Australia official form - the Australian Union - the state in the Southern Hemisphere, occupying the mainland Australia, the island of Tasmania and several islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is the sixth state in terms of area in the world. Australia is one of the developed countries, the 13th largest economy in the world, and has the sixth place in the world in terms of GDP per capita. With the second largest human development index, Australia ranks high in many areas, such as the quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, the protection of civil liberties and political rights.