DK People & Places: Australasia & Oceania
The sparsely populated continent of Australasia is made up of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and several nearby islands. It is the world’s smallest continent, but includes a range of landscapes from tropical rainforest and arid desert, to volcanoes and dry grasslands. Oceania consists of about 25,000 volcanic or coral tropical islands, scattered over a vast area of the Pacific Ocean. The islands are divided into three groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Some of the islands are mountainous and densely forested, and many are uninhabited.
Total land area: 3,285,048 sq miles (8,508,238 sq km)
Total population: 30.4 million
Number of countries: 14
Largest country: Australia 2,967,892 sq miles (7,686,850 sq km)
Smallest country: Nauru 8 sq miles (21 sq km)
Largest country population: Australia 19.5 million
Largest lake: Lake Eyre, Australia 3,700 sq miles (9,583 sq km)
Longest river: Murray-Darling, Australia 2,330 miles (3,750 km)
Highest point: Mt. Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea 14,794 ft (4,509 m)
Major desert: Great Victoria Desert, Australia
Largest coral reef: Great Barrier Reef, Australia 1,242 miles (2,000 km)
