Australia

Largest island or smallest continent on the globe, between s. Pacific and Indian Oceans; length from e. to w. ab. 2,500 miles, breadth ab. 2,000; area ab. 2,947,117 sq. m. Its surface is that of a low plateau, elevated but a few hundred feet above the sea. It is level or rolling, and broken here and there by ranges of hills. On the e. and w. the borders of the plateau are outlined by mountain ranges. Its average elevation is ab. 800 feet. The highest summit of the Australian Alps, in the s. e., is Mt. Kosciusko, 7,176 ft. On the e. coast the rainfall is sufficient for agriculture, but in the interior it is much le , and a large part is a desert, as yet imperfectly explored. It has few rivers of importance. The inhabited parts are mainly on and near the s. and e. coasts. A. was visited or mentioned by the French, Dutch, and Spaniards 1542-1616, seen by Dampier 1688, and for a time called New Holland. Capt. Cook explored the e. coast 1770. The penal settlement of Botany Bay was made 1787-88 in New South Wales. Of the other colonies, Western A. was set off 1829, South A. 1834, Victoria (s.e.) 1859, and Queensland (n.e.) 1859. Each of these has its parliament, with a governor appointed by the queen; a scheme of confederation is in progre . Gold was discovered Feb. 1851, 20 m. n. of Bathurst, New S. Wales, and soon after at Ballarat, 80 m. w. of Melbourne, causing a vast influx of miners and adventurers from Europe, America, and China. Of late years labor troubles have been rife. Pop., 1891, 3,173,000, chiefly in Victoria and New S. Wales; Western A., with over a third of the territory, had but 46,290. Ab. 30,000 natives remain.