Generally acknowledged as the world's largest island, Australia is spread just over seven million square Kilometers, bounded by the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Of its total population of about 18 million, about 85 per cent lives within 80 kms of fertile and milder coastal fringes. It has a unique assortment of flora and fauna not found elsewhere in the world.

The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six States: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, and two territories-the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Power is divided broadly between the national government and the six State Governments. While the Federal Government is responsible for matters affecting Australia as a whole, such as defence, foreign affairs, telecommunication, social welfare, etc. Each State Government administers matters such as education, health, law, and matters of local concern.

Climatic conditions
In terms of climate, the conditions vary through every conceivable pattern. In general, the North is hotter and the South is cooler. It varies from tropical heat, with heavy rain in summer in the North, dry and arid desert in the West and lush rainforest on her coastal fringes, to fertile, cool farm lands, temperate forest and snow capped mountains in the South. Summer is from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August, and spring from September to November.

Climatic conditions in the capital cities are as under:

You can reach Sydney from New Delhi or Bombay in about 14 hours and there are frequent air links from Sydney to Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart.  There are regular flights to regional centers throughout Australia.