Australian geography and landscape
As an island Australia blessed with miles of beautiful beaches and coastline. The majority of Australia's population of 18 million live near the coast and over 70 per cent live in cities or towns in the eastern and southern coasts and around Perth in the west.
Australia is sparsely populated and is the only country on the planet to occupy an entire continent. In terms of land area, it is the sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil. It is also the second driest continent on Earth (after Antarctica) yet, surrounding the arid centre there are large tracts of rainforest, temperate grasslands and bush.
Australia has a very dramatic landscape and is famous for its "outback," the remote lands of its interior where levels of rainfall are some of the lowest the world. Australia's fertile areas are well-watered, however, and these are used very effectively to help feed the world. Sheep and cattle graze in dry country, however some grazing land turned into desert when the long cycles that influence rainfall in Australia turned to drought.
The Australian federation consists of six States and two Territories. Most inland borders follow lines of longitude and latitude. The largest State, Western Australia, is about the same size as Western Europe. Eastern Australia has large areas of grasslands, used primarily for sheep and cattle ranches.