Australia consists mostly of the world's smallest continent, with other large (Tasmania) and small islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is a great place to go caravanning or camping, in a Caravan, Campervan, Motorhome or Winnebago.

IMAGE: Sydney Harbour Bridge, New South Wales
Photo: Photographer Unknown, Courtesy of Tourism New South Wales

The Australian mainland has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians and was claimed by the British in 1770. Soon after this European migration started. The capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. States and major Territories are: Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW), Northern Territory (NT), Queensland (Qld), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (Tas), Victoria (Vic) and Western Australia (WA). There are also some minor territories, of which the Australian Antarctic Territory of over 6 million sq.km is by far the largest.
 

IMAGE: Murphy's Haystacks, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
Photo: Neale Winter, Courtesy of Tourism South Australia
 
The population has just passed 21 million, found mostly in the mainland state capitals of Adelaide (SA), Brisbane (Qld), Melbourne (Vic), Sydney (NSW) and Perth (WA). Other capitals are Darwin (NT) and Hobart (Tas).  Most Australians live in urban areas in the major state capitals. Less than 15% of Australians are found in rural areas. Sydney is the most populous city.  The area of Australia is over 7.7m sq.km, giving a population density around 2.6 people/sq.km.

The service sector of the Australian economy, including education, financial services and tourism, is around 70% of Gross Domestic Product. Agriculture (3% of GDP) and natural resources (5% of GDP) seem small but add greatly to exports. 
 

Visitors to Australia need to be aware that the country is enormous and of the great distances involved. Australia is almost as big as the whole of contiguous USA and 50% bigger than all of Europe. Our maps illustrate that point well. Travellers should plan plenty of time for travel on an Australian holiday, remembering that the immense size and diversity of Australia is one of the factors that make it so enjoyable to visit. 

IMAGE: Uluru/Ayers Rock, Northern Territory
Photo: Steve Strike, Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory

The natural beauty and wide variation of landscapes and activities to carry out provide Australia's biggest attraction.  Australia has a more than 34,218 kilometres of coastline, hence the large number of great beaches and locations for swimming, snorkelling, surfing, fishing, etc. 

Australia is said to be the driest (inhabited) continent. Most of Australia is desert or semi-arid land. Australia is the flattest continent with the oldest, least fertile soils, and is also the driest inhabited continent. A temperate climate can be found only in the South-East and South-West of the mainland.
 

Most people lives on the milder South-East coast. The northern of Australia has a tropical climate, with grassland, desert, mangrove swamps, rainforest and woodlands.  The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, is a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres Mount Augustus, said to be the world's largest monolith, is located in WA. Uluru (once Eyre’s Rock) used to be considered the largest monolith. Mount Kosciusko (2,228m) in the Great Dividing Range is the highest mainland mountain. Mawson Peak (2,745m) on the Australian territory of Heard Island is higher. 

IMAGE: The Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park, Victoria
Photo: James Lauritz, Courtesy of Tourism Victoria

Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, there are a wide range of habitats, from alpine heaths to sand-hill deserts to tropical rainforests. The great age and consequent low levels of soil fertility and highly variable weather patterns and long-term geographic isolation of the country have produced a unique and diverse set of animals and plants. Many of Australia's ecological regions and life in those regions are considered threatened by human activity and introduced pests. Australia has 16 World Heritage Sites.
 

Eucalyptus and Acacias are well-known plant species, typically woody, evergreen and adapted to fire and drought. Australia has a wide variety of plant species that thrive in nutrient-poor soils because of special adaptations

IMAGE: Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
Photo: Murray Waite & Assoc, Courtesy Tourism Queensland

Well-known Australian fauna include dingo, echidna, emu, kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, platypus, and wombat. 

Much more information is provided on sets of pages about each state. In every case we will provide links to other websites with more detail about the thousands of locations and activities available to visitors to Australia. 

Australia really is a great place to go caravanning or camping, in a Caravan, Campervan, Motorhome or Winnebago.