What is the smallest continent on Earth?

Australia is the smallest continent on Earth.

In the familiar seven-continent model, Australia ranks below Europe by land area. The continent covers roughly 8.56 million square kilometres and includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and several nearby islands on the Australian continental shelf.

A common mix-up is confusing Australia with Oceania. Australia is the continent, while Oceania is a broader geographic region that also includes Pacific island groups such as Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Australia is also often called an “island continent” because the country occupies most of its landmass.

During the last ice age, lower sea levels connected mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea into the larger landmass of Sahul. Rising seas later separated them. Australia is also Earth’s lowest and flattest continent, and much of it lies on the relatively stable Australian Plate.