Australia, officially the Federal States of Australia, is a federal presidential parliamentary constitutional republic in the southern Pacific Ocean. The majority of the nation consists of the two eastern thirds of the Australian continent. Nine contiguous states cover this area. The island of Tasmania also forms part of Australia, separated from the mainland by Bass Strait. Aotearoa, consisting of two large island and several smaller ones, is also an Australian state, lying approximately 2,000 km south-east of the Australian mainland, across the Tasman Sea. To the north of Australia, across the Torres Strait, is the states of Papua and New Guinea, consisting of half the island of New Guinea and numerous small islands. The country has a number of insular external territories, mostly in the