Cities
Australia is the smallest continent in terms of landmass, but it is the sixth largest country (behind Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil).
Australia is incredibly diverse. People from around 200 countries have migrated to Australia. Today, about 23% of the population was born overseas and more than 200 languages are spoken.
Australia is made up of six states and two territories:
New South Wales
Australia's most populated state with over 6.2 million people; over 4 million of whom live in Sydney.
It has a significant section of outback – the scrub and desert that also makes up a good portion of central Australia.
New South Wales is also home to several important wine regions including: Hunter Valley, Orange and Mudgee.
South Australia
South Australia is full of contrasts – it is home to some of the greatest wine regions of Australia (including Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, and McLaren Vale), but it also has a large area of outback that dominates the northern part of the state, making it the driest of all the states.
The largest city in South Australia is its capital, Adelaide. 80% of the 1.5 million people who live in South Australia live there.
South Australia is the only state in Australia that was never part of the British penal colony system.
Victoria
The smallest of Australia's mainland states in size, but it has a relatively large population for its size – 4.6 million people.
Melbourne is the largest city in Victoria and the second largest in the country, with a population of over 3 million people.
Victoria is also home to some of the great cool climate wine growing regions in Australia, including the Yarra Valley.
Western Australia
The largest of the Australian states, Western Australia covers over 1.5 million square acres, but only has a population of 1.8 million. Approximately 1.4 million, or 80%, of these live in the capital of Perth.
To put this in perspective, Western Australia makes up 1/3 of the country in terms of landmass, but only has 1/10 of the population.
Western Australia is also home to Margaret River, one of the most lauded boutique wine regions in all of Australia.
Queensland
Queensland is home to rainforest, great beaches, and the Great Barrier Reef – the largest living organism in the world.
The Great Barrier Reef, which takes up about the same amount of space as Ireland and the United Kingdom combined, is one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World.
A population of 3.5 million people live in Queensland full time, but it is also a very popular vacation spot for all Australians as well as visitors.
Brisbane is the capital city, and it is a city dominated by water. Cairns and Port Douglas in far north Queensland are the gateways to the Reef.
Tasmania
Tasmania is the only state that is an island in this country that is an island.
The capital, Hobart, is one of the southern most capitals of the world.
There is a wealth of national parks in Tasmania featuring great hiking and fabulous scenery.
Northern Territory
While the Northern Territory has a total area of almost 84,000 square acres, or 20% of the entire country, only 180,000, or 1%, of the Australian population live here.
Darwin, the capital, is on the north coast, and is a cosmopolitan city. Much of the rest of the Northern Territory is relatively desolate and arid.
The Red Centre of Australia, the lower third of the Northern Territory, is home to Uluru (Ayers Rock) the world's largest monolith. It is here that the harsh reality of the Australian Outback becomes most apparent – towns are few and far between, the roads are dusty and there isn't a lot of life as far as the eye can see.
Australian Capital Territory
Many people think the capital of Australia is Sydney, but in fact, it is Canberra, which is located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
The ACT was developed as a compromise between two rival cities – Melbourne and Sydney. Both wanted to be the capital, but neither was chosen. Instead, a new city, Canberra, was created roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.
The ACT also houses the Namadgi National Park which takes up 40% of the almost 1,500 square miles that make up the ACT.