EXPLORE AUSTRALIA 12 KEY FACTS by Todd Kortemeier 12 Story Library
1 Australia Is the Island Continent that it is effectively desert This includes the famous outback The region is hot and dry with almost no plants But Australia also has lush rainforests and snow-capped mountains Most Australians live in the southwest and southeast These areas are cooler and more comfortable than most northern regions Australia’s six most populated cities are on the coastline Uluru formerly known as Ayers Rock is a rock formation that originally sat at the bottom of a sea 600 million years ago Australia is both a country and a continent It is sometimes referred to as the island continent But Australia is actually made up of many islands There are more than 8,000 of them The mainland is the biggest of these islands Tasmania is the next largest In total Australia is nearly three million square miles 7 7 million sq km in size That makes it the sixth largest country by area on Earth As a large nation Australia has many different landscapes Over one-third of Australia receives so little rain 4
16,007 Miles of coastline 25,760 km of the Australian mainland A blue starfish on the Great Barrier Reef Australia is a huge country with many different landscapes Australia also has tall mountains and underwater coral reefs More than one-third of Australia is made up of desert Most cities are located in the cooler southwest and southeast PERTH THE LONELY CITY In Australia most cities are scattered around the coasts And these are mainly on the eastern side including Sydney But Perth is located on the western side of the island The city is 2,045 miles 3,291 km from Sydney Perth is the most isolated major city in the world Some parts of Australia are mountainous The largest mountain range is the Great Dividing Range Mount Kosciuszko is its highest peak It stands 7,310 feet 2,228 m high The Australian coast is home to many coral reefs The largest of these is the Great Barrier Reef It is the largest coral reef in the world stretching over 1,800 miles 3,000 km off the northeastern coast 5
