Is Australia an island or continent or both?

Answer 1

Geographically, Australia is a continent, not an island. As a landform, it could be considered an island as it is entirely surrounded by water and not joined onto any other land mass. For this reason, it is often referred to as an island continent.Australia is too big to be formally classified as an island. The world's largest island is Greenland.

Another reason why Australia is also considered a continent is because it sits on its own tectonic plate. This is different from Greenland, which uses the same land mass as North America. That is why the geological appearances are much different in Australia from anywhere else. A place like Greenland shares the same geologic attributes as North America.

Australia and Antarctica are the only two true Continental Islands. That is, they are separated from all other continents by water. All other continents are connected by a landmass to at least one other Continent. If there are any waterways, they have been artificially created.

Australia is the smallest continent and the 6th largest country, with an area of 7,686,850 sq km.
A Continent

Answer 2

Thousands of islands are part of Australia's territory. Some of these include:

• Tasmania (Australia's island state)

Some of the larger islands which belong to various states of Australia include:

• Kangaroo Island
• Fraser Island
• Tiwi Islands (Bathurst and Melville Islands)
• Flinders Island
• Groote Eylandt
• Mornington Island
• Rottnest Island
• Macquarie Island

Offshore island territories, or external territories of Australia, include:

• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands
• Heard and McDonald Islands
• Norfolk Island
• Coral Sea Islands

Answer 3

Australia is not, theoretically, an island. It is a continent. It is too large to be geographically classed as an island , but it is referred to as an "island continent" because it is a continent completely surrounded by water.

Antarctica is also an "island continent".

Answer 4

Australia consists of the continent of Australia, the island state of Tasmania! and numerous smaller islands scattered along the coastline.

The continent of Australia should not be confused with the geographical region of Oceania, which is sometimes mistakenly used as an alternative name for Australia. Oceania is not a continent in the geographical sense of the word, but it is a geographical region, and Australia is considered part of that region.
melville island

Answer 5

Australia is the world's smallest continent (not the largest island) and it is a country. There are no other countries on the continent of Australia. It is the only country/continent in the world that is both a continent, and a country at the same time.

Geographically, Australia is classed as a continent, as it sits on its own tectonic plate. It is often referred to as an island continent, being completely surrounded by water. However, it is too large to be classed as an island. The world's largest island is Greenland.

Answer 6

The largest island in the Australian continent is Tasmania, which is one of the Australian States. But there are thousands of other smaller islands.

Answer 7

Most of them do. There are some that belong to New Zealand and once you go close to Paupa New Guinna then they don't belong to Australia.

Answer 8

Australia is a continent and an Island.