Australia is the sixth-largest country by land area.

It is comparable in size to the 48

contiguous United States. Australia is bordered to the west by the Indian Ocean, and to the
east by the South Pacific Ocean. The Tasman Sea lies to the southeast, separating it
from New Zealand, while the Coral Sea lies to the northeast. Papua New Guinea, East
Timor and Indonesia are Australia's northern neighbours, separated from Australia by the
Arafura Sea and the Timor Sea.
Australia is highly urbanised with most of the population heavily concentrated along the
eastern and south-eastern coasts. Most of the inland areas of the country are semi-arid.
The most-populous states are Victoria and New South Wales, but by far the largest in land
area is Western Australia.
Australia has an area of 7,682,300km (2,966,152 square miles) and the distances between
cities and towns are easy to underestimate. The Government has published a National
Public Toilet Map.
Australia has large areas that have been deforested for agricultural purposes, but many
native forest areas survive in extensive national parks and other undeveloped areas. Long-
term Australian concerns include salinity, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and management
and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef.