How is Australia relative to other continents? Interesting facts about the Green Continent

What is interesting about the smallest continent of the planet? How is Australia located relative to other continents of the world? And why is it so popular in this sunny country? The answers to all these questions can be found in our article!

Australia on the world map

Since the time of antiquity, people have been convinced that there is a huge continent to the south of the equator. On hypothetical maps, they often signed it as Terra Australis. The word australis is translated from Latin exactly as "southern". However, Australia discovered by James Cook was much smaller in size than it was supposed to be.

Speaking about this continent, it is very appropriate to use the prefix "most". After all, Australia - is the smallest, the most sunny, the oldest, the driest of the continents of our planet. Many more achievements and records can be attributed to him.

How is Australia located relative to other continents of the Earth, oceans and seas, large islands? This will be discussed in our next section.

How is Australia relative to other continents?

Australia is located simultaneously in the Southern and Eastern hemispheres of the Earth. Together with numerous archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean, it forms a single part of the world called Australia and Oceania.

How is Australia located relative to other continents of the planet? It is worth noting that it is distinguished by its compactness and isolation from other continents. Australia is south of the equator. Her closest neighbor is Eurasia. However, the distance between Cape Piai (the extreme southern point of Asia) and the north-western Australian coast is almost 3000 kilometers!

The coast of the continent is washed by the waters of the seas of two oceans - the Indian and the Pacific. In the immediate vicinity are two large islands: Tasmania in the south and New Guinea in the north.

Scientists believe that it is Australia - this is the first of the modern continents, which millions of years ago separated from the "body" of a single supercontinent of the planet. This explains the stunningly unique and unique local flora and fauna. Thus, about 70% of the fauna of Australia are endemic (that is, species that are not found anywhere else in the world). Among them - koala, platypus, Tasmanian devil, a nosed cockatoos and, of course, kangaroos!

8 amazing facts about nature and climate in Australia

To get a deeper understanding of the nature of this unusual continent, we bring to your attention 8 amazing facts about Australia:

• The air on the island of Tasmania is recognized as the cleanest in the world;
• In the south of Australia there is a farm exceeding the area of Belgium;
• Australians are very fond of kangaroo meat, dishes from it are present in the menu of almost every local restaurant;
• It is in Australia that the coastal taipen lives - the most poisonous snake on the planet;
• The largest coral reef of the planet is along the shores of Australia;
• In Australia is the longest wall in the world (5600 km), protecting the lands of Queensland from raids of wild dingoes ;
• Snow in the Australian Alps more than in the whole of Switzerland;
• Despite the hot climate, in Australia the warm ugg boots are very popular; Australians wear them in their homes, which are poorly protected from cold weather (under the cold here is meant a decrease in air temperature to +15 ... +20 degrees).

This is Australia! Unusual, interesting and very contrasting.