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Okay, it is a continent, and an island.

The name Australia is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning of the South. Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) dating back to Roman times were commonplace in mediaeval geography, but they were not based on any actual knowledge of the continent.

The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used by Dutch officials in Batavia to refer to the newly discovered land to the south as early as 1638. The Europeans originally saw it as meaning, "Terra Australis" meaning, Land beloning to no one.

The first use of the word "Australia" in the English language was a 1693 translation of Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la Découverte et le Voyage de la Terre Australe, a 1692 French novel by Gabriel de Foigny under the pen name Jacques Sadeur

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It's about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometre.

Coober Pedy in South Australia is known as the opal capital of the world. Its population is made up of more than 40 nationalities and, with year-round extremes in temperature, more than 50 per cent of the population live in below-ground 'dugouts'.

The longest stretch of straight railway track in the world crosses the Nullarbor Plain. From Nurina in Western Australia to near Watson in South Australia, the track is dead straight for 478 kilometres.

Australia's 101 million sheep (mostly merinos), found on around 53,000 properties, produce more than 70 per cent of the world's wool.

With 27 million head of cattle, Australia is the world's largest exporter of beef.

The Eyre Highway at Caiguna in Western Australia has the longest stretch of straight road in Australia - 148 kilometres. Crossing the southern edge of the Nullarbor Plain, it is the only sealed road from Perth to Adelaide, a 2700 kilometre drive.

The world's longest continuous fence known as the 'dingo fence', runs through central Queensland for 5,531 kilometres. It is 1.8 metres high and is designed to keep sheep safe from Australia's native dog.