Explore Australia: 12 Key Facts

Explore Australia: 12 Key Facts — page 1
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