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

“I said ‘this might be the biggest appointment in my entire career, in Australia in front of 75,000 fans.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026

Specialist divers from other countries including Thailand, Indonesia, France and Australia are also helping the searches.

From BBC • May 31, 2026

"But in Western Australia, they're talking about thousands and thousands of mice per hectare," says Henry, mainly through the northern and southern cropping zones.

From BBC • May 30, 2026

Hegseth also praised the spending policies of other countries including Australia, the Philippines and Japan.

From Barron's • May 30, 2026

All the settlers of Australia had at their disposal was Stone Age technology.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari