Australia is the sixth largest country in the world and the only one that covers a whole continent. The largest state, Western Australia, is about the same size as Western Europe. Despite its size, Australia has a small population at just over 23 million. Today, the indigenous or native people of Australia, the Aborigines, make up nearly 3% of the total population. The rest is a mix of many different cultures. As well as being a big country, Australia is home to some of the world’s biggest things: Uluru, the largest rock in the world; the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system; and the saltwater crocodile, the world’s biggest reptile. Not content with naturally occurring big things, the Australians have actually built a number of ‘Big Things’ themselves as tourist attractions, including the Big Banana, the Big Merino and, the biggest of all Australia’s Big Things, Larry the Lobster.