How is mainland Australia located relative to other continents? The question is quite relevant for students in secondary schools, because absolutely everyone studied or studied geography. Today, not even all adults know the answer to this question - some often skipped school, while others simply were not interested in this. Let’s see what interesting facts are connected with this continent, what geographical location it has and why it is so loved by the people of our planet.
South Land Assumption and Australia's Discovery
The first mention of Australia comes from ancient times. Then people were sure that beyond the equator to the south there is a continent of enormous size. On home-made maps, the geographical accuracy of which was only hypothetical, they often indicated a large area of land. They called it Terra Australis, which is translated from Latin as "southern land." When James Cook discovered a new land for everyone, myths about the incredibly large area of the mainland were dispelled. Assumptions turned out to be extremely inaccurate, because Australia is the smallest continent on the planet.
Why Australia is considered the most mysterious place on the planet
Mentioning Australia, from ancient times it has become customary to use the term "most." After all, Australia is the smallest, warmest and most mysterious continent on earth. And this is not all of his descriptions! Discussions in Australia can last just hours, because it is the most amazing and exotic continent on the world map. How is mainland Australia located relative to other continents? What are the advantages of a geographical location? Why is this continent considered mysterious? Let’s figure it out!
Description of geographical location
Mainland Australia is located immediately in two terrestrial hemispheres - South and East. Numerous Pacific water archipelagos in combination with Australian lands form the whole part of the world, which is commonly called "Australia and Oceania."
How mainland Australia is located relative to other continents:
- From Eurasia in the southeast (from Cape Piai in southern Asia to the coast of Australia - 3000 km).
- From North America in the southwest (from the US capital to the Australian capital, the distance is 16 thousand kilometers "Washington Canberra").
- From South America to the east (the shortest distance to Australia is 14.5 thousand kilometers).
- Regarding Antarctica (the shortest distance to Australia is 3100 km) - to the north.
- Regarding Africa, to the east (at a southern latitude of 30 °, the distance between South Africa and Australia is about 6 thousand kilometers).
The most remarkable feature of this continent is that it is quite compact and as isolated as possible from all other continents. Australia is located much lower than the equator (to the south), therefore not throughout the mainland “eternal summer” - the northern part is more sunny and warm, and the southern one is quite changeable.
The geographical position of mainland Australia is very unique: its closest neighbor is Eurasia, which is not so close. The closest point of Eurasia to Australia is Cape Piai (the southernmost point of Asia), the distance from which to the Australian coast is about three thousand kilometers!
The coastal zone of Australia is washed immediately by two oceans - the Indian and Pacific. The nearest major islands are Tasmania (south) and New Guinea (north). From the east and north, the mainland is washed by the following Pacific seas: Timor, Coral, Arafur and Tasman.
What is the extent of mainland Australia
Let's find out about it. The length of mainland Australia from north to south is about 3.2 thousand kilometers, from west to east - 4000 kilometers. The coastal line of the continent (not including the nearby islands) is about 35,900 kilometers. The total area of the mainland is 7,659,861 square kilometers.
The extreme points of mainland Australia (excluding the southern island of Tasmnaia):
- East: 28 ° 38′16 ″ south latitude 153 ° 38′15 ″ in. longitude (Cape Byron).
- West: 26 ° 09′06 ″ south latitude 113 ° 09′17 ″ in. longitude (Cape Stipe Point).
- North: 10 ° 41′22 ″ south latitude 142 ° 31′51 ″ in. Longitude (Cape York).
- South: 39 ° 08′20 ″ South latitude 146 ° 22′27 ″ in. Longitude (Cape South East Point).
Description of mainland Australia
The soil structure of the Australian land is quite unique, it naturally presents all types of soils that are inherent in the tropical, subequatorial and subtropical zones. The mainland, in its peculiarity, has many plains, thanks to which the agricultural industry flourishes in the state of the same name. Australia is famous for its grapes, prolific trees and fodder crops.
Australia is the poorest continent in terms of water resources. The vast majority of Australia's rivers and lakes are replenished only with rainwater. Rivers, as a rule, are unstable - their water level often changes periodically, and there is also no runoff. In the summer, the lakes dry out, thereby forming small salt marshes (a type of soil characterized by the presence of salt in the upper layer) of the hollow. Sometimes salt at the bottom forms a layer of one and a half to two meters.
Features of flora and fauna
How is mainland Australia located relative to other continents? Features of the geographical location of this continent can be determined immediately by looking at the world map. Among geographers and scientists, it is generally accepted that Australia is the first continent that literally "separated" millions of years ago from a single continental crust (solid land that was not divided into continents). This explains the fact of isolation and uniqueness of flora and fauna on the continent. Australia's wildlife is 75 percent endemic. Such animals are considered to be a koala, a platypus, a Tasmanian devil and, no matter how traditional it is for the Australian locality, a kangaroo!
What you did not know about Australia
- The amazing island of Tasmania is one of the most popular for tourism, because Tasmanian air is considered the cleanest on the planet.
- The South Australian area is the most favorable in the world for growing many crops, which is why there is a farm that is larger than Belgium.
- Australian people love kangaroo meat, almost every restaurant or cafe has a lot of dishes on the menu that contain this ingredient.
- Australia's coral reefs are recognized as the most picturesque on the planet, one of them is considered the largest in the world (Australian Great Barrier Reef);
- The 5700-kilometer Australian wall is the second longest in the world (after the China Wall), it protects the land of Queensland from the invasion of wild dogs (dingo dogs).
- The Australian Alps are covered in large layers of snow, which is much more there than on the Swiss Alps.
- Despite the fact that the Australian climate is quite warm, local people really like to wear closed shoes - uggs (hence the trend of their popularity around the world). Residents of Australia prefer to feel the warmth in their homes, which are almost not protected from the cold (they consider cold weather to drop in air temperature to +15 .. + 25 degrees Celsius).
In the article we presented a description of the geographical location of mainland Australia and many interesting facts about it.