Where is it?

Australia is a country, and a continent and island. It is located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,686,850 square kilometres (2,967,910 sq mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), making it slightly smaller than the 48 states of the contiguous United States and 31.5 times larger than the United Kingdom. The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,877 km (22,293 mi) with an additional 23,859 km (14,825 mi) of island coastlines. There are 758 estuaries around the country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones. Australia claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The Land of the Kangaroo

The kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus: the red kangaroo, antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, and western grey kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to Australia. The Australian government estimates that 34.3 million kangaroos lived within the commercial harvest areas of Australia in 2011, up from 25.1 million one year earlier

Scientific classification

Symbol of Australia

Unofficial national mammal emblems. The largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests.

We went to the beach!

All around the world, Australia is renowned for its beaches, and it isn’t hard to see why. With some of the longest stretches of sand-covered coastline in the world, Oz's beaches are not only plentiful but also of an almost universally high quality.