Australia

American  

[aw-strayl-yuh] / ɔˈstreɪl jə /

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

See Examples For:

Australia

South Australia decided to go it alone and pursued its own deal.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently said that an OpenAI agent had infiltrated a government-services website in Australia this summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Members of this group occupied regions including India, Africa, Europe, South America, and Australia.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

England white-ball coach Brendon McCullum had previously confirmed he wanted a strong team for the ODI leg of the trip to Australia in the build-up to the World Cup in southern Africa next year.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Parkinson was hauled before the Privy Council for questioning and came within an ace of being dispatched in irons to Australia before the charges against him were quietly dropped.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson