How big is Australia?
I will shortly be visiting Australia for the first time. Since the country is on the other side of the globe to Europe, it is difficult to assess from an atlas what is the relative size of Australia – so I’ve checked.
At 7,692,024 km2, Australia is the planet’s sixth largest country after Russia, Canada, China, the USA, and Brazil. Although it is the smallest continental land mass, it is the world’s largest island.
Europe, as properly defined, is bigger than Australia, at 10,180,000 km2 – but what many people think of as Continental Europe would fit neatly into the land mass of Australia. To see how Australia compares with Europe or the United States, check out these illustrations.
February 18th, 2013 at 11:19 pm
We Australians are used to a different scale on maps. Planning a trip in the UK, we’d say – “this village will be a good place to stop for lunch”, only to find we’ve passed it long before morning tea!
Relatives on a cattle property outside Rockhampton, here in Queensland, would drive 2 hours to the shop, and 2 hours back home. If you left your house in London and drove for 2 hours (without traffic), where would you end up?
February 18th, 2013 at 11:40 pm
I live in London and my sister lives in Leicester in what we call the Midlands of England. If we don’t stop for a coffee, the journey takes two hours.