* Which State shares its
borders with all other mainland States?
* Locate and map any feature of interest using AUSLIG's Master Names File data.
While the dimensions of Australia are impressive, the country is, in fact, the smallest of the continents. It is also the lowest, the flattest and, apart from Antarctica, the driest.
Its landscape is strikingly
distinctive, with a variety of landforms ranging
from extensive plains and plateaux behind narrow coastal uplands in the
east, to great expanses of sandy and stony desert and low tablelands in
the arid centre and the west. These landscape features are described as
the 'western plateau', the 'interior lowlands' and the 'eastern uplands'.
* How many deserts are there
in Australia?
* Which is the highest mountain?
* Which is the tallest waterfall?
A complex mosaic of
land tenure stretches across Australia, comprising
freehold, leasehold and Aboriginal land, and reserves for nature conservation,
forestry, water and the like.
* How much land is
dedicated as nature conservation reserve?
* Which has the greater area
- public or privately-held land?
Read on to discover more
about the dimensions, landforms and land tenure of Australia,
and the answers to these questions.or
look at our States page.
DIMENSIONS
1: AREA
How big?
STATE/TERRITORY MAINLAND ISLAND TOTAL
AREA AREA AREA
(square kilometres)
---------------------- --------- ----- ---------
Queensland 1 723 936 6 712 1 730 648
New South Wales 800 628 14 800 642
Victoria 227 010 406 227 416
Tasmania 64 519 3 882 68 401
South Australia 978 810 4 672 983 482
Western Australia 2 526 786 3 089 2 529 875
Northern Territory 1 335 742 13 387 1 349 129
Australian Capital Territory 2 358 - 2 358
Jervis Bay Territory 72 1 73
AUSTRALIA 7 659 861 32 163 7 692 024
source: AUSLIG
100K Coastline database 1993.
Note: these new calculations
supersede those appearing in the Australian Yearbook, but are not yet official.
How small?
The Canberra - Yass district
was chosen as the site of the new national capital in 1908, and an area
covering 2 358 square kilometres was ceded to the Commonwealth in 1911,
forming the Australian Capital Territory. It was considered that the capital
should have its own port and, consequently, the Jervis Bay Territory was
formed in 1915. This land was surrendered to the Commonwealth by NSW.
2: STATE BORDERS
STATE LENGTH
(kilometres)
------------------------ -------
Queensland 3 339
New South Wales 4 635
Victoria 2 541
South Australia 3 185
Western Australia 1 862
Northern Territory 3 179
Australian Capital Territory 306
Jervis Bay Territory 32
source: AUSLIG 100K Coastline database 1993.
The 'Corners' of South Australia
South Australia shares a border
with all the mainland States, as well as the Northern Territory. Where
the border meets another State, or changes direction, it has been officially
named, except where it meets the NSW - Victorian border.
The following table lists
the 'corners' of the South Australian border.
POINT NAME COORDINATES
latitude longitude
------------ ------------------------- -------- ---------
SA - WA - NT Surveyor General's Corner 26º S 129º E
SA - NT - Qld Poeppel Corner 26º S 138º E
SA - Qld Haddon Corner 26º S 141º E
SA - Qld - NSW Cameron Corner 29º S 141º E
You can use these coordinates to look the 'Corners' up on a map
3: COASTLINE
STATE/TERRITORY MAINLAND ISLAND TOTAL
LENGTH LENGTH LENGTH
(kilometres)
-------------------- --------- ---------- ---------
Queensland 6 973 6 374 13 347
New South Wales 2 007 130 2 137
Victoria 1 868 644 2 512
Tasmania 2 833 2 049 4 882
South Australia 3 816 1 251 5 067
Western Australia 12 889 7 892 20 781
Northern Territory 5 437 5 516 10 953
Jervis Bay Territory 54 3 57
-------------------- --------- ---------- ---------
AUSTRALIA 35 877 23 859 59 736
source: AUSLIG 100K Coastline database 1993.
4: Centre of the Continent
Where
is the centre of the continent? *
There are several methods
available for calculating the centre of mainland Australia, depending on
the application. The following four 'centres' enclose an area which includes
the town of Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges, two icons of central
Australia.
1. Centre of Gravity Method Over 50 000 digitised points
representing the coastline of mainland Australia were assigned a unit weight.
The moments were calculated assuming equal units of latitude and longitude,
the latter varying with the cosine of latitude. The result of this calculation
gave the centre as:
23 degrees 7 minutes
south latitude, 132 degrees 8 minutes east longitude.
2. Lambert Gravitational
Centre In 1988 the Royal Geographical
Society of Australasia determined, as a Bicentennial project, the geographical
centre of Australia. A monument was erected to mark the location and named
in honour of Bruce Lambert, a former director of AUSLIG, for his achievements
in the national survey, levelling and mapping of the continent. Similar
to the centre of gravity method, the location was calculated from 24 500
points at the high water mark of Australia's coastline. The computed result
was:
25 degrees 36 minutes
36.4 seconds south latitude, 134 degrees 21 minutes 17.3 seconds east longitude.
3. Furthest Point From
The Sea A series of concentric circles
drawn on transparent material were moved over the top of a 1:5 million
scale map of Australia until one circle was found to touch the coast at
three points. The centre of the circle was then marked and the coordinates
scaled from the map. This method resulted in a good agreement with the
centre of gravity method and gave coordinates of:
23 degrees 2 minutes
south latitude, 132 degrees 10 minutes east longitude.
4. Median Point The median point was calculated
as the midpoint between the extremes of latitude and longitude of the continent,
giving the following coordinates:
24 degrees 15 minutes
south latitude, 133 degrees 25 minutes east longitude.
* Officially, there is no
centre of the continent.
5: CONTINENTAL EXTREMITIES
Australia is approximately
3700 kilometres long, from its most northern point to its most southern
point, and it is almost 4000 kilometres wide, from east to west.
FEATURE LATITUDE LONGITUDE
----- -------------------------- ------------------ -----------------
North: Cape York (Cape York Peninsula) 10º 41' 21" S, 142º 31' 50" E
East: Cape Byron (Byron Bay) 28º 38' 15" S, 153º 38' 14" E
West: Steep Point (Shark Bay) 26º 09' 5" S, 113º 09' 18" E
South: South East Cape (Tasmania) 43º 38' 40" S, 146º 49' 30" E
The most southern point of the mainland is :
South Point (Wilson's Promontory) 39º 08' 20" S, 146º 22' 26" E
These coordinates will help you look up
the continental extents on a map of Australia.
6: CLIMATIC EXTREMES
Temperatures
Several places can
claim to be the hottest in Australia, depending on how the temperature
is measured: the place with the highest recorded temperature, the most
frequent occurrences of high temperatures, or the hottest yearly average.
The hottest place
ever recorded in Australia is Cloncurry, in Queensland, which registered
a temperature of 53º Celsius in 1889.
Western
NSW is the area with the most frequent occurrences of temperatures
over 50º C.
The highest average monthly
temperatures, and longest hot spells have been recorded at Marble
Bar, in the north of Western Australia, which has had 160 consecutive days
over 37.8ºC. In terms of average annual temperatures, the hottest
place is Wyndham, also in northern WA.
The coldest place
in Australia is Charlotte Pass in the snowfields of NSW, not far from Mount
Kosciuszko. In June 1994, Charlotte Pass recorded a new minimum temperature
of minus 23ºC, breaking its own previous record of minus 22.2º
C, held since July 1945.
The area with the greatest
difference between its highest and lowest recorded temperatures is
White Cliffs, in western NSW, with an extreme range of 57.2º C.
Rainfall
Although Australia's
average annual rainfall is 465 mm, rainfall across Australia is
highly uneven and variable from year to year. Areas with less than 500mm
of rain annually are often classified as semi-arid, while areas with less
than 250mm are considered arid.
The driest area in
Australia is the Lake Eyre drainage basin in the north-east corner of South
Australia, which averages less than 125mm of rain per year.
The area with the most rain
also varies, depending on how it is measured.
The wettest places
are found in north-east Queensland and south-west Tasmania, at the northern
and southern extremities of the continent.
The most rain ever recorded
in a single day fell in southern Queensland, at Crohamhurst, which
recorded 907mm of rain on the 3rd of February 1893.
The coastal region
of north-east Queensland, between Cairns and Cardwell, has recorded the
highest yearly rainfall, at Bellenden Ker, where 11 251 mm of rain
fell in 1979. This area has also recorded the nation's highest median annual
rainfall (4048mm).
Western Tasmania has a similar
amount of annual rainfall, but it is more evenly distributed throughout
the year. Here, Lake Margaret has a median annual rainfall of 3565mm. This
area also has the State's highest recorded annual rainfall, with 4505mm
of rain in 1948.
The rainfall in Tasmania
is more frequent than elsewhere in Australia, with rain falling
in the Lake Margaret area on around 250 days of the year.
For more detailed information
on Australia's climate, see the Climate Volume of the Atlas
of Australian Resources (AUSLIG).
Apart from Antarctica, Australia
is the driest continent in the world. About 35 per cent of the continent
receives so little rain, it is effectively desert. In total, 70 per cent
of the mainland receives less than 500mm of rain annually, making it arid
or semi-arid.
The major deserts in
Australia are listed below. These are distributed throughout the western
plateau and interior lowlands. The total area of these deserts is almost
20% of the total mainland area of Australia.
NAME STATE(S) SIZE
(sq. km)
--------------- ------------ ---------
Great Victoria WA, SA 348 750
Great Sandy WA 267 250
Tanami WA, NT 184 500
Simpson NT, QLD, SA 176 500
Gibson WA 156 000
Little Sandy WA 111 500
Strzelecki SA, QLD, NSW 80 250
Sturt Stony SA, QLD, NSW 29 750
Tirari SA 15 250
Pedirka SA 1 250
Nullarbor Plain WA, SA 105 750
---------
Total 1 476 750
source: AUSLIG Deserts database 1994.
2: HIGHEST MOUNTAINS
Which is Australia's
highest mountain?
It is a little known fact
that the highest point on Australian Territory, at a height of 2 745 metres,
is Mawson Peak, on a mountain called Big Ben. This is an active volcano
on Heard Island, well south of the Australian continent in the Southern
Ocean, approaching the coast of Antarctica.
The highest mountains on
the Australian mainland form part of the Great Dividing Range, which bounds
the interior lowlands on the east. The highest are found near the border
of NSW and Victoria. The ten highest are all in the Australian Alps, and
are listed below.
NAME HEIGHT
(metres)
----------------- --------
1 Mount Kosciuszko 2 229
2 Mount Townsend 2 209
3 Mount Twynam 2 195
4 Rams Head 2 190
5 Abbott Peak 2 159
6 Carruthers Peak 2 145
7 The Sentinel 2 140
8 Mount Northcote 2 131
9 Mount Clarke 2 100
10 Mount Lee 2 080
source: AUSLIG National Geodetic database 1993
Some of the next highest mountains
include:
Gungartan (2 068 metres),
Mount Tate (2 068 m), Jagungal (2 061 m), Mount Stillwell (2 054 m), Mount
Perisher (2 053 m), Watsons Crags (2 022 m), Dicky Cooper Bogong (2 003
m), Mount Anton (2 000 m), Back Perisher (2 000 m) and Mount Anderson (1
997 m), all in NSW.
With a height of 1 986 metres,
Mount Bogong is the highest mountain in Victoria, followed by Mount Feathertop
(1 922 m). Another well known Victorian mountain is Mount Hotham (1 868
m).
There is more information
for those wishing to visit our highest mountains and the Australian Alps
on AUSLIG's Australian Alps
Tourist Map. For further information on the highest mountains for
each state, click here to go to the state details.
As already stated, Australia is the lowest continent in the world.
It has an average elevation of only 330 m, which is the lowest of all the
continents, while the highest points on the other continents are all more
than twice the height of Mount Kosciuszko. The worlds
highest montain, Mount Everest (8 848 m) is 4 times as tall!
HIGHEST AND LOWEST POINTS
NAME STATE HEIGHT
----------- ------------ -----------------------
Mawson Peak (Heard Island) 2 745 metres
Mt. Kosciuszko NSW 2 229 m
Lake Eyre SA 15 m below sea level
source: AUSLIG GEODATA 250K database 1993
4: LARGEST LAKES
NAME STATE SIZE
(sq. km)
------------- ----- --------
Lake Eyre SA 9 475
Lake Torrens SA 5 745
Lake Gairdner SA 4 351
source: AUSLIG 1:2.5M database
These salt lakes, which are
normally dry, are part of a major internal drainage system in the interior
lowlands. They are found near the Tirari, Strzelecki and Sturt Stony deserts,
on the border between SA, NSW and Queensland. Generally, the ephemeral
rain in this area is absorbed by the surrounding deserts before any runoff
can reach the lakes via a network of channels. However, when there is sufficient
rain, water floods into these lakes. Lake Eyre has only been filled three
times this century, and Lake Torrens only once.
5: LONGEST RIVERS
The Murray River,
and its tributary the Darling River, are the main rivers in the
Murray-Darling River Basin. This drainage basin comprises the major
part of the interior lowlands of Australia, covering more than one million
square kilometres, or about 14 per cent of Australia.
The Darling River flows south
from the junction of the Culgoa and Barwon rivers. Although
the Culgoa is longer than the Barwon, the source of the Darling is generally
agreed to be the Barwon River as it has the greater volume of water. The
headwaters of the Darling can be traced to the MacIntyre River,
which starts in the Great Dividing Range, and forms part of the border
between NSW and Queensland. It eventually flows south into the Barwon.
The Barwon-MacIntyre section is sometimes referred to as the Upper Darling.
When measured from its source in Queensland to its mouth on the coast south-east
of Adelaide, the Murray-Darling river system is 3 370 kilometres long,
about half the length of the world's longest river, the Nile.
NAME STATE ESTIMATED HEIGHT
(metres)
------------ --- --------------------------
Wallaman QLD 305 (numerous ledges)
Wollomombi NSW 220 (100m as single drop)
Ellenborough NSW 200 (single drop)
These waterfalls occur on rivers
forming a coordinated drainage system throughout the eastern uplands. Wollomombi
includes a single drop of 100 metres. It is sometimes quoted as Australia's
tallest waterfall, but this is only so if measured from its highest point,
where the land has a much gentler gradient and the water does not truly
'fall'.
7: LARGEST ISLANDS
Australia is the world's
largest island. It also has many hundreds of small fringing islands and
numerous larger ones. These range in size from small rocks which are not
covered by water at high tide, to some over twice the size of the Australian
Capital Territory. Australia has several islands larger than 1000 square
kilometres:
Name Area (sq. km)
---------------------------------------- --------------
Australian Antarctic Territory
(including sea) 6 100 000
(excluding sea) 5 896 500
Coral Sea Islands Territory 780 000 (aprox.)
Territory of Heard and MacDonald Islands 370
Territory of Christmas Island 135
Macquarie Island 128 *
Norfolk Island 35
Lord Howe Island 15 **
Territory of Cocos(Keeling)Islands 14
Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands 2
* A dependancy of Tasmania
** A dependancy of NSW
LAND
TENURE
How much land is dedicated
as nature conservation reserve?
Which has the
greater area, public or privately-held land?
The first park to be dedicated
for public use was Kings Park in Perth, in 1872. The oldest national park
in Australia, Royal National Park, at Port Hacking (NSW), was established
in 1879. However, it was not until the 1950s that conservation reserves
began to be systematically dedicated in Australia.
The following information
is available from AUSLIG's Australian Land Tenure map (1993).
PUBLIC LAND ('000 square kilometres)
CATEGORY QLD NSW VIC SA WA NT TAS ACT TOTAL
------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------------
Nature conservation
reserve 54.2 38.1 30.6 203.7 155.0 27.8 13.5 1.2 524.1
Aboriginal freehold-
nat. park - - - - - 10.8 - - 10.8
Vacant crown land 0.6 1.4 - 8.3 863.3 82.8 4.3 - 960.7
Other crown land 13.9 6.4 2.0 0.8 42.7 12.3 2.5 - 80.6
Forestry reserve 40.1 34.6 36.4 1.0 20.9 - 15.1 0.1 148.2
Water reserve 0.3 2.8 1.5 0.2 5.3 - 0.9 - 11.0
Defence land 3.8 0.4 0.4 3.6 6.6 3.5 0.3 - 18.6
Mining reserve 4.3 - 0.3 - 0.4 - - - 5.0
Mixed category lands 0.8 2.0 1.1 - 0.8 - 4.0 0.2 8.9
-------------------------- ---- ---- ----- ------ ----- ---- --- ------
Total 118.0 85.7 72.3 217.6 1095.0 137.2 40.6 1.5 1767.9
PRIVATE LAND ('000 square kilometres)
CATEGORY QLD NSW VIC SA WA NT TAS ACT TOTAL
--------------- -------------------------------------------------------------
Freehold 627.2 405.5 155.2 158.4 205.1 6.4 27.2 - 1585.0
Crown leasehold 939.8 308.9 0.1 418.4 899.9 666.6 - 0.9 3234.6
--------------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ---- --- ------
Total 1567.0 714.4 155.3 576.8 1105.0 673.0 27.2 0.9 4819.6
ABORIGINAL AND TORRES
STRAIT ISLANDER LAND ('000 square kilometres)
CATEGORY QLD NSW VIC SA WA NT TAS ACT TOTAL
----------- --------------------------------------------------------------
Freehold 20.5 0.4 - 189.0 - 516.8 - - 726.7
Leasehold 18.9 1.1 - 0.6 126.1 19.2 - - 165.9
Reserve 2.8 - - - 199.4 - - - 202.2
----------- ---- --- ----- ----- ---- -----
Total 42.2 1.5 - 189.6 325.5 536.0 - - 1094.8
TOTAL LANDS ('000 square kilometres)
CATEGORY QLD NSW VIC SA WA NT TAS ACT TOTAL
------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Public 118.0 85.7 72.3 217.6 1095.0 137.2 40.6 1.5 1767.9
Private 1567.0 714.4 155.3 576.8 1105.0 673.0 27.2 0.9 4819.6
Aboriginal &
Torres Strait
Islander 42.2 1.5 - 189.6 325.5 536.0 - 1094.8
------------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ ------ ---- --- ------
TOTAL 1727.2 801.6 227.6 984.0 2525.5 1346.2 67.8 2.4 7682.3
MARINE RESERVES ('000 square kilometres)
OTHER* QLD NSW VIC SA WA NT TAS ACT TOTAL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 361.6 3.4 0.8 0.5 - 11.4 2.5 - - 380.2
*Marine reserves in Commonwealth waters