How many states are there in Australia?

Australia comprises the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country.

It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rain- forests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

The Commonwealth of Australia constitutionally consists of six federated states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia) and ten federal territories out of which three are internal territories (the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory) contiguous to the Australian mainland; and the other seven are external territories (Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island), which are offshore dependent territories. Every state and internal territory (except the Jervis Bay Territory) is self-governing with its own independent executive government.