Australia, for its size, has a low population density. It has only six states, and the conventional division into two mainland territories. These are the Northern Territory and the Federal Capital Territory. The names of Australia's regions have historical roots in its colonial past and present.
The central regions of Australia are true deserts and semi-deserts, divided between the major states of the nation.
The southern regions of Australia include the following states:
New South Wales is Australia's oldest state. It is home to more than 30% of the country's population. There are about 780 national parks, reserves and protected sites, some of which are included in the list of World Heritage Sites. The list of places untouched by civilization is huge. For example, there is the world's southernmost coral reef.
Southern Australia is famous for its Mediterranean climate with dry hot summer days and wet cool winters. Most of the rainfall occurs between May and August. It has some of the best beaches in the country and is home to the major tourist city of Adelaide.
Victoria is the smallest state on the Australian mainland. It is home to Melbourne, the state capital and one of Australia's largest cities.
Tasmania Island is a small Australian state, located south of Australia, separated by the 240 km wide Bass Strait. Chains of islands in the east and west of the strait connect Australia with Tasmania and remind that once the continent and the island were a single whole. This small corner of our planet will impress everyone with its high standard of living, interesting history, well-being of the population, uniqueness and beauty of nature.
The Federal Capital Territory is a small region around Canberra, a remarkably elegant city full of gardens and parks.
Northern Australia
Queensland is washed by the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the east.
Northern Territory is a federated entity in the north of mainland Australia. It is a vast but sparsely populated area, with a quarter of its inhabitants being Aboriginal. Due to its sparse population, the region has not been granted statehood.
Western Australia stretches along the entire western part of the continent from south to north. So much for the confusion. What really matters is that all these regions are huge.
Tourist town regions of Australia are mostly concentrated in the far south and the far north of the country. Having said that, both have good beaches, wonderful waves for surfers and depth for divers.
Besides this, Australia has control over the Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, Ashmore and Cartier Island, Heard Island and Macdonald Island, a territory of the Coral Sea Islands.
The wine regions tend to embrace the southern coast of Australia, where it is less hot and more humid, a Queensland is gradually developing the cooler and higher western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the Granite Belt. The almost Mediterranean climate of much of southeastern Australia is just right for grapes.
