Australia is composed of six States and two Territories. Each State has its own government and Parliament, while the Territories are administered primarily by the national government. The ACT, or Australian Capital Territory, was created to solve an argument about whether the national capital should be in Sydney or Melbourne, two cities with a long and intense rivalry.

Tasmania is the southernmost state of Australia, and is located on the island of Tasmania.

Australia is roughly the size of the continental United States, but contains only about 18 million people (compared to over 250 million in the U.S.) Nearly the entire population lives along the coastline, with the bulk of the people located in the southeastern States of New South Wales and Victoria.