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Geography of Australia

Coordinates: 27°S 144°E / 27°S 144°E / -27; 144
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(Redirected from Area of Australia)

This article is about the geography of the Commonwealth of Australia. For a treatment of the continent, see Australia (continent). For the mainland, see Mainland Australia.

27°S 144°E / 27°S 144°E / -27; 144

Geography of Australia
ContinentOceania (continent)
RegionOceania
Coordinates27°00′00″S 144°00′00″E / 27.000°S 144.000°E / -27.000; 144.000
AreaRanked 6th
 • Total7,688,287[1] km2 (2,968,464 sq mi)
 • Land98.21%
 • Water1.79%
Coastline59,681 km (37,084 mi)
BordersNone
Highest pointMount Kosciuszko
2,228 m (7,310 ft) (mainland) Mawson Peak
2,745 m (9,006 ft) (Australian territory)
Lowest pointLake Eyre,
−15 m (−49 ft)
Longest riverMurray River,
2,375 km (1,476 mi)
Largest lakeLake Eyre
9,500 km2 (3,668 sq mi)
ClimateMostly desert or semi-arid, south-east and south-west corners: temperate, north: tropical climate, varied between tropical rainforests, grasslands, part desert, mountainous areas: subantarctic tundra
TerrainMostly low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast; mountain ranges in the east and south-east.
Natural resourcesMinerals, coal, and timber
Natural hazardsCyclones along the northern coasts, severe thunderstorms, droughts, occasional floods, heat waves, and frequent bushfires
Exclusive economic zone8,148,250 km2 (3,146,060 sq mi)

The geography of Australia describes the systematic study of Australian sovereign territory, which, in a geographical sense, refers to the mainland Australia (also called continental Australia), the insular state of Tasmania and thousands of minor islands spread over the Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans and surrounding the mainland landmass which, together, comprise a territorial area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi). Given its vast size, Australia's geography is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Australian Alps and Tasmania to large deserts, tropical and temperate forests, grasslands, heathlands and woodlands.

Physical geography

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Location and dimensions

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Australia is a country located in Oceania, in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Properly called the Commonwealth of Australia, its territory consists of a mainland portion, the insular state of Tasmania and around 8222 smaller fringing islands and numerous larger ones. This makes it the sixth-largest country in the world by area of jurisdiction, which comprises 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi).[1][2] Although it has no land borders, Australia shares, through its maritimal jurisdiction, boundaries with Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, New Caledonia (France) and New Zealand.[3] Its continental extents lies between latitudes 10° 41' 21‘ and 43° 38' 40’ S (39° 08' 20‘ S if only the mainland area is considered, excluding Tasmania), and longitudes 113° 09' 18’ and 153° 38' 14" E,[4] and lengths approximately 3,860 km (2,400 mi) from its most northerly point to its most southerly point in Tasmania, and it's almost 4,000 km (2,500 mi) wide, from east to west.[4]

Topography

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Relief map of Australia

Continental Australia can be broken into four major landform regions: the Coastal Plains, the Eastern Highlands, the Central Lowlands and the Western Plateau.[5]

Along the eastern seaboard of the mainland are the Coastal Plains; a narrow strip of land along the east continental coastline of Australia from Queensland to Victoria. This area is flat and has relatively high rainfall, making it suitable for human settlement.[5] It is the most densely populated area in Australia.[6] Much of the centre of mainland Australia is also flat, but there are numerous ranges such as the MacDonnell and Musgrave Ranges, as well as some individual structures, of which the best known is Uluru.[7] Towards the east, the flat land rises to the Great Divide which runs parallel to the east coast from the tip of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland almost 4000km south to the Grampians in Victoria. This separates rivers flowing to the west and north from those flowing to the Pacific. The Eastern Highlands are made up of a series of mountains in the south topped by Mount Kosciuszko and volcanic plugs, ash domes and flow remnants further north.[7] The Western Plateau is a relatively flat area about 183 m (600 ft) above sea level with low mountainous ranges in the north of Western Australia and isolated uplands in the Northern Territory. This area makes up more than half of the country.[8]

Relief map of Tasmania

Tasmania, the island state, has its own topological distinctions. The Tasmanian central east area, known as the Midlands, is fairly flat by comparison and is predominantly used for agriculture. The most mountainous region is the Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central west parts of the state. Tasmanian mountain ranges has a 'rounded smoothness', similar to that of mainland.[9]

Australia is the lowest continent in the world with an average elevation of only 330 m (1,080 ft); around 86.77% of the country's surface (excluding islands) does not exceed an altitude of 500 m (1,600 ft).[10] Mainland Australia's highest point is Mount Kosciuszko (2,745 m (9,006 ft) high), located within the Australian Alps, while the highest point on Australian sovereign territory is Mawson Peak on Heard Island, which is 2,745 m (9,006 ft) high and forms the summit of an active volcano called Big Ben.[11]

Regions

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Main article: Regions of Australia

The Australian continental landmass consists of six distinct landform divisions.[12] These are:

  • The Eastern Highlands—including the Great Dividing Range, the fertile Brigalow Belt strip of grassland behind the east coast, and the Eastern Uplands
  • The Eastern alluvial Plains and Lowlands—the Murray Darling basin covers the southern part; also includes parts of the Lake Eyre basin and extends to the Gulf of Carpentaria
  • The South Australian Highlands—including the Flinders Range, Eyre Peninsula, and Yorke Peninsula
  • The Western Plateau—including the Nullarbor Plain
  • The Central Deserts
  • Northern Plateau and Basins—including the Top End

Geology

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Main article: Geology of Australia
Basic geological units of Australia

Australia is situated on the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth.[13] Although the shape of Australia is due largely to tectonic Earth movements and long-term changes in sea level, most of its topography is a result of prolonged erosion by wind and water.[7] Geological forces such as the tectonic uplift of mountain ranges and clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia's early prehistory, when it was still a part of Gondwana.[14] The Gondwana landmass began to break up about 165 million years ago; however, the Australian plate took a long time to separate. In fact, it was, along with the Antarctic plate, the last major continental plates of Gondwana to separate, 45 million years ago. Today, the Australian continent is moving northwards at about 3 cm per year.[15]

The on-shore geology of Australia is dominated by five provinces: Archaean to Paleoproterozoic cratons, Palaeo to Mesoproterozoic orogenic belts, Meso to Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins, Paleozoic rocks of the Tasman Foldbelt, and Mesozoic rocks of the Great Artesian Basin.[16] Australia has some of the oldest geological features in the world, with the oldest known rocks dating from more than 3000 million years ago and rare zircon crystals dating back 4400 million years, although other areas are geologically much younger as a result of volcanic activity which last erupted a few thousand years ago.[17] Charles Rowland Twidale estimates that between 10% and 20% of Australia's modern landscapes formed during the Mesozoic when the continent was part of Gondwana.[18]

Mainland Australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate, and therefore currently has no active volcanism. It is home to the Newer Volcanics Province, a volcanic field on the southeast of the country, but it has been dormant for the past 5000 years. However, there are two active volcanoes located 4,000 km (2,500 mi) southwest of Perth in the Heard Island and the nearby McDonald Islands.[19] Minor earthquakes which produce no damage occur frequently, while major earthquakes measuring greater than magnitude 6 occur on average every five years.[20]

Hydrology

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See also: Water security in Australia
Map of major drainage basins as defined by the Bureau of Meteorology[21]

As being situated in the driest inhabited continent, Australia does not have many large, fast-flowing rivers or large permanent lakes. Many of Australia's rivers do not have a regular flow; they can have years of very low flows, followed by one or more years of flooding.[22] About 50% of Australia's rivers drain inland and often end in ephemeral salt lakes.[7] The few natural freshwater lakes of Australia can be found as lakes and lagoons on the coast; inland lakes, which are often part of a wetland; and salt lakes in the central desert areas. Glacial lakes and lakes in the craters of extinct volcanoes can be found mainly in Tasmania.[22] In a worldwide comparison of height, Australia's waterfalls are relatively insignificant, with the longest drop ranked 135th according to the World Waterfall Database.[23] There are 758 estuaries around the country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones.[24]

Australia's rainfall regime is highly variable, with low mean annual rainfall over most of the continent and heavy seasonal falls in the tropics, concentric around the continent's extensive arid core. The effects of this varied rainfall pattern and Australia's drainage system can result in parts of the continent being in drought, but inundated by water from rainfall thousands of kilometres away.[25] Rainfall generally increases towards the coast as proximity to both moisture sources and reliable rain-producing weather systems improves. Elevation also has an important influence on rainfall, with the mountain areas of northeastern Queensland, southeastern Australia and western Tasmania receiving higher rainfall totals.[26] On average, only 9% of Australia's rainfall is converted to surface runoff, and about 2% percolates through the ground to recharge groundwater.[22]

Continental Australia is divided into drainage divisions, which are subdivided into water regions and then into river basins. The drainage divisions depict where water flows across the continent and identify the major hydrological basins.[27] Due to Australia’s high variation in rainfall and streamflow, large reservoirs have been built to ensure reliable supply; in fact, the national per-person surface-water storage capacity in 2018 was about 3.25 ML, relatively high compared to other countries. Groundwater also plays a significant role as a supply for drinking water, industry, farming and other primary industries in the many regions where it is the only reliable water source.[27] The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground freshwater resources in the world and Australia’s largest groundwater basin. It spans almost 1,700,000 km2 (660,000 sq mi) which is over one-fifth of the Australian continent.[28]

Oceanography

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Sea surface and sub-surface currents, gyres and eddies around Australia

Australia's oceans and seas include those off the mainland and its offshore territories in the Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans as well as the Timor, Tasman, Coral and Arafura seas.[29][30] The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,821 km (22,258 mi) with an additional 23,860 km (14,830 mi) of island coastlines.[31] Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on Earth[32] and the third-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ).[29] The Australian continental margins within the EEZ can be divided into distinct parts, six of which are located around the margins of the mainland and the rest of which are located overseas, comprising Lord Howe and Norfolk Rises and Cocos-Keeling, Christmas Islands and Macquarie Island Margins.[33]

Australia is surrounded by various ocean currents that have a strong controlling influence on things such as climate, ecosystems, fish migrations, the transport of ocean debris and on water quality. Pacific surface waters are dominated by the warm East Australian Current while, in the Australian western coasts, Leeuwin Current predominates. There are also a number of sub-surface countercurrents of colder temperatures.[34] Tides are predominant on the northwest coast, where the greatest tidal range in the country occurs, with a highest astronomical tide higher than 10 m (33 ft).[35] A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there was 8,866 km2 (3,423 sq mi) of tidal flat area in Australia, making it the third-ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.[36] To the north and south of the continent, the oceanic areas have lower salinity due to freshwater inputs from high rainfall and melting sea ice, respectively, compared to the oceanic areas surrounding most of Australia; the salinity of the ocean regions south of the tropics and above the Southern Ocean is higher due to high evaporation and low rainfall.[37]

Natural resources

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Exclusive economic zone of Australia

Australia's geological characteristics endow it with a vast reserve of diverse minerals. Australia produces 19 useful minerals in significant quantities from more than 350 operating mines; it is one of the world's leading producers of bauxite (aluminium ore), iron ore, lithium, gold, lead, diamond, rare-earth elements, uranium and zinc.[38] Australia is also the fifth largest producer, the second largest exporter and has the third largest reserves of coal in the world.[39] Mining in Australia occurs in all states, the Northern Territory and Christmas Island.[38] The Australian exclusive economic zone area is of 8,148,250 km2 (3,146,060 sq mi), the third largest in the world.[29] Australia's onshore waters are home to substantial conventional gas resources, primarily in the southwest, making it the world's seventh largest exporter of natural gas.[40] Despite having one of the largest fishing areas in the world, Australia is a minor producer of fisheries products. This is primarily because of the relatively low biological productivity of the Australian marine environment.[41]

Given its vast reserves, coal is Australia’s largest energy resource;[39] it contributed 46% of total electricity generation in 2023.[42] Continental Australia has the highest solar radiation per square metre of any continent and consequently some of the best solar energy resource in the world;[43] it also enjoys some of the best wind resources thanks to its particular location into the westerly wind belts.[44] In 2023, 35% of Australia’s total electricity generation was from renewable energy sources, including solar (16%), wind (12%) and hydro (6%).[45]

Political geography

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Main article: States and territories of Australia
See also: Local government in Australia and Suburbs and localities (Australia)
PerthAdelaideMelbourneCanberraSydneyBrisbaneDarwinHobartTasmaniaAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryWestern AustraliaNorthern TerritorySouth AustraliaQueenslandNew South WalesVictoriaTasmaniaGreat Australian BightTasman SeaIndian OceanCoral SeaIndonesiaPapua New GuineaGulf of CarpentariaArafura SeaEast TimorTimor SeaGreat Barrier Reef
A clickable map of Australia's states, mainland territories and their capitals
Position of Australia and its overseas territories (including Antarctic territorial claims)

Australia consists of six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. The two major mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.[46]

Australia also has several minor territories; the federal government administers a separate area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, as a naval base and seaport for the national capital. In addition Australia has the following inhabited, external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely uninhabited external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands.[46] Australia also claims ownership of more than 42% of the Antarctic continent as the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is recognised by just four sovereign states.[47]

Across the Australian states and territories there are over 500 local government bodies, often called councils, municipalities or shires. These local authorities include city councils in urban centres, and regional and shire councils in rural areas.[46]

Western Australia is the largest state, occupying 32.9% of Australia's land area (2,527,013 km2 (975,685 sq mi)), followed by Queensland (1,723,030 km2 (665,270 sq mi)), South Australia (979,651 km2 (378,245 sq mi)) and New South Wales (801,137 km2 (309,321 sq mi)). The Northern Territory, the largest of the territories, occupies 17.5% of the country's land area (1,334,404 km2 (515,216 sq mi)), while the rest of territories together occupy less than 1%.[1] The Shire of East Pilbara in Western Australia is Australia’s largest local government area, covering 379,571 km2 (146,553 sq mi).[48]

Human geography

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See also: Demographics of Australia
Map of population density across mainland Australia and Tasmania in 2000

Australia’s population was 27.2 million at 30 June 2024, having grown around 1.4% a year on average over the past 3 decades.[49] Due to various geographical features, almost 80% of the Australian population live within 25 km (16 mi) of the coast,[50] with 73% on its inhabitants living in the major coastal urban centres.[49] The most densely populated geographic areas of the country are located in the Coastal Plains of the eastern states of Australia and the Swan Coastal Plain and its surroundings, on the southwestern corner of the mainland, leaving the vast centre of the country virtually uninhabited.[6] This disparity can be seen reflected in Australia's mean population density of 3.5/km2 (9.1/sq mi)2 as of 2024,[51] one of the lowest in the world. In the same year, Australia's centre of population was around 30 km (19 mi) east of Ivanhoe in western New South Wales, reflecting the concentration of population in south-east Australia.[51] Given its extreme geographic isolation between population clusters, Australia is sometimes described as an "[demographical] archipelago".[52]

Australia’s population is diverse. According to the 2021 Census, almost half (48%) of Australians have a parent born overseas.[49] The main countries of origin of these immigrants are England, India, China and New Zealand, with all four countries having more than 500,000 residents in Australia as of 2020.[53] Its population also has a significant Indigenous compound in each state and territory, comprising hundreds of groups that have their own distinct set of languages, histories and cultural traditions.[54] In 2021, there were an estimated 812,728 Indigenous Australians, representing 3.2% of the population. Northern Territory has the greatest proportion of Indigenous population, at 26.3%.[55] This First Peoples have lived across Australian continent for tens of thousands of years, managing and caring for the land and shaping the environment and its biota.[56] According to Australia's land tenure, pastoral leases cover 44% of the territory and about 40% is covered by native title, in both exclusive and shared title. 14.9% of the Australian surface is considered public land.[57]

Climate

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Main article: Climate of Australia
Climate map of Australia

Australia's unique location under a subtropical high-pressure belt and surrounded by other climate drivers like El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole makes most of Western Australia a hot desert, and aridity a marked feature of most of the continent.[58] A total of 18% of Australia's mainland consists of named deserts (around 1,371,000 km2 (529,000 sq mi)).[59] Northern Australia and upper eastern Coastal Plains climate range from grassland, subtropical to equatorial, with no winter and very hot summers. The Western Plateau, the lower eastern Coastal Plains and Tasmania are characterised by their predominantly temperate climate, with mild/warm summers and cold winters;[60] these are also among the areas with the highest humidity on the mainland.[61] Australian offshore territories present varied climates, from the sub-tropical humid climate of Norfolk[62] and other similar territories near the equator to the remote subantarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands.[63] The Köppen classification identifies six major groups and 27 sub-groups of climate zones across the country.[60]

In a general overview, because Australia is a medium-sized continent, separated from the polar regions by the Southern Ocean, it is not subject to cold polar air movements during winter of the kind that sweep the northern hemisphere continents during their winters. Consequently, the Australian winter is relatively mild, with less contrast between summer and winter temperatures than on the northern continents, although the transition is more pronounced in Australia's alpine regions and at high altitudes. Seasonal maximum and minimum temperatures can be considerable, with temperatures ranging from a maximum of 40 °C (104 °F) in the central desert regions to 0 °C (32 °F) in the higher regions of the south-east.[25]

Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons, caused in part by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation.[58] According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 80% of the land area receives less than 600 mm (24 in) of annual rainfall and 50% less than 300 mm (12 in).[64] Overall, Australia has a very low average annual rainfall of 419 mm (16 in).[65] The Outback, the vast and remote centre of Australia, covers 73% of the continent; it is characterised by a climate with a high variability, with long dry periods interspersed with shorter periods of high rainfall.[66]

Natural disasters

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Weather hazards

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See also: Severe storms in Australia

Cyclones in Australia are common, which the North-western coast in Western Australia being the most cyclone prone area in all of Australia.[67] Additionally, cyclone formations can also occur off the North-eastern coast in Queensland, such as Cyclone Jasper and Cyclone Niran in recent years. Such cyclones cause widespread economic damage, and triggers floods and other disasters.[68] Severe thunderstorms occur across the country between September and March, when the supply of solar energy is greatest.[69] Northern Australia experiences violent thunderstorms that can have different characteristics to those that typically happen in the rest of the territory. These tropical severe thunderstorms are also different to conventional tropical cyclones.[70] Although it's a much less common phenomena, tornado outbreaks can also occur. Based on historical records, 30–80 tornadoes are observed in Australia each year.[71]

Bushfires

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Main article: Bushfires in Australia

Bushfires are another frequently occurring natural disaster within Australia. This is due to the unique flora that exists, which is highly flammable, and some species actually requiring fire to regenerate and spread.[72] While bushfires can occur at any time of the year, the risk is the highest during the summer and autumn months for the majority of the country, and spring months for the most northern regions of the country.[73]

Heatwaves

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Heatwaves, or consecutive days of extreme temperatures, are also prominent in Australia. They are the deadliest natural disasters in Australia, accounting for more deaths than bushfires, cyclones, earthquakes, floods and severe storms combined.[74] The number of days with a modest level of heat stress is increasing, as does the number of consecutive days of heat stress: the frequency doubled between 1960-70 and 2000-08.[75]

Droughts

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Main article: Drought in Australia

The prominence and severity of droughts in Australia has increased in recent times due to accelerated climate change.[76] As Australia is the driest inhabited continent, such droughts can limit the streamflow of the few major rivers in the country, creating a myriad of knock-on effects.[22] Droughts and climate variability are especially detrimental to Australian agricultural industries, who face unpredictability in their quantity of produce.[77]

Floods

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Main article: Floods in Australia

Riverine flooding in Australia occurs in relatively low-lying areas adjacent to streams and rivers. In the extensive flat inland regions, floods may spread over thousands of square kilometres and last several weeks, with flood warnings sometimes issued months in advance.[78] Floods are by far the most economically costly natural disasters in Australia, averaging $8.8 billion per year as of 2017.[79]

Earthquakes

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Main article: List of earthquakes in Australia

While Australia is not a seismically active zone, it does experience small scale earthquakes, caused by compressive stress built up over time, in the interior of the Australian tectonic plate. On average, around 100 earthquakes of above magnitude 3 are experienced in Australia every year, with the largest recorded earthquake occurring at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, with a magnitude of 6.6.[80]

Time zones

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Main article: Time in Australia
Time zones across Australian territory

There are five standard time zones across mainland Australia and Lord Howe Island, a dependency of New South Wales, ranging from UTC+8:00 to UTC+11:00. Some of them are half-hour and quarter-hour time zones. Not all states and territories in Australia use daylight saving time (DST). The states that use DST are the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria.[81]

The Australian external territories of Cocos Islands, Norfolk Island, and Christmas Island have their own time zones, and do not observe DST. Macquarie Island, a dependency of Tasmania, has no permanent population and its time zone can vary.[81]

Environment

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Main article: Environment of Australia
See also: Ecoregions in Australia, Protected areas of Australia, and Environmental issues in Australia
Biogeographic regionalisation of Australia according to IBRA

Continental Australia supports nearly 600,000 native species of flora and fauna, with a high proportion found nowhere else in the world.[82] Insular Australia is made up of thousands of islands, each one with their own unique isolated ecosystems. Island species are highly susceptible to disruption by invasive species, such as feral cats.[83] Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) classifies Australia's landscapes into 89 large geographically distinct bioregions and 419 subregions based on common climate, geology, landform, native vegetation and species information.[84]

The 2021 State of the Environment report made by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water of the Australian Government pointed out environmental issues including: soil erosion, poor offshore water quality, threats from introduced pest species, depredation of natural resources, high prevalence of land habitat clearing and extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, wildfires, storms, and heatwaves.[85] As of 2022, around 22% of Australia's landmass and almost half (45%) of Australia's oceans were protected in the National Reserve System,[86] made up of over 14,500 terrestrial protected areas[87] and 60 marine parks.[88] Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) are areas of land and sea that "traditional owners" have agreed to manage for biodiversity conservation; they represent more than 54% of Australia's National Reserve System.[89]

Bioclimatic landscapes of Australia
Tropical forest, grassland and mountain ranges in Queensland
Mount Kosciuszko in the Alps of southeastern Australia
Megalong Valley in the temperate Blue Mountains region of New South Wales
Arid parts of the Outback in Chambers Pillar, Northern Territory

See also

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References

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Further reading

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