Geography

Australia is located in the Oceania region, other countries in this region include New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Palau, Tonga and several other island nations. Australia is located on the smallest continent in the world, yet it also ranks number six as the largest country in the world (Turgeon, 2022). The country is divided into seven states; Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Australia’s land is unique as it is the flattest continent in the world with an elevation of about 985 feet (Country Reports, 2022). The tallest mountain is Mount Kosciuszko with an elevation of 2,228 meters and is located in the New South Wales region (Geoscience Australia, 2022). A majority of the interior parts of Australia are dry desert land which lack easy access to water resources, also referred to as the Outback (Libraries, 2012). This is also the reason why most of the large cities are located along the coast and are the areas where the majority of the population lives. Sydney is the largest urban area in the Oceania region, it has a population of about four million people (Blakemore, 2019). On the other hand the areas in Australia that are mainly desert remain mostly uninhabited because of the extreme climate conditions.