Geographical Names: Australia

In this exercise you are asked to write 'the' or '-' if the article is not required. Fill in ALL the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers.

Articles with Geographical Names

1. The names of countries do not take 'the' unless they contain either a preposition or the words 'Kingdom", 'State/s', 'Union', Commonwealth' or 'Republic':
Australia - The Commonwealth of Australia
America - The United States of America
China - The People's Republic of China
However, there is an exception: The Netherlands (but Holland)

2. The names of cities, towns and continents are used without articles:
Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Europe, Africa
The only exception would be the Hague (in the Netherlands!).

3. We also say The north, The south, The west, The east, The North Pole
However, when these words indicate direction 'the' is not needed:
The expedition moved north.

4. Mountains and islands
The names of groups of islands and ranges of mountains are used with 'the':
The Alps; the Hebrides
Single mountains and islands do not take the article:
Everest; Norfolk Island

5. The names of waterways (oceans, rivers, seas, channels and canals) are usually used with 'the':
The Darling river; The Pacific Ocean; The Mediterranean Sea
Australia is an island continent located south-east of Asia. It forms with the nearby island of Tasmania, Commonwealth of Australia, a self-governing member of the Commonwealth of Nations. continent is bounded on north by Timor Sea, Arafura Sea, and Torres Strait; on east by Coral Sea and Tasman Sea; on south by Bass Strait and Indian Ocean; and on west by Indian Ocean.
Commonwealth extends for about 4025 km from east to west and for about 3700 km from north to south. Its coastline measures some 36,735 km.
The area of Commonwealth is 7,682,292 sq km and the area of continent alone is 7,614,500 sq km, making Australia the smallest continent in the world, but the sixth largest country.
Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, and two territories - Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.
The external dependencies of Australia are Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Islands, Territory of Cocos islands (also called Keeling Islands, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island.

"Australia," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2003 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.