Located in the Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean, it is considered a continent. In size, it is slightly smaller the contigious 48 US states at a total of 7,686,850 sq km, or land: 7,617,930 sq km, water: 68,920 sq km, and a 25,760 km coastline (figures include Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island).
Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy.
Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to a republic, was defeated in 1999.
Australia is world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country by economy. The population is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. A regular, tropical, invigorating, sea breeze known as "the Doctor" occurs along the west coast in the summer. Natural disasters include cyclones along the coast, severe droughts, and forest fires. |
