COMPARING

THE SIZE OF AUSTRALIA WITH EUROPE

I am often asked how does the size of Australia compare with other parts of the world. I was sent this chart, which is a map of Australia drawn to scale with most of Europe super-imposed on it. I thank the unknown author for the work he or she put into producing the map. Holland, for example, would fit into Australia nearly 240 times, when the two are drawn to scale. I hope this will help you to appreciate and understand how big Australia is. Some people automatically think, when you say Australia is an island, "Oh an island?" and immediately think and visualise a small island in the Pacific:) Australia is not only an island, it is also a large continent. In fact, the familiar Australian outline can accommodate most of Europe with room to spare, if Scandinavia and the Balkan countries are omitted. The superimposed map shows how the distance between Brisbane and Melbourne, 846 miles (1,362.06 kilometres) is almost as great as the distance between Paris and Lisbon, 894 miles (1,439.34 kilometres). London to Rome is 510 miles (821.1 kilometres) Sydney to Perth, 2,058 miles (3,313.38 kilometres) is almost the same as between Madrid and Moscow, 2,065 miles (3,324.65 kilometres). Americans can compare Brisbane to Perth, 2,253 miles (3,638.6 kilometres) with San Francisco to Pittsburgh, 2,260 miles (3,638.6 kilometres).