Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
25,760 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical
in north
Terrain:
mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m
highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m
Natural resources:
bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium,
nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas,
petroleum
Land use:
arable land: 6.15% (includes about 27 million hectares of
cultivated grassland)
permanent crops: 0.04%
other: 93.81% (2005)
Irrigated land:
25,450 sq km (2003)