澳大利亚联邦（通称澳洲），是全球面积第6大的国家、大洋洲最大的国家。其国境东南临近新西兰，西北临近印度尼西亚，北边靠近巴布亚新 几内亚、西巴布亚及东帝汶。
澳大利亚一词源于拉丁语，意思为“南方未知大陆”。其所在的地理学未知通常称为澳洲大陆，是地球上最小的大陆 板块。澳洲人平均拥有国土面积乃世界最广阔的国家之一，经济成就亦属世界高度发达国家。澳大利亚人均国民生产总值排名世界第6，是2000万人口以上的国 家中最高的，经济的主要重点是高效率的能源和畜牧业。
澳洲有多样的自然景观，包括热带雨林，别称为“红色中心”的沙漠，吸引很多游客的海滨及驰名遐迩的自然遗产大堡礁及乌鲁汝。在每年世界最佳居住城市评选中，澳洲名列前茅的城市树木在全球国家之先。于2010年，获得全球人类发展指数第2的排名。澳大利亚人均寿命排名世界第3，仅次于香港及日本。
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system which functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The federation comprises six states and several territories. The population of 22.7 million is heavily concentrated in the Eastern states and is highly urbanised.
A highly developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the world's sixth-highest per capita income. Australia's military expenditure is the world's twelfth largest. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the G20, OECD, WTO, APEC, UN, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, and the Pacific Islands Forum.
Cited from: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia