There are seven continents on Earth, the largest of which is Asia, and the smallest is Oceania, which is only one-fifth the size of Asia. Oceania covers an area of 8.97 million square kilometers, and Australia alone accounts for 7.69 million square kilometers, but it is the smallest continent in the world.
Australia's name is closely related to its geographical location and history, and is first derived from the Latin word "terra australis incognita", which means "unknown southern continent". Long before European navigators explored the New World, it was widely believed that the world's poles must have continents in equilibrium with each other in order to maintain the balance of the earth, so this unknown continent was conceived in the southern hemisphere.
Although this theory was later proved to be wrong, the concept of the "southern continent" has persisted. It wasn't until the 18th century that the Dutch and European explorers began to explore and map Australia, and they called the continent "New Holland".
In 1824, when Australia became a British colony, the British explorer Matthew Flinders proposed the use of australia (Latin for "Australian") in his writings"Southern"His suggestion was supported by the British admiral and geographer Sir Alexander Dalrymple, and the name was eventually adopted. With the advent of the era of immigrants and the development of the economy, the British thought that the pronunciation of Australia was difficult for people to remember, so they began to use "Australia" as the abbreviation of Australia. (The Australian continent is referred to as Australia hereinafter).
The Australian continent is the smallest continent in the world, with an area of 7.69 million square kilometers, slightly smaller than the United States, China and Brazil. It is about 2.66 million square kilometers smaller than the second smallest continent of Europe (1,035 square kilometers) and about 6.56 million square kilometers smaller than the third smallest continent of Antarctica (1,425 square kilometers). In terms of population, the Australian continent is not the smallest continent, after all, the Antarctic continent has no permanent population, and there are more than 4,000 scientific researchers every summer, and only more than 1,000 people are left in winter.
Surrounded by the ocean, the Australian continent is essentially a large island, and because of its sits on the Australian plate, its large size and unique geological history, and the fact that the international community generally considers the largest island in the world to be Greenland (2.17 million square kilometers), Australia is also known as the mainland. Australia is also the world's largest country with no land borders, the sixth largest country in the world, and the largest country in the southern hemisphere.
The Australian continent is a relatively arid and barren region among the seven continents, and in this vast land, there are many unique and dangerous plants and animals, in this regard, the Australian continent is second only to the Amazon rainforest in South America. Although the ecosystem is very special, it is also home to many amazing flora and fauna.
According to the United Nations, Oceania is a region consisting of Pacific islands, including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji Islands, a total of 14 countries, excluding Indonesia's New Guinea and the Malay Islands. In addition, some people will refer to the Australian and New Zealand combination as Australasia.
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