Australia, officially Commonwealth of Australia, [E1] [E2] [I1] [Es1] [F1] [F2] is situated just south of the equator and for this reason it is colloquially called "down under".
It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east and by the Indian Ocean to the west. To the north it is separated from New Guinea by the Arafura Sea.

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world  after Russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil. With a land area of 7,686,800 square kilometres, it is equal in size to the United States without Alaska.

It is the smallest continent and the largest island in the world. Distances are enormous: between Sydney and Perth there are about 4,000 kilometres and the journey by train takes 65 hours. The most important and famous Australian cities are: Melbourne [I1] [E1], Sydney [Es1] [F1] and Canberra [E1] [I1], which is Australia's capital city. There are six states in the continent (Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria) and two territories (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, A.C.T.). Tasmania is an island separated from Victoria and the land by Bass Strait.

Most of the country is a vast flat plateau which stretches from the coast of Western Australia to New South Wales and Queensland. The central and western part of it consists of desert and semi desert lands between 300 and 600 metres above sea level. The Australian Alps in the south-eastern area contain the highest ground, with various peaks exceeding 1,800 metres and the highest point being Mount Kosciusko (2,228 m). The Australian Cordillera extends from Cape York to the Straits of Bass and is the largest mountain range in Australia. Australia also has the biggest monolith in the world: it is called Ayers Rock and it is situated in the centre of the continent.
There are also many lakes and the largest are: Lake Eyre, Lake Gairdner and Lake Torrens. Off the north-eastern coast lies the Great Barrier Reef [E1] [F1] [Es1] [Es2] [I1], a marine land of coral reefs and tropical islands, stretching for more than 2,000 kilometres. Off the south-eastern coast there is the island of Tasmania, separated from the mainland by the Bass Strait.

Australia was isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years with the result that its flora and fauna are considerably different from other continents. The most common native trees are the eucalyptus and the wattle, while the best known among the national animals are the kangaroo, the koala and the emu, a large bird which cannot fly.

Climate and weather

The climate of Australia is mainly continental and ranges from tropical in the north to temperate in the south. It is less subject to extremes than regions of similar size in other parts of the world because of the moderating influences of the surrounding oceans.
Australia is the driest continent. Rainfall is so scarce that most of the continent has less than 50 days of rain a year. Since it is in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are the other way round. Summer is from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August and spring from September to November. And so Christmas is celebrated on the beach.