Australia

American  

[aw-streyl-yuh] / ɔˈstreɪl yə /

noun

1. a continent southeast of Asia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. 2,948,366 square miles (7,636,270 square kilometers).

2. Commonwealth of Australia, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, consisting of the federated states and territories of Australia and Tasmania. 2,974,581 square miles (7,704,165 square kilometers). Canberra.

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Australia British  

/ ɒˈstreɪlɪə /

noun

1. a country and the smallest continent, situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific: a former British colony, now an independent member of the Commonwealth, constitutional links with Britain formally abolished in 1986; consists chiefly of a low plateau, mostly arid in the west, with the basin of the Murray River and the Great Dividing Range in the east and the Great Barrier Reef off the NE coast. Official language: English. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: dollar. Capital: Canberra. Pop: 23 029 674 (2013 est). Area: 7 682 300 sq km (2 966 150 sq miles)

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Australia Cultural  

1. Nation occupying the whole of Australia, the smallest continent, between the Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney.

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Discover More

The first settlements there were penal colonies for British convicts.

Its aboriginal tribes, which still exist today (see aborigines), are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia twenty thousand years ago.

Compare meaning

How does australia compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Oceania vs. Australia

Example Sentences

In December, Australia became the first country in the world to require TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and other top sites to remove accounts held by under-16s or face heavy fines.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

“Sigma continuously reviews opportunities that would create value for shareholders and has engaged in preliminary discussions in relation to the sale process,” the pharmacy group said in an Australia stock-exchange filing Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Mexico is unbeaten in eight games this year, including wins over World Cup qualifiers Panama, Ghana and Australia and draws with Belgium and Portugal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

La Niña typically brings wetter conditions to parts of Australia, Indonesia and equatorial South America, and drier conditions to the southern US.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

We had a collection of pressed flowers and many shells, not only the local kinds from the Bournemouth beach but exotic ones collected by my adventurous great-grandfather during his travels to Australia and such places.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall