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The Commonwealth
of Australia is made up of six states. Five
are on the mainland-New South Wales, Victoria,
Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. The sixth is the
island state of Tasmania. There are also two territories
on the mainland. In the north is the large Northern Territory. In
the southeast is the small Australian Capital
Territory, which includes Canberra, the federal
capital.
Australia is the world’s largest
island and its smallest continent. Its total area of 7,686,900 square
kilometers is about the same as that of the continental united states
(excluding Alaska). Australia’s major landforms
are low plateaus and broad, level plains. Unlike Europe, Asia, or
the Americas, Australia has no very high mountains or deep valleys.
The three natural regions extend as broad
bands from north to south across the  continent.
These are the eastern highlands, the central lowland, and the western
plateau.The vast island on which the Australians live extends more
than 3.200kilometers from north to south and about 3,800 kilometers
from east to west. Asia is the continent nearest to Australia, and
the numerous islands of Indonesia form stepping-stones
between the two continents.To the west of Australia stretches
the vast Indian ocean.The icy shores of Antarctica
lie to the south, new Zealand lies
to the east.
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commonwealth