What are Australian features?

Australia's defining geographic features include the Great Dividing Range, the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback deserts, the Murray-Darling Basin, the Australian Alps, the Top End wetlands, the Wet Tropics rainforests, the Tasmanian wilderness, and an extraordinarily long and varied coastline. Together they make Australia one of the most biologically and geographically diverse countries in the world.

Many of these features are recognised internationally. Australia has 20 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including 12 listed for natural values: the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, the Wet Tropics, the Tasmanian Wilderness, Lord Howe Island, Shark Bay, Fraser Island (K'gari), Macquarie Island, the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh and Naracoorte, Heard and McDonald Islands, the Greater Blue Mountains, Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles), Ningaloo Coast, and the Gondwana Rainforests.

The continent's geography is the result of a long history of geological stability. Much of Australia is built on Precambrian shield rocks more than two billion years old, making it the flattest and one of the oldest continents on Earth. Erosion has reduced once-Himalayan-scale mountains to rolling country, and the lack of recent volcanic or tectonic activity means Australia has very few earthquakes by global standards.

Climate adds another layer of variety. Australia includes equatorial rainforests in the Daintree, monsoon savannas in the Top End, deserts in the centre, Mediterranean climate in Perth and Adelaide, temperate forests in south-east, alpine snow country in the Snowy Mountains, and cool temperate rainforest in Tasmania. Few countries pack such a wide range of climates into one national territory. The result is a continent of remarkable contrasts that shape settlement, economy, and identity.