Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia ,is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 millionis highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.Australia's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century, who named it New Holland . In 1770, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled ...