First Five Facts About Australia

1. Like the USA, Australia consists of States and Territories. The continent has six States (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia), two mainland Territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) and one offshore territory (Norfolk Island). I’ll visit three States (New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria) and the Northern Territory.
2. Australia’s expansive land mass makes it the world’s sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States, and Brazil.
3. Webster’s dictionary includes Australia as one of the seven continents. However, the island nation is part of Oceania, the collective name for the fourteen countries and smaller island groups in the Pacific Ocean that include New Zealand, Micronesia, Polynesia, Fiji, Guam, Norfolk Island, American Samoa and others. Oceania is not considered to be a continent.
4. After Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent on earth. Three-quarters of the island continent is arid or semi-arid. The country’s interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world.
5. Australia may be the sixth largest nation in land mass but it has a relatively small population. With just over 22 million residents, its population is slightly smaller than the state of Texas.