Any of the continents has its extreme points. There are four of them - northern, western, southern and eastern. The smallest continent in the world - Australia is no exception. The extreme points of this continent are four capes scattered along its long coastline. And each of them has its own story, its own interesting features.
Australia: extreme points and features of the geographical location of the mainland
The smallest and most isolated continent is compact. The coastline is indented weakly, and its total length is almost 36 thousand kilometers. These general geographic features are Australia. The extreme points of the mainland, namely the northern, eastern and southern, are located at approximately the same distance from each other. Western substantially removed.
The mainland is washed by the waters of the seas of two oceans - the Pacific and Indian. To the north of the continent is the large island of New Guinea, and to the south - Tasmania. Along the northeast coast of Australia stretches the Great Barrier Reef - a unique natural formation with a length of about 2 thousand kilometers.
The coordinates of the extreme points of Australia
The geographical position of any continent will be incomplete without indicating the location of its extreme points. What are the geographical coordinates of the extreme points of Australia?
There are four in total: Cape York (northernmost point), South Point (southern), Stipe Point (western) and Byron (eastern). The exact coordinates of the extreme points of Australia, indicating latitude and longitude, are presented below in the table:
A point on the map | Her coordinates |
Cape york | 10 ° 41′21 ″ South 142 ° 31′50 ″ East |
Cape South Point | 39 ° 08′20 ″ South 146 ° 22′26 ″ East |
Cape Stipe Point | 26 ° 09′05 ″ South 113 ° 09′18 ″ East |
Cape Byron | 28 ° 38′15 ″ South 153 ° 38′14 ″ East |
The distance between the northern and southern extreme points of Australia is 3200 kilometers, and between the western and eastern - almost 4000 kilometers.
Cape york
This cape is the extreme point of Australia in the north of the continent. It is the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, which cuts pretty deep into the sea. About one and a half hundred kilometers separate Cape York from the shores of New Guinea - the second largest island on our planet.
Administratively, the cape is under the jurisdiction of the State of Queensland. The closest city to Bamaga is only forty kilometers away. The name of the cape gave the famous navigator James Cook. During his voyage around the world, he circled the continent from the north and saw a cape sharply protruding into the ocean. Cook named it after the British Duke of York.
On Cape York, if you're lucky, you can observe an amazing meteorological phenomenon. This is the so-called morning gloria - a large cluster of thick white clouds located at an altitude of about two kilometers. This phenomenon, as a rule, is accompanied by significant jumps in atmospheric pressure. The nature and genesis of this phenomenon is not fully understood.
Cape South Point
This cape is located on the northern shore of the Bass Strait, which separates Australia from Tasmania. South Point is located within the Wilsons Promontory National Park.
The cape, and the whole national park, is interesting in that both the features of the mainland and the features of the island of Tasmania are manifested here . It is curious that the entire territory of the park was closed for visits during the Second World War, since the armed forces of Australia were actively trained here .
Cape Stipe Point
“Steep cape” - that’s what Stipe Point was called by the Dutch traveler Willem Flaming, who was the first European to see Australia’s westernmost point. In general, it was this name that was preserved, being transformed into the English version: Steep Point. Indeed, the coast of the cape is very steep and steep, in some places they reach a height of 150-200 meters.
The nearest town - the town of Denem - is located 50 kilometers away. Today, Cape Stipe Point attracts lovers of fishing from different parts of the country.
Cape Byron
The extreme eastern point of Australia is another geographic feature of the mainland, the name of which was coined by James Cook. He named the cape in 1770 in honor of the British vice admiral John Byron (grandfather of the world famous poet).
Cape Byron can often be seen in various lists of Australian places that are recommended primarily for tourists. Indeed, he is very beautiful and picturesque. A true decoration of the cape is an old lighthouse, built back in 1901. Near it is an observation deck for tourists, with which you can enjoy dolphins, sharks and other inhabitants of the ocean.
Finally…
The smallest and most compact mainland on the planet is Australia. The extreme points of the continent are four capes (York, South Point, Stipe Point and Byron).
York is interesting for its local natural miracle - the phenomenon of “Morning Gloria”. Cape South Point is located in Victoria's oldest national park. The extreme western point of Australia is interesting in that it is one of the most popular and favorite places for Australian fishermen. But Cape Byron in the east of the continent is named so not at all in honor of the famous British poet (as many believe), but in the name of his grandfather.