The coastline of Australia comprises the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania. It nominally includes a part of all Australian states and territories; the otherwise landlocked Australian Capital Territory has a coastal enclave at Jervis Bay Territory.
According to The World Factbook, Australia has the sixth longest coastline in the world, at 25,760 kilometres (16,010 mi).[1][2] According to the World Resources Institute, Australia has the sixth longest coastline in the world, at 66,530 kilometres (41,340 mi).[3]
Due to the historical context of European discovery and exploration, the coastline has been the first point of contact over 400 years.[4]
In the IBRA bioregionalisation, the coast has 36 coastal bioregions that define the whole coast[5] and there is the more complex Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia, which includes ecological features that are beyond the shoreline.
- ^ "Coastline". World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018.
- ^ ChartsBin. "Length of Coastline by Country". ChartsBin. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "Coastal and Marine Ecosystems — Marine Jurisdictions: Coastline length". World Resources Institute. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "Mapping Australia's coastline". Australian Government. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016.
- ^ Saintilan, Neil; CSIRO (2009). Australian saltmarsh ecology (Map). CSIRO Publishing. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-643-09684-4.