Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guineato the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
Australia’s landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the “island continent” , and is sometimes considered the world’s largest island. Australia has 34,218 kilometres of coastline (excluding all offshore islands), and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres. This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory. Excluding Macquarie Island.