country sahul shelf
___MASK32___ , officially the Commonwealth of ___MASK32___ , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . It is the world ' s sixth - largest country by total area . The neighbouring countries are ___MASK97___ , Indonesia and East Timor to the north ; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north - east ; and New Zealand to the south - east . ___MASK32___ ' s capital is Canberra , and its largest urban area is Sydney . The Timor Trough is an oceanic trough that is a continuation of the Sunda Trench that marks the boundary between Indo - Australian Plate ' s continental shelf and the Timor Plate to the north . It is separated from the Java Trench by a sag near Sumba Island at the Scott Plateau and North Australian Basin , and on the other end becomes Tanimbar trough southeast of the Tanimbar Islands continuing on to the Aur trough east of the Kai Islands near Bird ' s Head Peninsula on New ___MASK95___ . Lining the north of the trough are numerous islands , of which Timor is the largest . Further west are the Weber Basin and Banda Trench . Oil and natural gas have been found south of the trough and the region is geologically active with numerous earthquakes . An ocean ( the sea of classical antiquity ) is a body of saline water that composes much of a planet ' s hydrosphere . On Earth , an ocean is one of the major conventional divisions of the ___MASK55___ Ocean , which covers almost 71 % of its surface . These are , in descending order by area , the Pacific , Atlantic , Indian , Southern ( ___MASK43___ ), and Arctic Oceans . The word " sea " is often used interchangeably with " ocean " in American English but , strictly speaking , a sea is a body of saline water ( generally a division of the world ocean ) partly or fully enclosed by land . Modern Standard ___MASK83___ ( Devanagari :         , " Mnak Hind ") or simply ___MASK83___ ( Devanagari :      , " Hind "), is an Indian language and a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language . ___MASK83___ is one of the official languages of ___MASK36___ , and is the " lingua franca " of the ___MASK83___ belt languages . Outside ___MASK36___ , ___MASK83___ is an official language in Fiji , and is a recognised regional language in ___MASK6___ , Suriname , ___MASK27___ , and Trinidad and Tobago . North West Cape is a peninsula in the north - west of ___MASK75___ . Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge . It includes the town of Exmouth . ___MASK36___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK36___ (" Bhrat Gaarjya "), is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh - largest country by area , the second - most populous country ( with over 1 . 2 billion people ), and the most populous democracy in the world . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south , the Arabian Sea on the southwest , and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast . It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west ; ___MASK71___ , Nepal , and Bhutan to the northeast ; and Myanmar ( Burma ) and Bangladesh to the east . In the Indian Ocean , ___MASK36___ is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives . ___MASK36___ ' s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia . Its capital is New Delhi ; other metropolises include Mumbai , Kolkata , Chennai , Bangalore , Hyderabad and Ahmedabad . The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between ___MASK32___ and Indonesian New Guinea . The Bird ' s Head Peninsula ( Indonesian : " Kepala Burung ") or Doberai Peninsula is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New ___MASK95___ and the Province of West Papua , ___MASK68___ . ( See also Bird ' s Tail Peninsula .) The Timor Sea is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor , to the east by the Arafura Sea , to the south by ___MASK32___ and to the west by the Indian Ocean . The Kai Islands ( also Kei Islands ) of ___MASK68___ are a group of islands located in the south - eastern part of the Maluku Islands , in Maluku Province . The Malakus have been known as the Spice Islands due to region specific plants such as nutmeg , mace and cloves that originally intrigued European nations of the 16th century . Tasmania ( abbreviated as Tas and known colloquially as " Tassie ") is an island state of the Commonwealth of ___MASK32___ . It is located to the south of the Australian mainland , separated by Bass Strait . The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania , the 26th - largest island in the world , and the surrounding 334 islands . The state has a population of around 518 , 500 , just over forty percent of which resides in the Greater Hobart precinct , which forms the metropolitan area of the state capital and largest city , Hobart . Africa is the ___MASK55___ ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface area and 20 . 4 % of its total land area . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the ___MASK55___ ' s human population . The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north , both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the Indian Ocean to the southeast , and the ___MASK2___ to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition . Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia , north of the Timor Sea . The island is divided between the sovereign states of ___MASK51___ , on the eastern part , and ___MASK68___ , on the western part . The Indonesian part , also known as West Timor , constitutes part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara . Within West Timor lies an exclave of ___MASK51___ called Oecusse District . The island covers an area of . The name is a variant of " timur ", Malay for " east "; it is so called because it lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands . East Nusa Tenggara ( NTT ) is a province of ___MASK68___ . It is located in the eastern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands and includes West Timor . It has a total area of 48 , 718 . 1 km , and the population at the 2010 Census was 4 , 683 , 827 ; the latest official estimate in January 2014 was 5 , 070 , 746 . The provincial capital is Kupang on West Timor . A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth . Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria , up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents . Ordered from largest in size to smallest , they are : Asia , Africa , North America , South America , ___MASK93___ , Europe , and Australia . In geology , areas of continental crust include regions covered with water . The Indo - Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of ___MASK32___ and surrounding ocean , and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters . It was formed by the fusion of Indian and Australian plates 43 million years ago . Recent studies , and seismic events such as the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes , suggest that the Indo - Australian Plate may have broken up into two or three separate plates due primarily to stresses induced by the collision of the Indo - Australian Plate with Eurasia along the Himalayas , and that the Indian Plate and Australian Plate have been separate since at least . The Aru Islands ( also Aroe Islands or Kepulauan Aru ) are a group of about ninety - five low - lying islands in the Maluku province of eastern ___MASK68___ . They also form a regency of Maluku province , with a land area of 6 , 269 square kilometres . Sydney is the state capital of New South ___MASK89___ and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania . Located on Australia ' s east coast , the metropolis surrounds the world ' s largest natural harbour , and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west . Residents of Sydney are known as " Sydneysiders ". Sydney is the second official seat and second official residence of the Governor - General of Australia and the Prime Minister of Australia and many federal ministries maintain substantial presences in Sydney . ___MASK93___ ( US English , UK English or ) is Earth ' s southernmost continent . It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere , almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle , and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . At , it is the fifth - largest continent . For comparison , ___MASK93___ is nearly twice the size of Australia . About 98 % of ___MASK93___ is covered by ice that averages in thickness , which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula . Sanskrit ( English pronunciation :; written in Devanagari script ; : or ', originally ', " refined speech ") is the primary sacred language of Hinduism and " Mahyna " Buddhism , a philosophical language in Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism and Sikhism . It was also a literary language that was in use as a " lingua franca " in ancient and medieval South Asia . It is a standardised dialect of Old Indo - Aryan , originating as Vedic Sanskrit and tracing its linguistic ancestry back to Proto - Indo - Iranian and Proto - Indo - European . Today it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of ___MASK36___ and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand . As one of the oldest Indo - European languages for which substantial written documentation exists , Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo - European studies . ___MASK68___ ( or ; Indonesian : ), officially the Republic of ___MASK68___ , is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania . Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans , it is the world ' s largest island country , with more than seventeen thousand islands . At , ___MASK68___ is the world ' s 14th - largest country in terms of land area and world ' s 7th - largest country in terms of combined sea and land area . It has an estimated population of over 260 million people and is the world ' s fourth most populous country , the most populous Austronesian nation , as well as the most populous Muslim - majority country . The world ' s most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country ' s population . ___MASK97___ ( PNG Hiri Motu : " Papua Niu Gini "), officially the Independent State of ___MASK97___ , is an Oceanian country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia , a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia . Its capital , located along its southeastern coast , is Port Moresby . The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua . The Southern Ocean , also known as the ___MASK43___ Ocean or the Austral Ocean , comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean , generally taken to be south of 60 ° S latitude and encircling ___MASK93___ . As such , it is regarded as the fourth - largest of the five principal oceanic divisions : smaller than the Pacific , Atlantic , and Indian Oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean . This ocean zone is where cold , northward flowing waters from the ___MASK43___ mix with warmer subantarctic waters . ___MASK72___ is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of ___MASK97___ and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of . The country ' s capital , Honiara , is located on the island of Guadalcanal . The country takes its name from the ___MASK72___ archipelago , which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North ___MASK72___ ( part of ___MASK97___ ), but excludes outlying islands , such as Rennell and Bellona , and the Santa Cruz Islands . Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane , but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes , and sometimes a small percentage of ___MASK62___ dioxide , nitrogen , hydrogen sulfide , or helium . It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years . The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas . The Tanimbar Islands , also called Timur Laut , are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of ___MASK68___ , including Fordata , Larat , Maru , Molu , Nuswotar , Selaru , Selu , Seira , Wotap , Wuliaru and Yamdena . The Indonesian phrase " timur laut " means ' northeast '. Maritime Southeast Asia is the maritime region of Southeast Asia as opposed to mainland Southeast Asia and comprises ___MASK19___ , ___MASK8___ , the ___MASK85___ , Singapore and Indonesia . Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as " island Southeast Asia " or " insular Southeast Asia ". The 19th - century term " Malay Archipelago " refers to a largely similar area . Canberra ( or ) is the capital city of ___MASK32___ . With a population of 381 , 488 , it is ___MASK32___ ' s largest inland city and the eighth - largest city overall . The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory ( ACT ), south - west of Sydney , and north - east of Melbourne . A resident of Canberra is known as a " Canberran ". An island or isle is any piece of sub - continental land that is surrounded by water . Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets , skerries , cays or keys . An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait , and a small island off the coast may be called a holm . A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago , e . g . the ___MASK85___ . Earth , otherwise known as the ___MASK55___ , is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life . It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets . ___MASK15___ ( or ; Bislama ), officially the Republic of ___MASK15___ ( Bislama : " Ripablik blong ___MASK15___ "), is a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean . The archipelago , which is of volcanic origin , is some east of northern Australia , northeast of New Caledonia , east of New Guinea , southeast of the Solomon Islands , and west of Fiji . ___MASK96___ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country geographically comprises two main landmasses  that of the North Island , or Te Ika - a - Mui , and the South Island , or Te Waipounamu  and numerous smaller islands . ___MASK96___ is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , ___MASK96___ developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal and plant life . The country ' s varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . ___MASK96___ ' s capital city is Wellington , while its most populous city is Auckland . The Sahul Shelf / shul / is part of the continental shelf of the Australian continent and lies off the coast of mainland ___MASK32___ . The Sahul Shelf proper stretches northwest from ___MASK32___ much of the way under the Timor Sea towards Timor , ending where the seabed begins descending into the Timor Trough . Another part of the Sahul Shelf is known also as the Arafura Shelf and runs all the way from the northern coast of ___MASK32___ under the Arafura Sea to New Guinea . The Aru Islands rise from the Arafura Shelf . The Sahul Shelf is sometimes taken to also include the Rowley Shelf which runs out under the Indian Ocean from the northwest coast of ___MASK32___ as far south as North West Cape . When sea levels fell during the Pleistocene ice age , including the last glacial maximum about 18 , 000 years ago , the Sahul Shelf was exposed as dry land . Evidence of the shoreline of this time has been identified in locations which now lie 100 to 140 metres below sea level . A useful interactive timeline of sea level changes has been developed by Monash University . The Arafura Shelf formed a land bridge between ___MASK32___ , New Guinea , and the Aru Islands , and these lands share many marsupial mammals , land birds , and freshwater fish as a result . Lydekker ' s Line , a biogeographical line , runs along the edge of Sahul Shelf where it drops off into the deep waters of the Wallacea biogeographical area . Wallacea sits in a gap between the Sahul Shelf and the Sunda Shelf , part of the continental shelf of Southeast Asia . The name `` Sahull '' or `` Sahoel '' appeared on 17th century Dutch maps applied to a submerged sandbank between ___MASK32___ and Timor . On his 1803 map , Matthew Flinders noted the `` Great Sahul Shoal '' where Malays came from Makassar to fish for trepang ( sea cucumber ) . The existence of the much larger Sahul Shelf was suggested in 1845 by G . W . Earl who called it the `` Great Australian Bank '' and noted that macropods ( `` kangaroos '' ) were found on ___MASK32___ , New Guinea , and the Aru Islands . Earl also suggested the existence of the Sunda Shelf which he called the `` Great Asiatic Bank '' . The Sahul and Sunda shelves were given their present names by G . A . F . Molengraaff and Max Wilhelm Carl Weber in 1919 . The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the ___MASK55___ ' s oceanic divisions , covering ( approximately 20 % of the water on the Earth ' s surface ). It is bounded by Asia on the north , on the west by Africa , on the east by ___MASK32___ , and on the south by the Southern Ocean or , depending on definition , by ___MASK93___ . It is named after the country of India . The Indian Ocean is known as " Ratnkara ", "" the mine of gems "" in ancient Sanskrit literature , and as " Hind Mahsgar ", "" the great Indian sea "", in Hindi . The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth ' s oceanic divisions . It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean ( or , depending on definition , to ___MASK93___ ) in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east . New ___MASK95___ ( or , historically , "") is a large Island in the South West Pacific region . ___MASK51___ or Timor - Leste ( Tetum : " Timór Lorosa ' e "), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor - Leste , is a sovereign state in Maritime Southeast Asia . It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor ; the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco ; and Oecusse , an exclave on the northwestern side of the island surrounded by Indonesian West Timor . The country ' s size is about 15 , 410 km ( 5 , 400 sq mi ). The continental shelf is an underwater landmass which extends from a continent , resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea . Much of the shelves were exposed during glacial periods and interglacial periods . ___MASK75___ ( abbreviated as WA ) is a state occupying the entire western third of ___MASK32___ . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west , the Great Australian Bight and Southern Ocean to the south , the Northern Territory to the north - east and ___MASK84___ to the south - east . ___MASK75___ is ___MASK32___ ' s largest state with a total land area of 2 , 529 , 875 square kilometres ( 976 , 790 sq mi ), and the second - largest country subdivision in the world  however , a significant part of it is sparsely populated . The state has about 2 . 6 million inhabitants , around 11 % of the national total . 92 % of the population lives in the south - west corner of the state .