Trivia question: Name the landmass that is a country, an island, and a continent.
Answer: A-U-S-T-R-A-L-I-A!
Located at 27°S 144°E, Australia is entirely situated in the Southern Hemisphere between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The smallest of the seven continents (7.7 million square kilometers/2.3 million square miles), its population resides primarily on the east and southeast coasts.
Here are a few interesting geographical facts about Australia:
- Except for Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent in the world. One-fifth is classified as arid; more than two-thirds are classified as arid or semi-arid (unsuitable for agriculture)
- Australia is surrounded by Indonesia, East Timor, Papau New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand.
- The climate varies from tropical and monsoonal in the north to temperate and oceanic in the south. Deserts, plains, rainforests, tropics, fertile croplands, and grasslands can all be found in Australia.
- Summer lasts from December to March; winter from June to September.
Notable Physical Landmarks
