Geography Australia is an island continent located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, in the southern hemisphere. It is the sixth largest country in the world and the smallest continent. As the continent remained isolated by its remoteness from other large land masses, its flora and fauna are unique in the world.
Some species represent a link to the more primitive forms of life, now extinct in other continents.
Australia covers a land area of 7,682,300 km, including Tasmania, but without the external territories. Most of the land is flat - plains or level plateaus make up nine tenths of Australia. There are large grassland areas in the southwest and southeast. Most of the central plateau is desert, rising to Macdonnell and Musgrave Ranges, almost at the geographical centre of the continent. To the east of the desert The Great Artesian Basin traverses the country from north to south.