Official Name: Commonwealth of Australia

AREA: Australia & Oceania
Size: 7,741,220 km²
Coastline: 25,760 km

Independence:  from the UK 1 January 1901 
Form of Govt.: Federal Parliamentary State
Head of Govt.: Prime Minister

Capital: Canberra
Largest City: Sydney

Demography (2005): 20,812,000, 2.6 /km²
Anglo-Celtic Australian 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal and other 1%

GDP per Capita (2005): $ 32,220

Languages: The official language is English, although Aboriginal and other numerous ethnic immigrant languages are also spoken.

Geography: The Western Plateau which is a vast desert and semidesert region that covers almost 66% of the land area and is comprised of ancient rocks similar to those of Africa. Also located on the plateau are the country's four major deserts - the Gibson, Great Sandy, Great Victoria and Simpson as well as a massive monolith known as Ayers Rock which rises over 335 metres. The Eastern Highlands also described as the Great Dividing Range consist of a complex belt of tablelands, ridges and coastal ranges stretching from Cape York in northern Queensland to southern Victoria, and again resurfacing across Bass Strait in Tasmania

Climate: Above the Tropic of Capricorn (in the north), conditions are mostly tropical with wet condition in the summer and dry conditions in the winter. Summer heat can be brutal in all deserts, north and south, and temperatures exceeding 120ºF are commonplace.
In the south, below the Tropic of Capricorn weather conditions are temperate and include the four seasons.