Australia

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 27 00 S, 133 00 E

Map references: Oceania

Area: total: 7,686,850 sq km

land: 7,617,930 sq km

water: 68,920 sq km

note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 25,760 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Terrain: mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m

highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m

Natural resources: bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum

Land use: arable land: 6.15% (includes about 27 million hectares of cultivated grassland)

permanent crops: 0.04%

other: 93.81% (2005)

Irrigated land: 25,450 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 398 cu km (1995)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 24.06 cu km/yr (15%/10%/75%)

per capita: 1,193