Geography & environment — Australia
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Geography & environment at a glance
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources. Key figure for Australia: Oceania
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Location & size
- Geographic Location
Oceania
- Geographic Coordinates
27 00 S, 133 00 E
- Total Area
2,988,885 Square Miles 7,741,220 Square Kilometers
- Land Area
2,966,136 Square Miles 7,682,300 Square Kilometers
- Water Area
22,749 Square Miles 58,920 Square Kilometers
- Coastline
16,007 Miles 25,760 Kilometers
Physical geography
- Terrain
Mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast
- Highest Point
2,229 Meters
- Highest Point Location
Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m
- Lowest Point
-15 Meters
- Lowest Point Location
Lake Eyre -15 m
- Natural Resources
Bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum
- Irrigated Land
9,830 Square Miles 25,460 Square Kilometers
Climate & time
- Time Zone
UTC+10 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: Australia has four time zones, including Lord Howe Island (UTC+10:30)
- Daylight saving time
+1hr, begins first Sunday in October; ends first Sunday in April
Climate
- Climate
- Australia is a large, comparatively dry, and sparsely inhabited continent, almost as large as the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Australia, the only continent that consists of a single nation, is also the only inhabited continent that is isolated from all others (total coastline exceeds 22,000 miles). The average elevation is about 985 feet, which makes it the flattest continent on earth. This is among the prime reasons for sparse annual rainfall--16.5 inches, which is less than two-thirds of the world average (26 inches). Further, the rain falls mainly on coastal regions: forty percent of the surface gets less than 10 inches per year, and annual evaporation exceeds annual rainfall on about three-quarters of the land. Overall runoff is less than half that of the Mississippi basin
- Australia has no navigable rivers of any commercial significance. In general, the country is warmer than the U.S. (the northern one-third is in the Tropics, the rest in the Temperate Zone). Temperature extremes are much less pronounced. Sydney's average daytime temperature in the coldest month (July) is 59°F
- in the warmest month (January), 81°F.
- Terrain
Mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast
- Location
Oceania, the continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
- Total Area
2,988,885 Square Miles 7,741,220 Square Kilometers
Environment
- Environment - Current Issues
Soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices
soil salinity rising due to the use of poor quality water
desertification
clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species
the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site
limited natural fresh water resources
- Environment - International Agreements
Party To: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
