1309.0 - Australia at a Glance, 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/02/2008   
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Image: Environment - Includes: Climate

ENVIRONMENT




Australia comprises a land area of almost 7.7 million square kilometres. This land area is almost as great as that of the United States of America (excluding Alaska), about 50% greater than Europe (excluding the former USSR), and 32 times greater than the United Kingdom. The longest river is the Murray River (2,520 kilometres), which forms a natural border between New South Wales and Victoria. The highest mountain is Mt Kosciuszko, (2,228 metres) which is situated in New South Wales.


Image: Map of Australia




CLIMATE
Mean daily temperature
Mean annual rainfall
January
July
mm
Max °C
Min °C
Max °C
Min °C
Sydney
1,276.5
26.1
19.4
17.2
8.6
Melbourne
654.4
25.8
15.4
13.9
6.8
Brisbane
1,194.0
29.2
21.2
20.6
9.5
Adelaide
563.0
28.7
16.8
15.2
7.4
Perth
745.3
31.9
17.2
17.9
8.4
Hobart
576.4
21.8
12.5
12.2
4.7
Darwin
1,847.1
31.8
24.8
30.7
19.4
Canberra
630.0
27.7
13.3
11.5
-0.1
Averages are for the period (1971-2000) except for Adelaide (1977-2000).
Source: Bureau of Meteorology.