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Australia has a wide variety of climates due to its large geographical size. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varying between grasslands and desert. Australia holds many ...
By far the largest part of Australia is arid or semi-arid. A total of 18% of Australia's mainland consists of named deserts, [20] while additional areas are considered to have a desert climate based on low rainfall and high temperature. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil.
Subtropical highland climates with uniform rainfall (Cfb) are a type of oceanic climate mainly found in the highlands of Australia, such as in or around the Great Dividing Range in the north of the state of New South Wales, and also sparsely in other continents, such as in South America, among others.
Australia's size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre. [174] The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. [ 175 ]
On Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia is an area of two square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) called the Little Sahara, a formation of several sand dunes on its south coast. In Victoria, about 375 km (235 mi) west of Melbourne, there is still the Little Desert National Park .
Mainland Australia showing the continental Sahul Shelf (light blue) extending to the islands of New Guinea in the north, the island of Timor in the northwest, and Tasmania in the south. The continent of Australia is sometimes known by the names Sahul, Australinea, or Meganesia to differentiate it from the country of Australia, and consists of ...
The border between North America and South America is at some point on the Darién Mountains watershed that divides along the Colombia–Panama border where the isthmus meets the South American continent (see Darién Gap). Virtually all atlases list Panama as a state falling entirely within North America and/or Central America. [116] [117]
The Murray-Darling river, Australia's largest river by capacity, supplies 55% of the total water usage in Australia, and is primarily used for agriculture in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. [12] Other prominent water sources have included groundwater, desalinated marine water, and recycled water. [13]