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Australia consists of six states and two territories as described below:

Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia

Australia, located in the Southern Hemisphere consists of the mainland of the world's largest island continent, plus Tasmania and a number of islands located in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

The mainland of Australia has been inhabited for over 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from Asia and by European explorers and merchants begining in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the Australian mainland was claimed by the British in 1770, and in 1788 was settled as the colony of New South Wales.

As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established during the course of the 19th century.

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Australia is often referred to as the wide brown land due to the long dry summers when the much of landscape dries out. However, visit Australia during the southern winter, and you will discover that some regions can be as green as areas of Europe and North America.

Australia is a land of contrasts, from the dense forests of Tasmania and the vast Western Woodlands in the south west of Western Australia, to the rugged Kimberley region and the tropical regions of the Northern Territory and northern Queensland, to Uluru and the red heart of Australia.

The distances between many towns and cities in Australia are vast when compared to Western Europe and North America, and cattle stations in Western Australia are larger than some European countries.