Fact file
• With an area of just over 7.5 million square kilometres, Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world.
• Australia’s population is estimated at just over 22 million, of whom some 85 percent live in urban areas. About 92 percent are of European origin, two percent Aboriginal, and around six percent Asian and Middle Eastern.
• Much of Australia is arid and flat. One-third is desert and another third steppe or semi-desert. Only six percent of the country rises above 600m in elevation, and its tallest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, is just 2228m high.
• Australia’s main exports are minerals, metals, fossil fuels, cotton, wool, wine and beef, and its most important trading partners are Japan, China and the USA.
• At 5614km the dingo fence is the longest in the world, stretching from Jimbour to the cliffs of the Nullarbor Plain. It’s around twice the length of the Great Wall of China.
• Australia ranks proudly ranks second in the Human Development Index, which measures a country’s progress by its life expectancy, education and income. Norway comes first.
• Around 22 percent of Australians are descended from convicts.
Essentials
Everything you need to know before you set off.
Book through Rough Guides’ trusted travel partners
Planning your trip to Australia
Everything you need to plan where to go and what to do.
Book Your Trip To Australia
Get your dream travel planned & booked by local travel experts
At Rough Guides, we understand that experienced travellers want to get truly off-the-beaten-track. That’s why we’ve partnered with local experts to help you plan and book tailor-made trips that are packed with personality and stimulating adventure - at all levels of comfort. If you love planning, but find arranging the logistics exhausting, you’re in the right place.
Australia features
The latest articles, galleries, quizzes and videos.

Exploring Australia's rainforests
Australia has it all covered: the big blue Great Barrier Reef, the Red Centre, white and golden beaches, but often visitors miss out on a huge part of the coun…

Road trip Australia: the remote Silo Art Trail
Australia's largest open-air art gallery is so vast that you'll need a car and a map to explore it. Deep in Victoria's farming country, the Silo Art Trail cons…

A Rough Guide to: visiting Australia's Great Barrier Reef
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s most incredible natural wonders – it’s the largest structure ever built by living things and is vi…