The collection of Australian cattle stations make up 23,000 square kilometers - more than three-quarters the size of England - and yet only 150 cattle staff live there. 
 
 The spread out properties have been in the family of Sir Sidney Kidman - a penniless runaway who became the country’s greatest pastoralist - for more than 100 years. 
 
 More than 600 horses mustered at Oaklands Downs in South Australia Now the 11 million hectares is to be sold to one of 30 bidders from around the world, as reported by the Daily Mail Online. 
 
 So large, remote and spread out, it will take each short-listed bidder a week flying around on a plane to South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia to do a full property inspection of all the cattle stations. 
 
 The Kidman property empire marked (above) on this satellite image of Australia is 101,000 square kilometres The properties are owned by S Kidman and Co, which was founded by Sir Sidney Kidman in 1899. 
 
 The family, who own 98 per cent of the shares in the unlisted public company, are Australia's largest private landholders. 
 
 Anna Creek is considered to be part of a unique collection of properties demonstrating 'international significance' After inviting expressions of interest in April, S Kidman & Co has now sent out briefings to bidders from around the country and from China, the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, South America and Indonesia. More than half the bidders are Australian. 
 
 With cattle prices currently high, the properties are considered 'a world class asset of international significance'. 
 
 Sidney Kidman (right) stands with a horse buyer in South Australia in the early 1900s Despite reported rumours of bitter wrangling by family members who did not want to sell and talk of a 'carve up' of the land holdings, selling agent Ernst & Young South Australia's managing partner Don Manifold said the family who owned the 98 per cent shareholdings were now in agreement. 
 
 He said: “There is some hysteria at the moment about foreign land ownership and I understand people's concerns, but this is a very well-managed cattle business and the Federal government and [three state and one territory] governments and the Foreign Investment Review Board will all be involved because we are talking about long term pastoral leases here. 
 
 "It is extraordinary that it has been in the one family until the fifth generation, is debt free, consistently well run, prime cattle producer." 
 
 Australian sheep farmer faces complaint from PETA that he 'swore at his animals' ||||| Fancy a backyard so big it takes an entire week flying around in a plane to see the whole thing? Yes, you could be the owner of the largest private tract of land on earth after the Australian Kidman family decided to sell their 11 million hectare (8,800 square mile) cattle kingdom in the Australian outback. 
 
 S. Kidman and Co, the eighth-largest landholder in the world, has shortlisted 30 bidders from around Australia, as well as from the U.S., Switzerland, the U.K., China and Indonesia, for the sale, the Independent reports. 
 
 The Kidman family, which owns 98% of its namesake company, are the fifth generation descendants of Sidney Kidman, who despite running away from home at a young age managed to start a business that today produces 1.3% of all Australia’s beef. (The family is unrelated to Australian actress Nicole Kidman.) 
 
 The value of the various cattle stations that make up the Kidman empire, as well as the property itself, is estimated at $325 million. The sale, which is expected to net more than that, will be finalized after each bidder completes the requisite week-long property inspection. 
 
 [Independent]
– Have you always dreamed of raising cattle on a vast swath of land in Australia? If you have at least $325 million to spare, you'd better enter your bid pronto. What Quartz calls the "largest stretch of private real estate on Earth" is now on the market, and some 30 bidders from Australia, China, the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, South America, and Indonesia are interested. The land is measured at 11 million hectares, which converts to about 42,000 square miles, and it's now the home of Australian cattle stations spread across several properties in South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia, reports the Independent. The land was initially amassed by pastoralist Sir Sidney Kidman, who founded S Kidman and Co in 1899, now one of Australia's largest beef producers with 185,000 cattle and 150 cattle station staff. The list of 30 bidders will soon be narrowed down to six after interested parties have a chance to explore the property during an airplane tour. The final bids will be logged in August and are expected to climb above the asking price. As Time asks, "Fancy a backyard so big it takes an entire week flying around in a plane to see the whole thing?"