Located between the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean and surrounded by the sea, Australia is the only country in the world that monopolizes the entire continent. By the standards of geography, Greenland is the largest island in the world, and the land that is larger than Greenland is the mainland.
The Australian continent is the smallest continent in the world and is fully owned by Australia. In addition to this continent, Australia's territory also includes Tasmania and some surrounding islands. Australia is very rich in resources, known as a country sitting on a minecart, and Australia is very sparsely populated, only about 26 million, and its per capita resource share is among the highest in the world.
However, as a territorial power that monopolizes the entire continent, Australia does not have large rivers, like other territorial powers in the world, there are large rivers, Brazil has the Amazon River, Canada has more rivers, the United States has the Mississippi River, the mainland has the Yangtze River, Russia has the Lena River, and Australia's largest river is the Murray River.
The Murray River originates in the Great Dividing Range in southeastern Australia and flows into the Gulf of Great Australia, with a main stream of about 2589 km. The largest tributary of the Murray River is the Darling River, which originates in the northern part of the Great Dividing Range and flows into the Murray River from north to south. The runoff of the Murray River is relatively small, and the seasonal variation is large, the value of navigation is very limited, and every year in the dry season, the water level of the Murray River drops, and sandbars appear in the river, often hindering navigation.
According to statistics, the annual average flow of the Murray River is 168 cubic meters per second, which is equivalent to one-630th of the Amazon River and one-160th of the Yangtze River. It can be seen that the runoff of the Murray River is not comparable to that of other large territorial rivers, and in the world, it is not a large river, so why is there no large river in Australia, which occupies the entire continent?
First, topographical reasons. Australia's terrain is very distinctive, belonging to the high on both sides, low in the middle, the eastern part of Australia is mountainous, with a large watershed running through the north and south. The Great Dividing Range belongs to a series of mountain ranges in eastern Australia, spanning 3,000 km from north to south, about 160 to 320 km wide from east to west, and the highest peak is Mount Kosciuszko at an altitude of 2,230 m, which is also the highest peak in Australia. However, the average elevation of the Great Dividing Range is not high, at about 800 meters.
Central Australia is a plain lowland with flat terrain and little undulating terrain. Western Australia is a plateau, a low plateau with gentle terrain, below 1,000 metres above sea level. Combining Australia's topography, with only the eastern mountainous terrain and the western highlands, it can be the source of rivers. However, due to the low altitude of both eastern and western Australia, it is difficult to form large rivers.
Second, climatic reasons. Australia is vast and spans two climate zones, with tropical to the north and temperate to the south. The types of climate in Australia are very diverse.
Most of Australia has a savannah climate and a tropical desert climate, and precipitation is very scarce, and this type of climate has led to 70% of Australia's land being arid and semi-arid. Because arid and semi-arid zones cover plateaus and plains in the Midwest, it is difficult for Australia's vast Midwest to form rivers.
Eastern Australia mainly has a tropical rainforest climate, a subtropical humid climate and a temperate marine climate, these climate zones have more precipitation, which is conducive to the formation of rivers, but the Murray River and Darling River flow through the western part of the Great Dividing Range. The Great Dividing Range is a watershed in the Pacific and Indian Ocean systems of continental Australia, with more precipitation in the mountains and east, a humid climate, a large population, and less precipitation in the west and an arid climate. The Meledaring water system originates from the Great Dividing Range and flows through the arid regions of the west, with little precipitation and large evaporation, so the runoff is relatively small. For a combination of topographical and climatic reasons, Australia dominates the entire continent but does not have large rivers.