Continents
Australia
Also Known As New Holland Historical name only: applied by Dutch cartographers from 1644, used on most European maps into the early 19th century, and effectively out of use by the 1850s after Matthew Flinders' proposal of Australia was adopted (Admiralty, 1824). Not a name in current use.
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The smallest of the seven continents and the only one occupied by a single nation, lying entirely within the Southern Hemisphere between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its interior is dominated by arid and semi-arid terrain known collectively as the outback, ringed by a narrower band of fertile coastal land where most of the population lives.
Facts
Area (sq km)Country-level figure (this atlas's convention for the continent of Australia excludes New Guinea; see open question is-australia-alone-or-oceania-the-seventh-continent). The Sahul-inclusive figure on the australia-continent-wikipedia page (8,600,000 km2) is a different, wider definition. PopulationDecember 2025 estimate, country-level figure (see area-sq-km note on this atlas's continent convention). Highest PointThe highest point of the Australian mainland under the Bass list convention. Reinhold Messner's rival list instead names Puncak Jaya in New Guinea (4,884 m) as Australia/Oceania's representative summit; see the recorded dissent on this fact. Highest Elevation (m) Lowest Point Country CountCounts the continent's own resident sovereign state, Australia, only. When Oceania rather than the Australian mainland is treated as the seventh continent, the region covers many more sovereign Pacific island states; see the recorded open question on this entity. Tectonic Plate Context Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Antarctica, Continents Australia and Antarctica were joined within the supercontinent Gondwana. Rifting between them began around 85 million years ago and progressed from west to east; the two continents finally separated south of Tasmania by about 45 million years ago, opening the Tasman Seaway between them.
This source names both oceans directly: Australia lies between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
This source names Australia directly: "Ocean, and bounded by Asia and Australia to the west and the Americas to the east."
This source names both oceans directly: Australia lies between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Demonstrates
Home To
Melanesia, Regions Modelled on the atlas's own live convention for Oceania (on-continent Australia), the same convention this entity's continent-level parent region already uses.
Queensland's own infobox names Australia as its country (checked live this session); Australia is on-continent Australia (its own live edge, content.EntityRelationship, checked this session), so Queensland is on-continent Australia.
Western Australia's own infobox names Australia as its country (checked live this session); Australia is on-continent Australia (its own live edge, content.EntityRelationship, checked this session), so Western Australia is on-continent Australia.
Sources
1. Australia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, land area sentenceQuote, Lead paragraph, land area sentence
It has a land area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world
1. Australia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, Population (December 2025 estimate)Quote, Infobox, Population (December 2025 estimate)
27,801,023 (2025 (December) estimate)
1. Australia (Wikipedia)
2. Seven Summits (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationBass list descriptionQuote, Bass list description
the highest mountain of mainland Australia, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft)
3. Lake Eyre (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
the lowest natural point in Australia, at approximately 15 m (49 ft) below sea level
4. Australia (continent) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationopening paragraph, continent size rankingQuote, opening paragraph, continent size ranking
Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents.
4. Australia (continent) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGeography section, plate descriptionQuote, Geography section, plate description
The continent primarily sits on the Indo-Australian Plate.
4. Australia (continent) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, continent overviewQuote, Introduction, continent overview
The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts as Sahul, Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, or Meganesia, to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and Eastern hemispheres.
4. Australia (continent) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, seven-continent classificationQuote, Lead paragraph, seven-continent classification
Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents.
4. Australia (continent) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Oceania, Introduction sectionQuote, Associated With: Oceania, Introduction section
Situated in the geographical region of Oceania, more specifically in the subregion of Australasia, Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Home To: Uluru, Uluru/Ayers RockView the Source The World Factbook
The World Factbook
National Geographic Atlas of the World
National Geographic Society, 2019World continents area table
Dutch Australian Cultural Centre
Dutch Australian Cultural CentreNew Holland to Australia: The Name ChangeQuote, New Holland to Australia: The Name Change
The name New Holland (Hollandia Novae) appeared on maps depicting the continent of Australia after the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman charted the west coast of the continent in 1644. The name Australia gradually replaced New Holland in official and popular usage and had totally disappeared by the 1850s.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationHome To: The Great Barrier ReefView the Source United States Geological Survey
Micronesia (Wikipedia)
Geography of Australia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Pacific Ocean, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: The Pacific Ocean, Lead section
Located in the Southern Hemisphere between the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia's jurisdiction spreads across thousands of kilometres beyond the main landmass
Geography of Australia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Indian Ocean, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: The Indian Ocean, Lead section
Located in the Southern Hemisphere between the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia's jurisdiction spreads across thousands of kilometres beyond the main landmass
El Nino-Southern Oscillation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationDemonstrates: El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Australia sectionQuote, Demonstrates: El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Australia section
During El Nino events, the shift in rainfall away from the Western Pacific may mean that rainfall across Australia is reduced.
Open Questions (2 open questions)
Is Australia alone, or the wider region of Oceania, the seventh continent?
Geographers use the term Oceania for a region that includes the continent of Australia together with most of the Pacific island countries and territories, and the seven-continent model's own seventh slot is written by some sources as "Australia/Oceania", treating the two labels as interchangeable. Continents themselves are identified by convention rather than by any strict criterion, so whether the seventh continent is the single-nation Australian landmass or the wider multi-nation Oceania region is a live difference in convention, not a factual dispute with a settled answer.
What would resolve this A single, universally adopted convention for what counts as a continent, which does not currently exist; different countries' school curricula and different atlases already choose differently (a six-continent "Australia/Oceania" model is taught in parts of Europe, a seven-continent model naming Australia alone elsewhere).
Continent (Wikipedia)
Is Zealandia, the largely submerged landmass in the southwest Pacific, an eighth continent?
In 2017 a team of eleven geologists from New Zealand, New Caledonia and Australia concluded that Zealandia, a roughly 4.9 million square kilometre mass of continental crust of which about 94 percent lies underwater, meets every geological criterion for a continent, a case geologist Nick Mortimer argued would have been settled long ago if the crust were not submerged. The idea was first proposed by Bruce Luyendyk in 1995. It has been described variously as a submerged continent, a continental fragment and a microcontinent, and has not been adopted as a standard eighth continent in the conventional lists this atlas otherwise follows.
What would resolve this A shift in the standard continent count that the world's atlases, geography curricula and geological bodies converge on adopting; the underlying geology is not seriously disputed, only whether the classification "continent" is extended to a landmass this submerged.
Zealandia (Wikipedia)
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Highest Point
Messner's own list of the Seven Summits replaces Mount Kosciuszko, the highest point of the Australian mainland alone, with Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) in New Guinea at 4,884 m, arguing that the Australian continent is properly understood to include New Guinea, which shares the same Sahul continental shelf. Kosciuszko remains the standard Bass-list answer and the figure this entity records as its primary highest-point fact; Messner's reading is a real, named rival position, not an error.
A dissenting reading, from Reinhold MessnerSeven Summits (Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the smallest continent?
Australia, the smallest of the seven traditional continents.
Australia is the smallest of the seven traditional continents and the only one occupied by a single sovereign nation. Its area of roughly 7.69 million square kilometres is smaller than every other continent, including Europe. When the wider region of Oceania is treated as the seventh continent instead of the Australian mainland alone, a different and much larger area is being measured; see the open question recorded on this entity.
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