Where does Australia end? Australia is famously an island continent so it seems like an easy question, but it’s actually a bit complex. The problem isn’t the Australian mainland, which definitely ends at its coastline, but rather which of Australia’s neighboring islands are actually part of the continent. In terms of biology, geology, and oceanography, Australia could extend far beyond its mainland – potentially even halfway into Indonesia. Let’s Explore!

About the warning: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/i...

End music: Waltzing Matilda

Chapters:

0:00 Intro
0:33 The Torres Strait
2:04 The Sahul Shelf
4:03 The Wallace Line & Lombok Strait
5:47 Sulawesi & Wallacea
7:07 All the other directions
9:12 Conclusion

Corrections:

7:41 Macquarie Island is pronounced "Muh-KWA-ree" island

Citations:

Bass Strait: https://archive.org/details/biostor-2...
Torres Strait: https://www.deepreef.org/2023/12/23/n...
"The Malay Archipelago: the land of the orang-utan, and the bird of paradise" - Alfred Russel Wallace
First people in Australia: https://digital.library.adelaide.edu....
Cuscus: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/1...
Lombok Strait initiative: https://shipandbunker.com/news/apac/7...
Indonesian Throughflow: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.c...
Macquarie Island: https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topi...
New Zealand Fauna: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2...
Australasian Realm: https://www.oneearth.org/realms/austr...

Image Credits:
Cape York Sign: Gonzo Gooner, CC BY 3.0
Torres Strait Islanders: Tsima Radio4MW, CC BY 2.0
Boigu Dancer: u-tern77, CC BY 2.0
Didgeridoo Player: Official Nambassa Photographer, CC BY 2.5
Papua New Guinea Children: Amy Bauer, CC BY 2.5
Papuan women: Jeremy Weate, CC BY 2.0
Aceh Dancers: SuperSomebodies, CC BY 3.0
Kakadu Rock Art: Photo by Phil Whitehouse, CC BY 2.0
Footage and data from GPlates: CC BY 3.0
Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo: Tim Williams, CC BY 2.0
Moluccan King Parrot: Helsinki***, CC BY 2.0
White Bellied Woodpecker: Sriniketana, CC BY 3.0
Strait of Malacca congestion: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0
Anoa, Sulawesi Bear Cuscus: Sakurai Midori, CC BY 3.0
Sulawesi Geology map: Macrostrat, CC BY 4.0
Sulawesi mountain: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0
Duvaucel's Gecko: Jennifer Moore, CC BY 3.0
Eastern Stone Gecko: Matt, CC BY 2.0
New Zealand Short Tailed Bat: Colin O'Donnell, CC BY 4.0
Marsupial map: Michal Klajban, CC BY 4.0
Monito del Monte: José Luis Bartheld, CC BY 2.0