Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania and a number of other islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.

Australia is the only country that has a whole continent to itself. World famous for its natural wonders and wide open spaces (beaches, deserts and "the bush" or "the Outback"), Australia is ironically one of the world's most highly urbanised countries and is well known for the cosmopolitan attractions of its globally significant cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and the Australian capital city Canberra. Australia is also a major tourist destination, and is one of the world's wealthiest countries. The country is renowned worldwide for its vast, untouched landscape and its unique culture. It is also the home country of the very famous rock band "AC/DC".

The major cities of Australia are: Sydney, the country’s first and largest city; Melbourne, second largest city and its culinary, sporting and cultural capital; Brisbane, sun-drenched capital of Queensland; Canberra, the national capital; Adelaide, the City of Churches; Perth, the most remote continental capital city; Hobart, small but fascinating capital of Tasmania; and Darwin, Australia’s smalles and northernmost capital.

Although the modern culture of Australia largely reflects its British origins, Australia is an incredibly multicultural nation, its citizens' families originating in seemingly every country of the world, and practising almost every religion and lifestyle. Over one-third of Australians were born to immigrant parents, and there are approximately half a million Australians of Aboriginal descent.

Approximately half of all international travellers arrive first in Australia in Sydney, the largest city, via Kingsford-Smith International Airport. After Sydney, significant numbers of travellers also arrive first in Australia in Melbourne (Tullamarine Airport), Brisbane and Perth. Much smaller numbers arrive at international airports in Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin, the Gold Coast (Coolangatta), Norfolk Island, Newcastle and Broome. The country’s national carrier is Qantas.

Australian currency is known as the dollar, and the currency symbol is $ or AUD. The smallest unit of currency that prices will be quoted in is the cent, which is worth $0.01. The coin denominations are: 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2. The note denominations are $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100.