A land of wide-open spaces, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world.
1. There is evidence that the Aboriginal people were living in the Australian Alps region during the last ice age 21,000 years ago
The Alps region spans 5 million hectares and is home to more than 40 species of native mammals, 200 bird species, and 30 reptile species.
2. The Flinders Ranges is home to the small Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby which is only 60cm high and weighs 12kg
The Wallaby was almost pushed to extinction but through the National Parks conservation program is now recovering.
3. The Green Cauldron was a volcano which erupted more than 20 million years ago
It is now covered in the Gondwanan rainforest. Mount Warning is known by Aboriginal people as Wollumbin which means cloud catcher.
4. The Bungle Bungle Range is thought to have got its name by the mispelling of a type of grass found in the area called ‘bundle bundle’
The sandstone landscape has the appearance of giant, bell-shaped towers and was formed more than 350 million years ago. So remote are the Bungle Bungles that they were only discovered by non-indigenous Australians in the 1980s.
5. The red colour of the soil from Australia’s Red Centre is caused by iron oxide
Uluru is made up of sedimentary arkosic sandstone and is renowned for the way it changes colour in the light. This makes it particularly spectacular at sunrise and sunset.
6. The Great Ocean Road covers 243 km from Geelong to Portland
It is recognised as the world's largest war memorial and is dotted with numerous structures that honour the memory of those who lost their lives fighting in the First World.
7. Around two-thirds of Australians live in our capital cities
The oldest and largest city is Sydney, with a population of about 4 million people. Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest city and was once the national capital.
8. The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organic collective visible from Earth's orbit
The Great Barrier Reef system consists of more than 3000 reefs which range in size from one hectare to over 10,000 hectares in area.