Australia
From JnanaBase
Australia is a country and continent in the southern hemisphere, the sixth largest country by area (about 7.69 million km²) and one of the least densely populated. Capital: Canberra. Largest city: Sydney. Population about 20 million (2005).
A federation of six states and two mainland territories since 1901. The indigenous peoples have lived on the continent for at least 50,000 years; European settlement began in 1788.
Notable: the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, marsupial fauna (kangaroos, koalas, wombats), the world's largest deposits of bauxite and opal.
Based on the Wikipedia article Australia, retrieved 2006-01-07; shortened.
