Average Australian Geography Quiz | 10 Questions | Geography

Answer: The only reliable source of water for most of inland Australia

The Basin covers an area of 1,700,000 square kilometres throughout much of inland Australia, and is the only permanent supply of water for this very dry part of our country. To put that into perspective, that's almost one quarter the size of Australia. Most of this is in Queensland, the south-east of the Northern Territory, the north-east of South Australia and northern New South Wales.

It holds almost 65,000 cubic kilometres of water and is held under a sandstone layer of the higher ground. Most of the water enters via the higher areas of Queensland and NSW, and then flows south and west underground.

It emerges periodically through a number of springs. For the most part however, it is tapped by drilling down through the rock layers, enabling it to be forced up to the surface by its own pressure.

Answer: It's the flattest continent in the world

Flat-chested we are indeed. At least three-quarters of the land is also desert or semi-arid. Hardly anything grows there at all in fact. Australians like to refer to this as "The Outback". The further out back it is, the better as far as I'm concerned. I prefer the ocean. Only the eastern coast, the south east corner and the south west corner of our beautiful land has a temperate climate and is classed as reasonably fertile. Along the northern strip of the country, known as "The Top End" or Gulf Country, the climate is classed as tropical, while the very top eastern area, known as Cape York Peninsula, consists of tropical rainforest.

Answer: A large inland sea

A few of these men who believed in the existence of this inland sea included Australia's most famous early explorers, Charles Sturt and John Oxley. Others, such as John Eyre, snorted in derision at the idea. Well, the fact is both groups were right to varying degrees. Eons ago, geologists believed that Australia did indeed have a large inland sea, but today there is a huge inland lake located in the centre and desert heart of the country instead. The problem is that although it's approximately 15 metres below sea level - it hardly ever has any water in it. In rainy seasons, those Australian rivers which flow west of the Great Dividing Range head for it, but usually evaporate before they complete the journey. They have filled the lake six times since 1885 however. In exceptionally rainy years in the local area, the lake can also fill to the brim - and this has also been the case on two occasions in the last hundred years.

Geologists believe that the lake once had permanent waters in it, a fact which probably gave rise to the belief of the existence of an inland sea in later times. Amazingly when the lake does fill, fish and bird life abound everywhere. Alas though, even after the rainiest time the lake has known, it quickly dries out once again and returns to its dry salt bed existence, the fish die, and the birds fly away.

Comically, the lake was named after one of the loudest snorters of derision at the idea of an inland sea. Today its known as Lake Eyre.

Answer: Indo-Australian Plate

This plate includes Australia, its surrounding oceans, the Indian sub-continent and its surroundings oceans. It is believed that this Indo-Australian Plate is now in the process of splitting into two separate parts because of the pressure exerted on it by its collision with the Eurasian Plate near the Himalayas. How exciting. One day we'll have our very own plate. Now we just need a mug or two. Why, goodness me, we already have plenty of those.

Answer: No

This range basically runs down the entire eastern coast of Australia. It commences at the north eastern tip of Queensland, runs down through all that state, continues on through New South Wales and finally peters out near the Grampians in western Victoria. Definitely not into Western Australia however, which is on the other side of the country. Calling it a range is perhaps a little grandiose. Parts of it are no more than low hills, and the higher mountains (or hills) are usually no more than 1,600 metres high. Still, considering we're the flattest continent in the world, let's be kind and imagine it is filled with towering majestic peaks. Relatively speaking, it is. Well, sort of. If we squint a little. You could ride a pushbike over it if that's any help.

Answer: Snakes

Snakes give me the creeps. I can't even stand to look at them - and Australia has the delightful honour of possessing the world's most dangerous breeds. We also have monotremes, marsupials and unique and strikingly beautiful birds. These include the kookaburra, a bird with an unusual call like maniacal human cackling, which just about scared the wits out of early convicts when they first heard it echoing eerily through the early mornings of the strange and terrifying land to which they were transported. They thought it was ghostly laughter. The favourite foods of kookaburras are lizards, mice, other small birds, any raw meat - and snakes, bless their little cackling hearts. Don't ever try to pat one of these birds though, should you be lucky enough to ever get unusually close to it. They have razor sharp beaks. Our birds are just so very lovely in this country, that their loveliness can almost steal your breath away.

You might have selected crocodiles for your answer. However these creatures are just as deadly anywhere else in the world and do not specifically single out Australia for displays of extra special ferocity.

Answer: Traditional Aboriginal cuisine

This included native fruits and berries, certain roots, yams, kangaroo, possum, fish, and even insects, such as the larvae of certain moths known as - shudder - witchetty grubs. Big white curly wiggly caterpillars. This was part of the staple diet of Aboriginal desert dwellers in particular. You have no idea how much I'm shuddering right now.

They were eaten either raw and kicking - oh my stars - or lightly cooked in warm ashes. They are said to taste like almonds when eaten raw, or like roast chicken when cooked, with their yellow insides looking like poached eggs. I wouldn't care if they tasted like gold-encrusted chocolate. No way, no how am I munching happily on a grub, either raw or cooked.

Not ever. I don't even like the look of spaghetti.

Answer: The Timor Sea

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia, close by the Timor Sea. It's the NT's most populated city as well, and indeed, the regional centre for the entire Top End of this country. Very definitely isolated from the rest of Australia by the vast distances in our land, Darwin is closer to the capital cities of East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Brunei and Palau than all Australian capital cities.

It's had to be almost rebuilt twice in its history, once following the bombing of the city by Japanese air strikes during the Second World War, and again following the devastation caused by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

Answer: Wine

To be honest, I was really surprised to read that and if I had to name an alcoholic drink this country exported, would have said beer. They practically swim in it here. However, wine it is. The wine industry brings in almost six billion dollars a year to our economy. Australia has over sixty designated wine producing regions, spread over 160,000 hectares of land. Most of them are located in the south of the country in the cooler areas of New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Australia's very early internal economy, because it had no coinage initially, was based greatly on a trade in home made rum. So it looks like we've gone from rum to a wine chaser - with a whole lot of beer providing the main course in between. Ah well, anything is better than witchetty grubs on the menu.

Answer: Sixty percent

Now that does impress me. In fact I think it's downright amazing and is a fact of which Australians should be well and truly proud. Our tertiary graduation rate is among the very highest in OECD countries, and our graduates have contributed many outstanding advances in the world of science, arts and humanities. Onya, Aussies. And to think it all started with the humble witchetty grub.