Documents for "Australian and New Zealand Physical Geography":

• Alps, Australian see Australian Alps.

• Aorangi, Mount Mount Aoraki [both: Maori,=cloud in the sky], or Mount Cook, 12,254 ft (3,735 m) high, on the South Island, New Zealand, in the Southern Alps; highest peak of New Zealand. Several glaciers,...

• Australasia islands of the South Pacific, including Australia , New Zealand , New Guinea , and adjacent islands. The term is sometimes used to include all of Oceania.

• Australian Alps chain of mountain ranges, SE Australia, making up the southern part of the Eastern Highlands and forming the watershed between the Murray River system and streams flowing into the Tasman Sea. It is...

• Barossa Valley region of South Australia, S Australia. A major area of wine production 40 mi (64 km) NE of Adelaide , the valley was named by Colonel William Light for the British victory over the French in the Battle...

• Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, SE Australia. Located W of Sydney, this elevation is actually a plateau forming part of the Great Dividing Range.

• Cape York Peninsula 280 mi (451 km) long, N Queensland, Australia, between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea. It is largely tropical jungle and sparsely populated. The Northern Peninsula Aboriginal Reserve is...

• Cobourg Peninsula Australia: see Coburg Peninsula.

• Coburg Peninsula c.50 mi (80 km) long and 25 mi (40 km) wide, N Northern Territory, Australia, E of Melville Island. It is a reserve for native flora and fauna.

• Cook, Mount New Zealand: see Aorangi, Mount.

• Darling river, 1,702 mi (2,739 km) long, rising in the Eastern Highlands, NE New South Wales and SE Queensland, Australia, and flowing SW across New South Wales into the Murray River at Wentworth. It is...

• Darling Downs tableland, 27,610 sq mi (71,510 sq km), SE Queensland, Australia, W of the Great Dividing Range. Settled in 1840 by sheep grazers, this grassland region has become an important farming and dairying...

• Darling Range Western Australia state, Australia, at the edge of the Western Plateau, extending 200 mi (322 km) parallel with the southwest coast and rising to 1,910 ft (582 m) in Mt. Cooke. Gold and tin were...

• Dividing Range see Great Dividing Range.

• Eastern Highlands c.2,400 mi (3,860 km) long, general name for the mountains and plateaus roughly paralleling the east and southeast coasts of Australia (including Tasmania) and forming the Continental Divide (see Great Dividing Range ); rises to Mt. Kosciusko (7,316 ft/2,230 m), Australia's highest peak. Rugged, with many gorges and few gaps, the Eastern Highlands long hindered westward expansion of British settlement. The...

• Egmont, Mount or Taranaki , dormant volcano, 8,260 ft (2,517 m) high, on North Island, New Zealand. Conical and snowcapped, it dominates the island's west side.

• Eyre Peninsula 200 mi (322 km) long, southern South Australia state, Australia, between Spencer Gulf and the Great Australian Bight. There are large iron ore deposits in the Middleback Range near Whyalla, at the...

• Eyre, Lake shallow salt lake, 3,430 sq mi (8,884 sq km), central South Australia state, Australia; largest lake in Australia. The lake, 39 ft (12 m) below sea level, is the continent's lowest point. Located...

• Farewell, Cape southernmost point of Greenland, on Egger Island, at lat. 59°46′N. Egger Island and the surrounding islands are called the Cape Farewell Archipelago.

• Flinders Ranges mountain chain, extending 260 mi (418 km) between Lake Torrens and Lake Frome, South Australia state, Australia; rises to 3,900 ft (1,189 m) at St. Mary's Peak. Uranium and copper are mined there...

• Franklin river: see Gordon , river.

• Gordon river in W Tasmania, Australia, 125 mi (200 km) long. Flowing from mountains to the W coast, its main tributaries are the Franklin and Denison from the N, and Serpentine and Olga to the S. In the...

• Great Artesian Basin c.670,000 sq mi (1,735,300 sq km), between the Eastern Highlands and the Western Plateau, E central Australia, extending S from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, to NE South Australia and N New...

• Great Australian Bight wide bay of the Indian Ocean, indenting the southern coast of Australia. An unbroken line of cliffs c.200 ft (60 m) high runs along the coast and extends inland as the arid and desolate Nullarbor...

• Great Barrier Reef largest complex of coral reef in the world, c.1,250 mi (2,000 km) long, in the Coral Sea, forming a natural breakwater for the coast of Queensland, NE Australia. Composed of more than 2,800...

• Great Dividing Range crest line of the Eastern Highlands of Australia. For the most part it separates rivers draining into the Pacific Ocean from those flowing into the Indian Ocean and the Arafura Sea.

• Hume Reservoir c.70 sq mi (180 sq km), on the Murray River, near Albury-Wodonga, on the Victoria-New South Wales border, Australia. It is the largest water-storage area in Australia. Impounded by Hume Dam...

• Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, SE Australia. The Hunter River and its tributaries occupy this valley S of the Mt. Royal Range. The land in the upper valley is used for livestock grazing, dairying and...

• Hunter, Port or Newcastle Harbour, estuary of the Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia. It is 3 mi (4.8 km) long and 2 mi (3.2 km) wide. The coal-loading port of Newcastle , one of the largest ports in the...

• Kosciusko, Mount 7,316 ft (2,230 m) high, SE New South Wales, Australia, in the Australian Alps; highest peak of Australia. Tourism developed significantly in the 1980s.

• Macquarie river, 590 mi (950 km) long, rising in the Blue Mts., E New South Wales, Australia, and flowing NW to the Darling River. It flows through an important sheep- and wheat-raising area.

• Milford Sound inlet of the Tasman Sea, indenting SW South Island, New Zealand. Part of Fiordland National Park, it is a well-known resort area. Mountains rise steeply from the shore to a height of 9,042 ft...

• Murray principal river of Australia, 1,609 mi (2,589 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, and flowing westward to form the New South Wales-Victoria boundary. It then flows...

• Murrumbidgee river, c.1,050 mi (1,690 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, Australia, and flowing generally W to the Murray River on the Victoria border. Used extensively for...

• Newcastle Harbour Australia: see Hunter, Port.

• Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour, inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 22 sq mi (57 sq km), 12 mi (19 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide at its mouth, New South Wales, Australia, forming Australia's finest harbor. The Parramatta River forms...

• Ruapehu active volcano, 9,175 ft (2,797 m) high, on North Island, New Zealand; highest point of North Island. Ruapehu's most recent eruption cycle began in 1995. It is part of Tongariro National Park,...

• Simpson Desert c.50,000 sq mi (130,000 sq km), barren region of central Australia, predominantly in the southeastern portion of the Northern Territory, extending S into Queensland and E into South Australia...

• Snowy Mountains range of the Australian Alps, SE Australia. It is the site of the Snowy Mts. Hydroelectric Scheme, Australia's most extensive hydroelectricity and irrigation complex. The scheme was begun in 1949...

• Southern Alps mountain range, on South Island, New Zealand, paralleling the west coast. It rises to 12,349 ft (3,764 m) at Mt. Aorangi (Mt. Cook), New Zealand's highest peak. Extensively glaciated, the snowcapped...

• Stewart Island island, 674 sq mi (1,746 sq km), S New Zealand, 20 mi (32 km) S of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Halfmoon Bay is the main settlement. A mountainous and scenic island, it is a summer...

• Sutherland Falls waterfall, 1,904 ft (580 m) high, between Lake Quill and Arthur River, SW South Island, New Zealand. It is among the world's highest waterfalls. It is a major tourist attraction in Fiordland...

• Tarawera Mountain volcanic peak, 3,646 ft (1,111 m) high, on the North Island, New Zealand, in Rotorua. Its eruption in 1886 destroyed villages and unique silica terraces, transformed local terrain, and temporarily...

• Tasman Glacier largest glacier of New Zealand, 18 mi (29 km) long and 5.6 mi (9 km) wide, on the South Island, in the Southern Alps. It flows SE to the Tasman River. Ski meets are held there.

• Taupo, Lake largest lake of New Zealand, 234 sq mi (606 sq km) and 552 ft (168 m) deep, in central North Island. Originally fed by over 20 streams, the lake is drained by the Waikato River. Lake Taupo,...

• Tongariro volcano, 6,458 ft (1,968 m) high, on the North Island, New Zealand. Hot springs are on its slopes and a lake is on the summit. It is part of the Tongariro National Park.

• Torrens, Lake shallow salt lake, 2,230 sq mi (5,776 sq km), central South Australia state, Australia. In a rift valley, it is 120 mi (193 km) long and is Australia's second largest lake. It becomes partially dry...

• Townsend, Mount 7,260 ft (2,213 m) high, SE New South Wales, in the Australian Alps. The second tallest peak in Australia, it was explored by Polish Count Strzelecki. Thought to be Australia's highest peak, it was...

• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 327,647 acres (132,566 hectares), SW Northern Territory, central Australia. This aborigine-owned park, leased to the Australian government, contains Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, a red sandstone...

• Waikato river, 264 mi (425 km) long, rising in Lake Taupo, central North Island, New Zealand, and flowing NW into the Tasman Sea. It is New Zealand's longest river. The Waikato power plants are the main...

• Yarra river, 115 mi (185 km) long, rising in the Great Dividing Range, S Victoria, Australia, and flowing generally westward through Melbourne to Port Phillip Bay. It is important to the water supply of...

• Yorke Peninsula 160 mi (257 km) long and averages 25 mi (40 km) wide, SE South Australia state, Australia, between Spencer Gulf and Gulf St. Vincent. It is a farming area in which wheat and barley are raised.