How could Australia be a continent and a country at the same time?

Answer

Continent refers to the land masses of the world, and Australia is large enough to qualify as one.

Country refers to the organization of an area into a single territory as a nation or state. Australia has been a nation since January 1 1901, with a single national government. Although it is divided into states and territories which have their own state governments, they are all united as one nation.

Because most continents just happen to have developed into multiple countries ( for example, Africa and Europe) it sometimes confuses people to think of a country being a continent as well. One refers to the geographical form, the other is talking about the political structure.

and lets add a little more confusion to this. altho the above is exactly correct, try explaining it to an american. then throw in that as well as being the only single country /continent, it is also the only continent island and country

First answer by Grevillea. Last edit by Grevillea. Contributor trust: 1076 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 18 [recommend question]