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    Australia (Commonwealth of Australia)  
Location
Australia officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia. The continent of Australia is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The national capital is Canberra. Borders Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast.

Wartime History
Australia entered World War II when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. She sent soldiers to fight in Europe and the Middle East. At the start of the Pacific War, Japanese forces threatened her own coast. During the war, Australian cities were attacked by Japanese air raids and submarines operated off the coast.

During the Pacific War, Australia was responsible for the naval defense of an area known as the Australian Station which embraced the mainland of Australia and islands to the north and east of the continent and the surrounding seas. It also extended westward from the coast for some 1500 miles into the Indian Ocean. There were attacks on shipping by both Germany and Japan within the Australian waters. Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen were crucial in the victories in New Guinea, and the invasion of Borneo at the end of the war. American forces were based in Australia and staged through the country on there way to Pacific battlefields.

Australia States
New South Wales (NSW)  located in southeast Australia
Victoria (VIC)  located in the southeast of Australia
South Australia (SA)  located in the south of Australia
Queensland (QLD)  located in the northeast of Australia
Western Australia (WA)  located in the west of Australia
Tasmania (TAS)  located to the southeast of the Australian mainland
External Territory  includes Christmas Island and others

Internal Territories of Australia
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)  national capital city Canberra borders Victoria and New South Wales.
Northern Territory (NT)  located in the north of Australia.
Jervis Bay Territory  borders Jervis Bay and is administered as part of the part of the Australian Capital Territory.

External Territories of Australia
Ashmore and Cartier Islands  located in the Indian Ocean.
Australian Antarctic Territory  located in East Antarctica administered by the Australian Antarctic Division.
Cocos Islands (Keeling Islands)  located in the Indian Ocean.
Coral Sea Islands  uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea includes Willis Island.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI)  Antarctic islands roughly two-thirds from Madagascar to Antarctica.
Christmas Island  located in the Indian Ocean 200 miles south of Java and 960 miles off Western Australia.
Norfolk Island  located in the South Pacific to the west is Australia north is New Caledonia.

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Last Updated
March 12, 2021

 

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