Australia. Commonwealth of Australia Flag Coat of arms Anthem:Advance Australia Fair[N 1] Capital

Commonwealth of Australia
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: " Advance Australia Fair" [N 1]
Capital	Canberra
Largest city	Sydney
Official language(s)	None[N 2]
National language	English (de facto)[N 2]
Demonym	Australian, Aussie[3][4]
Government	Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	Governor-General	Quentin Bryce
-	Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Legislature	Parliament
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence	from the United Kingdom
-	Constitution	1 January 1901
-	Statute of Westminster	11 December 1931
-	Statute of Westminster Adoption Act	9 October 1942 (with effect from 3 September 1939)
-	Australia Act	3 March 1986
Area
-	Total	7, 617, 930 km2 (6th) 2, 941, 299 sq mi
Population
-	2012 estimate	22, 880, 716[5] (52nd)
-	2006 census	19, 855, 288[6]
-	Density	2.8/km2 (233rd) 7.3/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2011 estimate
-	Total	$918.978 billion[7] (18th)
-	Per capita	$40, 836[7] (12th)
GDP (nominal)	2011 estimate
-	Total	$1.507 trillion[7] (13th)
-	Per capita	$66, 984[7] (5th)
Gini (2006)	30.5[8] (medium)
HDI (2011)	0.929[9] (very high) (2nd)
Currency	Australian dollar (AUD)
Time zone	various[N 3] (UTC+8 to +10.5)
-	Summer (DST)	various[N 3] (UTC+8 to +11.5)
Drives on the	left
ISO 3166 code	AU
Internet TLD	.au
Calling code	+61

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.^{[N 4]} It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.