Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
A tiny, hilly wedge on the French Mediterranean coast, this principality is about the size of New York's
Central Park. It is the second smallest independent state in the world after the Vatican City.
San Marino
A landlocked enclave within the mountains of central Italy, this is the world's smallest republic with an
area of 24 square miles (61 square km), one tenth the size of New York City. Founded by a Christian saint
in the fourth century as a refuge against religious persecution, it is also the world's oldest republic.
Vatican City
The sovereign papal state located within Rome, Italy, Vatican City is the world's smallest nation.
What About Greenland and Cyprus?
Greenland, the world's largest island (if you don't count Australia), is an autonomous region of Denmark.
But it has withdrawn from the European Community and geographically is considered a part of North
America.
Cyprus is currently divided into Greek and Turkish sections, the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus. Although many count it part of Asia, it belongs to the Council of Europe.
Turkey itself has both European and Asian territory, but for reasons of history and culture is more readily
identified with Asia.
Why Is Australia a Continent? Isn't It Just Another Island?
The Thorn Birds
,
Crocodile Dundee
, and
Mad Max
have all helped promote Australia's romantic image in
America. So put another shrimp on the “barbie” and ponder this. Is Australia the world's largest island? Or
is it the world's smallest continent? Putting it simply, the answer is . . . yes.
With an area of 2,966,200 square miles (7,692,300 square km), Australia is both the world's smallest
continent and its largest island. Its population of 17,500,000 is the smallest of the six inhabited continents.
Five countries are larger than the continent of Australia. (In size order, they are Russia, Canada, China, the
United States, and Brazil.)
The first Europeans to reach Australia were the Dutch, when Captain Abel Tasman explored the island
in 1606 and called it New Holland. Captain James Cook claimed possession for the British in 1770. A few
years later, when the British lost one of their other little possessions in America's War of Independence,
they decided they needed a new offshore home for their convicts. Australia was then known as New South
Wales, and a penal colony called Botany Bay was established near the site of present-day Sydney. The first
convicts, along with a wave of British settlers looking for a new start, arrived in 1788. The prisoners con-
tinued to come for almost fifty years, more than 160,000 of them in all; the settlers never stopped coming,
especially when there were major gold rushes in 1851 and 1892. The free settlers established six colonies,
which later became states. In 1901 they were joined in the Commonwealth of Australia, combining the
British parliamentary system with United States federal experience.
It was not until 1801 that mapmakers figured out that this floating jail was a sixth continent and not
just made up of several islands. That's when it was christened Australia, in honor of the great mythological
