Australia is a sovereign country that includes the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the sixth largest in the world. Its size (7,741,220 square kilometers) gives it a great variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the center, tropical jungles in the northeast and mountain ranges in the southeast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from Southeast Asia approximately 65,000 years ago. The written history of Australia began with European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 was the first known European to reach Australia. In 1770, British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the eastern coast of Australia for Britain. It is a developed country with a high-income economy, in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund, it was the thirteenth economy in the world. It is a member of international associations such as the United Nations and the G20 among others. It has 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in its territory, from natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef to historic buildings such as the Cockatoo Island prison. Australia is home to thousands of species of animals and plants, many of them endemic.

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