Australia's biggest attraction is its natural beauty. The landscape varies from endless sun baked horizons to dense tropical rainforest to chilly southern beaches. Scattered along the coasts, its cities blend a European enthusiasm for art and food with a laid-back love of sport and the outdoors.

Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands. The mainland is the largest island and the smallest, flattest continent on Earth. It lies between 10° and 39° South latitude. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Its interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land are arid or semi-arid. Its fertile areas are well-watered, however, and these are used very effectively to help feed the world. Sheep and cattle graze in dry country, but care must be taken with the soil. Some grazing land became desert when the long cycles that influence rainfall in Australia turned to drought.

Australia is a continent and a country in the Southern Hemisphere, lying to the south of Southeast Asia, and dividing the Indian and South Pacific Oceans. The total area of Australia is 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,892 square miles), with land constituting 7,617,930 square kilometers (2,942,282 square miles) and water 68,920 square kilometers (26,610 square miles).

Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world and is divided into 6 states and several territories. The national capital of Australia is Canberra. The 6 states are:

1. Queensland (QLD)
2. New South Wales (NSW)
3. Victoria (VIC)
4. Tasmania (TAS)
5. South Australia (SA)
6. Western Australia (WA)

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is now self administrating with its own legislature. The Northern Territory (NT), despite being self administering, can still have its state laws overturned by the Federal Government. Australia is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the west and Pacific Ocean in the east.