CountryGuide

President: Queen Elizabeth II
Total area:7,686,850 sq km
Language:English
Population (2010est):21,515,754
Capital and largest city:Canberra, 327,700
Other large cities:Sydney,Melbourne, Brisbane

religion:Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26%
Monetary unit:Australian dollar

 Australia is an island, surrounded by water. It is located on the smallest continent in the world Australia is the sixth largest country in the world

Australia has a very dramatic landscape. Australia is famous for its "outback," the remote lands of the interio

Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m)

Democracy. Symbolic executive power is vested in the British monarch, who is represented throughout Australia

The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there at least 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia

Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships sighted Australia in the 17th century

Free settlers and former prisoners established six colonies: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859)