The Commonwealth of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a claim to a territory in Antarctica. All states and two of the three internal territories have their own parliaments and administer themselves; the remaining territories are administered by the Federal Government.




See also: List of State Codes

Australia has had three now-defunct territories in its history:

• From 1926 to 1931, the Northern Territory was divided into Central Australia
  Central Australia
  Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
  
   and North Australia
  North Australia
  North Australia can refer to a former territory, a former colony or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory.-Colony :...
  
  , with the border at the 20th parallel of latitude.