The two major mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. Regions and cities See also: List of Cities in AustraliaĪustralia has six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor territories. It is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia and Head of State and a Governor-General who is chosen by the Prime Minister to carry out all the duties of the Queen in Australia. Australia is a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations. The first Prime Minister of Australia was Edmund Barton in 1901. Most of the Australian colonies, having been settled from Britain, became mostly independent democratic states in the 1850s and all six combined as a federation on 1 January 1901. For the history of Australia, see History of Australia. These native Australians are called the Australian Aborigines. People first arrived in Australia more than 50,000 years ago. These include animals like the kangaroo, the koala, the emu, the kookaburra, and the platypus. Because of this, many animals and plants live in Australia that do not live anywhere else. The continent of Australia, including the island of Tasmania, was separated from the other continents of the world many millions of years ago. A Kangaroo is the national symbol of Australia.Īustralia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometers is on the Indo-Australian plate. Its emblem is a flower called the Golden Wattle.Īustralia is also known for its animals and rich wildlife. The first people to live in the country were Indigenous Australians but most of them died from smallpox during colonization.Īustralia is known for its mining (coal, iron, gold, diamonds and crystals), its production of wool, and as the world's largest producer of bauxite. The country is divided up into six states and two territories, and more than half of Australia's population lives in and around the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide. When other Pacific islands are included with Australasia, it is called Oceania.Ģ5 million people live in Australia, and about 85% of them live near the east coast. Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and other islands on the Australian tectonic plate are together called Australasia, which is one of the world's great ecozones. Its capital city is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney.Īustralia is the sixth biggest country in the world by land area, and is part of the Oceanic and Australasian regions. Australia, formally the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country and sovereign state in the southern hemisphere, located in Oceania.