Australia is approximately 7.6 million square kilometres with a population of approximately 26 million. This compares to the United States of America which is approximately 9.8 million square kilometres with a population of approximately 328 million, and the United Kingdom which is approximately 0.24 million square kilometres and a population of 63.2 million (2011).

Two characteristics of the distribution of Australian’s population is that it is highly metropolitan with approximately 66% of the population living in one of the 8 capital cities, and the majority of the population lives on the eastern seaboard.

Australian Atlas

A number of years ago Hema released the Australian Motorcycle Atlas which is the perfect size to stick in the topbox. While I think the majority of riders now heavily rely on Google maps and GPS units there is still something about a paper map. The added advantage of the Motorcycle Atlas is that includes 200 top rides from around Australia complied by Peter ‘The Bear’ Thoeming who has been the editor of various Australian magazines over the years. These rides are often referred to “Bears top 200”.

Roads that I have ridden in Australian