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Updated: 11 March 2004
Islands
Being surrounded by ocean, Australia is often referred to as an island continent. As a continental landmass, it is immensely larger than the many thousands of small fringing islands and numerous larger ones, ranging in size from small rocks which are not covered by water at high tide, to some over twice the size of the Australian Capital Territory. The World's largest sand island is Fraser Island.
Australia has several islands larger than 1000 square kilometres:
Largest Islands
| STATE/TERRITORY |
NAME |
AREA (km2) |
| Northern Territory |
Melville |
5 786 |
| South Australia |
Kangaroo |
4 416 |
| Northern Territory |
Groote Eylandt |
2 285 |
| Northern Territory |
Bathurst |
1 693 |
| Queensland |
Fraser |
1 653 |
| Tasmania |
Flinders |
1 359 |
| Tasmania |
King |
1 091 |
| Queensland |
Mornington |
1 002 |
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Number of Islands by State/Territory
| STATE/TERRITORY |
NUMBER OF ISLANDS |
| Western Australia |
3 747 |
| Queensland |
1 955 |
| Tasmania |
1 000 |
| Northern Territory |
887 |
| South Australia |
346 |
| Victoria |
184 |
| New South Wales |
102 |
| Jervis Bay Territory |
1 |
| Australian Capital Territory |
- |
| TOTAL |
8 222 |
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Fraser Island
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Located just off the coast of southern Queensland, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world (165,280 ha), stretching over 123km in length and reaching 25km at its widest point. Great Sandy National Park (52,400 ha) lies on the northern half of the island. The island displays vastly different landscapes, ranging from freshwater lakes to sand dunes, wetlands, to crystal clear lakes and rainforests.
Fraser Island is also famous for its coloured sands. These sands have been stained from thousands of years of decayed vegetation leaching down onto the sand, with desposits aging up to eight million years old. On the eastern beach, there is an excellent example of this process, called The Cathedrals. In the 1970s, there were major battles fought against the prospect of sand-mining on Fraser Island. The result was a Federal government ban on this type of mining on the island. Today, Fraser Island has a World Heritage listing due to its uniqueness.
More information on Fraser Island
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Macquarie Island
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In contrast with Fraser Island, Macquarie Island is one of Australia's most distant possessions. Located in the Southern Ocean at a Latitude of 54°30' South, longitude 158°57' East, Macquarie Island is actually 200km closer to the Antarctic continent than its parent state of Tasmania, which lies 1500 kilometres north-west. Measuring an area of 128 square kilometers, Macquarie Island is 34 kilometers long by just 5 kilometers at its widest point.
In 1996 Macquarie Island was nominated by the Australian Government for inscription on the World Heritage Register, mainly for its unique geological features. The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is the only place on earth where rocks from the earth's mantle (6km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks.
For over 50 years, Australia has operated a research and Antarctic support station at the northern end of the island. The station (built in 1948) is home to over 40 people over the summer and around 20 through winter.
More information on Macquarie Island
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