and Tasmania distinct from the arid to semi-arid mainland.
The continent of Australia is situated in the geographical region of Oceania, specifically the subregion of Australasia. Oceania is a region in the Pacific Ocean, dominated by the nation of Australia, and made up of thousands of islands, including the microcontinent of Zealandia (which includes New Zealand) and various islands in the Pacific that are not included in the seven-continent model.
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Australia is a country
Australia is a megadiverse country, with a wide variety of landscapes and climates, including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast. The country has a unique flora and fauna, including hundreds of kinds of eucalyptus trees, acacias, and the only egg-laying mammals on Earth, the platypus and echidna. Other plants and animals associated with Australia include dingoes, kangaroos, koalas, and kookaburras. The Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Queensland, is one of the world's foremost tourist attractions, and the country's most visited natural attraction.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a parliamentary democracy, and a federation. It has a stable liberal democratic political system and strong protections for civil and political rights. The country has signed up to a wide range of international rights treaties and has legislation in place to protect human rights, including the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Australia since 2017.
Australia maintains a close relationship with its neighbour New Zealand, with free mobility of citizens and free trade between the two countries. Australia also has an international aid program, providing assistance to around 75 countries. The country ranked fourth in the Center for Global Development's 2021 Commitment to Development Index.
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New Zealand is closely tied to Australia
Australia and New Zealand are two independent nations that fall under the Australian continent. They share a British colonial heritage as antipodean Dominions and settler colonies, and both are part of the core Anglosphere. New Zealand and Australia have a strong relationship and are considered to share a strong Trans-Tasman identity, stemming from centuries of British colonisation.
New Zealand and Australia have a deep and integrated relationship, with the free movement of citizens between the two countries under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. They also have free trade agreements, such as the Closer Economic Relations agreement. Citizens of both countries can visit, live and work in either country without restrictions. New Zealand soldiers fought alongside Australian soldiers in the Boer War and in both World Wars. The two nations sealed the Canberra Pact in 1944, which provided for consultation in matters of common interest and the maintenance of separate military commands.
New Zealand's economic ties with Australia are strong, especially since Britain's decision to join the European Economic Community in 1973. In 1983, the two countries concluded the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) to allow each country access to the other's markets. Two-way trade between the two countries was NZ$26.2 billion in 2017-18, including goods and services. New Zealand's largest exports to Australia are travel and tourism, dairy products, foodstuffs, precious metals and jewellery, and machinery. Australia's largest exports to New Zealand are travel and tourism, machinery, inorganic chemicals, vehicles, foodstuffs, and paper products.
At a government-to-government level, Australia's relationship with New Zealand is the closest and most comprehensive of all its bilateral relationships. Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers, Trade Ministers, Climate Ministers, and Treasurers all hold annual formal talks. Australia and New Zealand cooperate closely in global and regional forums, including the United Nations, World Trade Organization (WTO), APEC, East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, and Pacific Islands Forum. They also have a proud history of joint deployments dating back to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli.
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Papua New Guinea is part of the Australian continent
The Australian continent, also known as Sahul, Australinea, Meganesia, or Australia-New Guinea, is one of the world's seven traditional continents. It is the smallest, lowest, and flattest continent, and the second driest after Antarctica. The continent 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.
Papua New Guinea is indeed part of the Australian continent. It is one of the three independent nations that make up the Australian continent, the other two being Australia and New Zealand. Papua New Guinea is located on the island of New Guinea, which also includes Western New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. The island of New Guinea was once a part of the Australian mainland during the Pleistocene ice age, around 18,000 BC, when sea levels were lower. The landmass was known as Sahul, named after the Sahul Shelf, which is a part of the continental shelf of the Australian continent.
The flora of New Guinea is a mixture of many tropical rainforest species with origins in Asia, such as Castanopsis acuminatissima, Lithocarpus spp., elaeocarps, and laurels, together with typically Australasian flora. The New Guinean highlands feature conifers such as Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Papuacedrus, and Libocedrus. Papua New Guinea has several volcanoes as it is situated along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Historically, Papua New Guinea has had a close relationship with Australia. During World War II, the civil government of Papua and New Guinea was suspended and replaced by a joint military government. In 1946, New Guinea became a United Nations trust territory under Australian governance, and in 1949, Papuans became Australian citizens. Australia formally combined Papua and New Guinea into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a growing movement towards independence in Papua New Guinea, and in September 1975, the Papua New Guinea Independence Act was passed, setting the country on a path to independence. Today, Australia and Papua New Guinea continue to maintain close ties, with Australian police being involved in training PNG police forces.
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Oceania includes Australia and 13 other countries
Oceania, a geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, is generally considered a continent outside of the English-speaking world. Oceania includes Australia and 13 other countries, such as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, and more. The term Oceania was used by Scottish cartographer John Bartholomew in 1873 to refer to the large island of Australia and numerous others in the Pacific Ocean.
The continent of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth of Australia, comprises the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents and the world's smallest, lowest, flattest, and second-driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse country, with a wide variety of landscapes and climates, including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.
The Australian continent also includes the island of New Guinea, which is divided into Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea (under Indonesian control), as well as the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other nearby islands. Australia and New Guinea were connected by dry land during the Pleistocene ice age, forming the combined landmass of Sahul.
Australia maintains a strong relationship with neighbouring New Zealand, with free mobility of citizens and free trade under various agreements. Both countries have a high degree of immigration, contributing to their multicultural nature. Additionally, Australia has an international aid program that provides assistance to 75 countries worldwide.
The CIA World Factbook categorizes Oceania as one of the major continental divisions, using the name "Australia and Oceania." This definition excludes some of Australia's external territories but aligns with the UN's definition, which includes former colonies like Hawaii. The original UN definition of Oceania from 1947 excluded independent island states like Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan, due to their historical and cultural ties to the Asian mainland.
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Frequently asked questions
Australia is a country that makes up the Australian continent, along with the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is sometimes referred to as the "island continent".
Some of the smaller islands that are part of Australia include New Guinea (only its eastern half), the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and the Coral Sea Islands.
Yes, two other independent nations that make up the Australian continent are Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
The geographical region that includes Australia and its surrounding islands is called Oceania, which comprises 14 independent countries and 12 dependent overseas territories.
Some of the countries in Oceania, other than Australia, include New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa.
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