Austral asia

a division of the —, usually regarded as comprehending the islands of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the New He brides, the Solomon Islands, New Ireland, New Britain, the Ad- — Islands, New Guinea, and the ‘Arru Islands, besides numerous other islands and island groups; area, 3,259,- 199 square miles, pop. about five millions. It forms one of three porlens into which some geographers have divided Ocean i a, the other two being Malaysia and Polynesia. Australia (older name, New Holland); the largest island in the world, a sea-girt continent, lying between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 8S. E. of Asia; between lat. 10° B.; greatest length, from W. to B., 2,400 miles; greatest breadth from N. to §S., 1,700 to 1,900 miles. It is separated from New Guinea on the N. by Torres Strait, from Tasmania on the 8S. by Ba Strait. It is divided into two unequal parts by the Tropic of Capricorn, and is occupied by what are known as the original states of the Commonwealth of Australia. __The area and the population (exclusive’ of aborigines) of the different States composing the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 were as follows: Original States. | sa". | Pop. New South Wales.....+.e« 10, Victoria.ccccccsescccsees- 3 a 502,892 outh Australia.....e-seres pony 4 354,008 Western Australia..secees 975,920 cape TASMANiti.e. cecccestwocees 215 372,000 Total.. cesrcncavovseves 2,972,573| 3,773,370 Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, are the chief towns. Australia is a region containing a vast quantity of mineral wealth, Foremost come its rich and extensive deposits of gold, which, since the precious metal was first discovered, in 1851, have produced a total of more than $1,350,000,000. The 7 ay has_ been obtained in Victoria, but New South Wales and Queensland have also yielded a considerable amount. Probably there are rich stores of gold as yet undiscovered.