Australia is the only country in the world that is also a continent. It is the sixth large country and the smallest continent. Australia lies between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is situated about 11 000 km southwest of North America and about 8200 km southeast of mainland Asia. The name of the country comes from Latin word «australis» which mean southern. The country's official name is Commonwealth of Australia.Australia is one of the world's developed countries. Australia has modern factories, highly productive mines and farms, and busy cities. It is the world's leading producer of wool and bauxite <the ore from which aluminium is made). It also produces and exports large amounts of other minerals and farm goods. Income from the export enables Australians to have high standard of living. The most important trading partners of Australia are Japan and the United States.
