How big is Australia?

[karen donnybrook]

I purchased this postcard while we were in Busselton. I thought it would give you some idea how big Australia is and how far apart Robyn and I. I am "off the coast of France" and Robyn is "in Turkey" :rolleyes:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3771/australia8ug.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=australia8ug.jpg)

I would like to see a similar ones over the Americas and Africa. I think it would be interesting :D

[kevq]

Karen,
interesting, here in the UK we are a dot on the world map, Oz is a capital letter. Boy, is it big!

Kev

[karen donnybrook]

Kev, we found that while we were travelling in the UK and Europe, people had no idea just how big Australia is. One day, we started off in Bristol and visited Bath, Averbury and Stone Henge in one day and Leah's friends were absolutely amazed we had travelled so far!! :D The other funny one -the year Leah went to the UK was the year of the very big bush fires around Sydney. Leah's new friends asked how we were coping with the fires and she replied that if we were in London, those fires would have been in Kiev!! :eek:

[Wendy]

Hi Karen ...

What a great way to show the size .... !! :)

Wendy

[Robyn]

Karen

That's just brilliant!

[kevq]

Karen,
We think that driving 100 miles (60 Km) is a long drive!
I was watching Rex Hunt's program and to travel from Southern Australia to a remote area of the Northern Territories took nearly 3 days by plane and car.
As I said, Oz is big!

[CarolLHB]

That's really something-:)

[TonyW]

That was a challenge I couldn't refuse (and pretty easy if you have Microsoft Streets & Trips or MapPoint). Australia (Perth to Brisbane) basically fits neatly between San Francisco and Toronto - both distances are about 3650 km (2270 miles).

[img=http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/5482/northamerica9yo.th.jpg] (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=northamerica9yo.jpg)

Tony

[karen donnybrook]

Tony, your link is not working properly - all I get is the ImageShack upload page :confused:

[TonyW]

Karen. For some reason I have trouble with image shack (which link do you copy and paste to get the thumbnail?)

Here's pixcentral:

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1iTdmbL6EmQr7Bu1uWjN5rD2pdFP

Tony

[karen donnybrook]

That's marvellous Tony. Hope you don't mind I have saved it to show Michael.

Can you do one with Africa? And one with South America? Please :D

After you have uploaded your image, go to "My Images". There is an area in the top left hand corner where you check "for forums". From there, go down to your image and copy and paste the forum link from "thumbnail code". Hope that helps.

[Wendy]

Wow ... I didn't realise that Australia was that big :eek: :eek:

Wendy

[karen donnybrook]

It is amazing, isn't it Wendy. I really did not expect it to almost cover the whole of the USA.

[Robyn]

Both links are working fine for me.

But Tony......you've left part of Australia off...........the little island south of the mainland, it's called Tasmania.......and I'm proud to say that I live there! (It's a bit of a sore point.......most of the rest of Australia also often forgets we exist. There is a standing joke amongst a lot of mainlanders about Tasmanians having two heads.......but really we are just the same as everyone else!

[NMarti]

Karen and Tony,
Thanks for quite an eye-opening comparison. I never dreamed Australia was that big! Robin, don't take it to heart - people usually leave Alaska and Hawaii off the map of the US too because they are "separate" from the mainland.

[Robyn]

Hi Nancy,
No I don't really take it to heart......it's a bit of a giggle really. BUT.....while I've got you on line.....I just ADORE the dahlia you've just posted in your gallery....it looks quite stunning.

[karen donnybrook]

Tony, I have just realised, WHERE IS TASMANIA :mad:

[karen donnybrook]

Nancy, I know when we were in Alaska one of our travelling companions tried to use a US phone card to call Australia and they were told the cards only worked in the USA :eek:

[TonyW]

Karen/Robyn: I do know about Tasmania but I got a little too quick with my eraser. Sorry. (And also sorry about Alaska, Nunavet, and the rest of the far north of North America that is huge. I'm out today but I'll have a go at better maps when I get back (I love working with maps :) )

Tony

[lindajay]

Yes, Alaska and Hawaii are usually relegated to a little "box" at the bottom of a map of the U.S. Here's a superimposed map of Alaska on top of the continental U.S.

http://marciesalaskaweb.com/ak_maps.htm

As Isaac Asimov once noted, since the Aleutian archipelago extends beyond the International Date Line, Alaska could be considered to contain the westernmost, northernmost, and EASTERNMOST points in the U.S.! :p

--Linda (Alaska will always be "home", even though I'm no longer living there)

[Cheannbal]

Can you put an outline of Canada on a European map for comparison, Tony?

[Lloyd G]

Hi Tony

Tks for the overlay-your first link worked OK for me!
When I moved to Vancouver BC, I had a relative in England say that "now that I was living in Canada, perhaps I could visit his son in Halifax. I wrote back and told him that he was closer to his son then me, being that I was some 6,000 miles away)!!:)

[NMarti]

Thanks Robyn - I did it from Matt's gallery tutorial using a picture I took last summer in my garden. I didn't follow all the steps because I didn't want to change the lighting. While I mention lighting - I love the new pic in your gallery of the sunset. I was just admiring it. Very nice.

Karen - that's too funny - bet Alaska didn't know they were not part of the US.:rolleyes: :D

[karen donnybrook]

Linda, that is wonderful. The little bit we saw of Alaska last year was great with Skagway being my favourite. The fact we travelled around town in a horse and "cart" could have made all the difference - it was so relaxing.

[GaryK]

Robyn

Boy am I embarrased.. I always thought Tasmania was its own country.. I never realized it was part of Australia.:o :o

Thanks for lernin me sumptin today..:)

[Robyn]

Don't be embarrased Gary.......a lot of mainlanders forget about us too. We are just another state of Australia.......and one of the oldest as far as white settlement is concerned. Apart from the original convict settlement that came from the UK and was established in New South Wales, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemens Land) was the repository for most of the so called "riff raff" that was sent out from England. I have convict ancestors and it would be a fair bet that most Tasmanians could trace similar roots. Australia is very much a multi-cultural country now......but really not so much here in Tassie......in that respect you could say that we are rather insular.

[NMarti]

Linda,
It seems Alaska is more unique that I knew. What an interesting tidbit.

[TonyW]

OK - you asked for it :D - a few more facts and images.

First off some stats from www.worldatlas.com (http://www.worldatlas.com/) showing sizes and populations of the 10 largest countries (plus the UK for comparison)

(1) Russia 17,075,400 sq km, (6,592,846 sq miles), Population: 143,782,338 (7)
(2) Canada 9,330,970 sq km, (3,602,707 sq miles), Population: 31,330,255 (35)
(3) China 9,326,410 sq km, (3,600,947 sq miles), Population: 1,298,847,624 (1)
(4) USA 9.166,600 sq km, (3,539,242 sq miles), Population: 293,027,571 (3)
(5) Brazil 8,456,510 sq km, (3,265,075 sq miles), Population: 184,101,109 (5)
(6) Australia 7,617,930 sq km, (2,941,283 sq miles), Population: 18,950,108 (53)
(7) India 2,973,190 sq km, (1,147,949 sq miles), Population: 1,065,070.607 (2)
(8) Argentina 2,736,690 sq km, (1,056,636 sq miles), Population: 37,214,757 (31)
(9) Kazakhstan 2,717,300 sq km, (1,049,150 sq miles), Population: 16,816,150 (56)
(10) Sudan 2,376,000 sq km, (917,374 sq miles), Population: 35,530,371 (32)
(??) United Kingdom 241,600 sq km (93,282 sq miles), Population: 59,247,439 (20)

And now some pictures:

Australia (including Tasmania) on top of the USA (ex Alaska and Hawaii) (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1bX8CE00yomtWmXxAwnNUCX67mFrwq)

Australia on top of Canada (plus Alaska) (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fHVuFnzoEDkhXZZMldAGakTbbFn1)

Australia sitting neatly between North America and Europe (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1eZxlJoZglbjA8yNsr0zAr2ECD7E1)

Australia vs North Africa (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Pn4UL5eID9pWIENaXNmFCkv1zRLr)

Australia vs Europe (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=15cFVVALInFlUuO1Lhe0dIsw6IOljS1)

Canada vs Europe (with a bit at the top missing) (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1AeudiiPYgTY25jdVj0gDghAsAA3X0)

That's enough for now :eek: .

Tony

Disclaimer: All facts and images approximate. Do not attempt to use these for navigational purposes. You might get badly lost :D

[NMarti]

Wow Tony - you have been busy. :eek:
That really is fascinating though when you look at the size comparison.

[Robyn]

Wonderful stuff Tony!

[kayser]

Thanks for doing this research for us, Tony!

[karen donnybrook]

Tony, thanks very much. It is interesting to see the different comparisons.

[Wendy]

Hi Tony ...

Thanks for all that work ... it is great being able to see the comparisons :)

Wendy

[Cheannbal]

Holy Smokes! Those images are terrific! Thanks :D :eek:

[RandyA]

I became curious which was bigger....

I'm humbled....:o :D

Alaska - 571,951 square miles; population - 655,435 (2004 estimate)
Texas - 261,797 square miles; population - 22,490,022 (2004 estimate)

I loved the overlays as well...going to have to send the links to a friend in Oz...!!

Is it just me, or did anyone else think of Atlantis whilst viewing the map/outline of Australia?