Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia,[17] is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.[18] Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest country by area in Oceania. It is the world's oldest,[19] flattest,[20] and driest inhabited continent,[21][22] with some of the least fertile soils.[23][24] It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period.[25][26][27] By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had the oldest living culture in the world.[28] Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia.[29] This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986.[29]

Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.[11][30] Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne, both with a population of more than 5 million.[31] Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world.[32][33] It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally.[34][35][36] Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.[37]

Australia is a middle power, and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure.[38][39] It is a member of international groups including the United Nations; the G20; the OECD; the World Trade Organization; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation; the Pacific Islands Forum; the Pacific Community; the Commonwealth of Nations; and the defence and security organisations ANZUS, AUKUS, and the Five Eyes. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States.[40]