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

AUSTRALIA, Kashima: The Australians advanced to the knockout round as one of the top third-place teams after the group stage.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 29, 2021

AUSTRALIA: Australia banned Huawei from supplying equipment for a 5Gmobile network in 2018.

From Reuters • Jul. 14, 2020

AUSTRALIA: All major cities imposed limits or bans on watering lawns and washing cars, and inspectors fined rule-breakers.

From Washington Times • May 25, 2015

AUSTRALIA: Marcus says California should follow Australia’s example in measuring and publicly declaring how water is used.

From Washington Times • May 25, 2015

AUSTRALIA, no generally useful plants derived from. -useful plants of, enumerated by Hooker.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles