Considered a continent because sit on its own tectonic plate, but also an island, because is separated from all other continents by water, Australia is ocupied of a single country, officially named the Commonwealth of Australia, which comprise also the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's 6th largest country, but only 52nd in terms of population, because the largest portion of land is occupied by desert or semi-arid land, although not lacking subtropical rainforests and mountain ranges. On the other hand, although inhabited with 48,000 years ago by the ancestry of current Aboriginals (which are now only 2.5% of the population), Europeans discovered Australia only in 1606, erecting the first settlement in the late 18th century, and using it for long time mainly as penal colony. These hasn't prevented it from becoming in the last decades one of the wealthiest country in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy.
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