Aboriginal Australians The descendants of people who arrived in Australia from Asia between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Canberra The capital of Australia, with a population of 466,566. It lies in a territory separate from the surrounding state of New South Wales, called the Australian Capital Territory.

Cape York Peninsula The northernmost point of Australia.

Eyre, Lake The lowest point in Australia, lying about 16 metres (53 feet) below sea level. It is usually dry but may flood in heavy rain.

Great Barrier Reef The longest coral reef in the world, stretching 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) along the northeast coast of Australia.

Great Dividing Range The third longest mountain range in the world, running 3500 kilometres (2100 miles) along the east coast of Australia.

Maori Descendants of a people from eastern Polynesia who settled in New Zealand in around 1250 AD.

Melanesia A region of Oceania northeast of Australia. Melanesia consists of New Guinea (divided into the country of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua), the Bismark Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.

Micronesia The northwest region of Oceania. Micronesia includes the Gilbert, Mariana, Marshall and Caroline Islands as well as Banaba, Naoero (Nauru) and Wake Island.

Polynesia The easternmost region of Oceania. Polynesia contains over 1000 islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, including the Cook Islands, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Samoa and Hawaii.

Sydney The largest city in Australia, on the southeast coast around a natural harbour. Sydney has a population of around 5.4 million.

Tasmania Tasmania is an island state of Australia, separated from its southeastern coast by the Bass Strait. Much of the island is still covered by temperate rainforest. Isolated from the rest of the world, Tasmania is known for its unique plants and animals, such as the Tasmanian devil.

Uluru A large rock formation in central Australia. Uluru, once known as Ayers Rock, is a sacred place to Australia’s Aboriginal Australians.

Consultant: Lloyd Jenkins