Great Dividing RangeRuns parallel to the east coast, from Queensland to Victoria.
Australian AlpsThe highest range on the mainland, in the southeast.
Blue MountainsA range in New South Wales, west of Sydney.
Flinders RangesSouth Australia's largest mountain ranges.
MacDonnell RangesParallel ridges west and east of Alice Springs.
Hamersley RangeA mountainous part of the Pilbara in Western Australia.
Kimberley PlateauIn the Kimberley, the northernmost region of Western Australia.
Barkly TablelandGrassland in the Northern Territory, reaching into western Queensland.
Deserts, the plain and the basin 7
Great Victoria DesertAustralia's largest desert, in Western Australia and South Australia.
Great Sandy DesertAustralia's second largest desert, in the northwest.
Tanami DesertA desert in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Simpson DesertHome of Earth's longest parallel sand dunes.
Gibson DesertA desert in Western Australia, south of the Great Sandy.
Nullarbor PlainA flat, almost treeless limestone plain on the southern coast.
Great Artesian BasinWater held underground beneath about a fifth of Australia.
Rivers and salt lakes 7
Murray RiverAustralia's longest river, rising in the Australian Alps.
Darling RiverJoins the Murray River at Wentworth.
Lachlan RiverA New South Wales river in the Murray–Darling basin.
Fitzroy RiverFlows through the West Kimberley in Western Australia.
Ord RiverA Kimberley river, dammed to make Lake Argyle.
Lake EyreOfficially Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre. Holds Australia's lowest natural point.
Lake TorrensA salt lake in South Australia that is usually dry.
Peninsulas, islands and the reef 6
Cape York PeninsulaEnds at Cape York, the mainland's northernmost point.
Arnhem LandThe northeastern corner of the Northern Territory.
TasmaniaAn island state, south of the mainland across Bass Strait.
Kangaroo IslandAustralia's third-largest island, off South Australia.
Great Barrier ReefEarth's largest coral reef system, off Queensland.
Shark BayA World Heritage bay at the mainland's westernmost point.
Seas, gulfs and straits 9
Indian OceanThe ocean west of Australia.
Coral SeaOff the northeast coast; it holds the Great Barrier Reef.
Tasman SeaLies between Australia and New Zealand.
Timor SeaA shallow sea between Australia and the island of Timor.
Arafura SeaLies between western New Guinea and Australia.
Gulf of CarpentariaNorthern Australia encloses it on three sides.
Great Australian BightA wide open bay along the southern coast.
Bass StraitSeparates Tasmania from the mainland.
Torres StraitThe strait between Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea.
How this list was compiled: Names and outlines: Natural Earth 5.1.2 physical layers (credited under the drawing; they are the drawing, not a name source). Every name and detail line was read on 2026-10-01 in the opening of the feature's English Wikipedia article. Second source, official, read 2026-10-01: Geoscience Australia, the national geoscience agency (https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/landforms/deserts for the five deserts and their rank by area; .../landforms/longest-rivers for the River Murray, the Darling and the Lachlan; .../landforms/largest-waterbodies for Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens and Lake Argyle on the Ord River; .../landforms/islands for Kangaroo Island; .../landforms/australian-landforms-and-their-history for the Great Divide, the Kimberley and Hamersley plateaus, the Nullarbor Plain, the MacDonnell Ranges, Cape York Peninsula and West Arnhem Land; .../landforms/highest-mountains for the Great Dividing Range and the Australian Alps; .../dimensions/continental-extremities for Cape York, Torres Strait, the Coral Sea, the Gulf of Carpentaria and Shark Bay; https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/marine/jurisdiction/australia for the Indian Ocean and the Timor, Arafura and Coral Seas; https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/water/groundwater/gab for the Great Artesian Basin) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book Australia 2012, Geography of Australia (https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1301.0~2012~Main%20Features~Geography%20of%20Australia~12: the Blue Mountains, the Flinders Ranges, Bass Strait, the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania, the Hamersley and Macdonnell Ranges). The Great Australian Bight: Parks Australia (https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/parks/south-west/great-australian-bight/). The Tasman Sea: the Marine Regions gazetteer of the Flanders Marine Institute, which follows the sea areas of the International Hydrographic Organization (https://www.marineregions.org/rest/getGazetteerRecordsByName.json/Tasman%20Sea/). The Barkly Tableland, Arnhem Land and the Fitzroy River of Western Australia: the GeoNames gazetteer (https://www.geonames.org/search.html?q=Barkly+Tableland&country=AU and the same search for the other two). All read 2026-10-01. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_geography_regions_polys (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_geography_regions_polys.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_geography_marine_polys (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_geography_marine_polys.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_geography_marine_polys (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_geography_marine_polys.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19; from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_rivers_lake_centerlines (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_rivers_lake_centerlines.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 26.5°S 134°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This Australia blank physical map prints the continent with no state lines: ranges, tablelands, deserts, five rivers, two salt lakes and the seas around the coast. Choose Numbered for a worksheet, or Named for the labeled map.
Read the full guide
Blank, numbered or named
The sheet opens blank: the coast, the shaded ranges and deserts, the river lines and the seas, with nothing written on it. Numbered puts a number on each of the 37 features, and Named writes the names instead. Press Print this map; the answer key prints on a sheet of its own.
Shapes that lie on other shapes
The Australian Alps and the Blue Mountains are small shapes on the Great Dividing Range, and the Simpson Desert and Lake Eyre lie on the Great Artesian Basin. In the quiz, a tap counts for the shape on top. Six small features, among them Kangaroo Island and Shark Bay, carry their number in a ring beside them.
Down the west, north to south: Great Sandy, Gibson, Great Victoria. The Tanami lies east of the Great Sandy.
Bass Strait lies between Tasmania and the mainland; Torres Strait is at the far north.
Questions and answers
What are the main deserts of Australia?
Geoscience Australia ranks the Great Victoria Desert first by area, then the Great Sandy, Tanami, Simpson and Gibson. All five are on this map. The ten largest deserts together cover about 18 percent of the mainland.
What is the longest river in Australia?
The Murray River, at 2,508 kilometers. The Darling River, which joins it at Wentworth, is 1,545 kilometers long by Geoscience Australia's measure, and the Lachlan River 1,339 kilometers.
Is there an Australia physical map blank PDF?
Press Print this map and choose Save as PDF in your browser's print window. The blank, numbered and named sheets each save the same way.
Is there an Australia physical map quiz?
Yes. Press Quiz yourself on this map. Each question names one feature to tap on the same drawing.