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Australia is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth [8] and it has had a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as the tectonic uplift of mountain ranges and clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia's early prehistory, when it was still a part of Gondwana .
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, [17] is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. [18] It has a total area of 7,688,287 km 2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania .
This outline of Australia is an overview of and topical guide to various aspects of the country of Australia: Australia refers to both the continent of Australia and to the Commonwealth of Australia , the sovereign country .
It runs roughly parallel to the east coast of Australia and forms the fifth-longest land-based mountain chain in the world, and the longest entirely within a single country. It is mainland Australia's most substantial topographic feature and serves as the definitive watershed for the river systems in eastern Australia, hence the name.
Australia argued successfully against a Japanese proposal for a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant, as Hughes feared that it would jeopardise the White Australia policy. [297] As a signatory to the Treaty of Versailles and a full member of the League of Nations, Australia took an important step towards international ...
Unlike the high mountain ranges found in places like the Rockies (highest peak 4,401 m (14,439 ft)), the European Alps (highest peak 4,808 m (15,774 ft)) or the Himalayas (highest peak 8,848 m (29,029 ft)), the Australian Alps were not formed by two continental plates colliding and pushing up the Earth's rocky mantle to form jagged, rocky peaks.
The League of Nations mandated northeast New Guinea to Australia after World War I, as well as Nauru, which was placed under joint Australian-British-New Zealand jurisdiction. These mandates (and, later, United Nations trust territories) became the independent nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea in the mid-20th century.
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. [1] [2] Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world.