What is the closest country to Australia?
The closest country to Australia is not New Zealand – it’s Papua New Guinea. At the closest point between the two countries, Papua New Guinea is less than 4km away.
Australia is a huge country, and the largest country in the world without a land border. But there are plenty of misconceptions about Australian geography.
One the big misconceptions is that Australia is close to New Zealand. Some assume that New Zealand is part of Australia, or that the countries are basically right next to each other.
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But the Sydney to Auckland flight time is three hours. And that’s pretty much the quickest flight between the two countries.
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Is New Zealand the closest country to Australia?
New Zealand is nowhere near the closest country to Australia, apart from under one measurement. That is using distance between capital cities.
The Australian capital city is Canberra, in the south of the country and a long way from any other country. The nearest capital to Canberra is Wellington in New Zealand, which is 2,325km away as the crow flies.
Tick off 9 Australian bucket list experiences
- Take Blue Mountains day tour from Sydney – with kangaroo-feeding at a wildlife park, Scenic World tickets and a Parramatta River cruise.
- Snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
- Do Australia’s most spectacular drive on a Great Ocean Road day tour from Melbourne.
- Drive along the beach on a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island, the world’s biggest sand island.
- Have a dune-top barbecue dinner and stargazing session in the shadow of Uluru.
- See penguins on Phillip Island – and more native wildlife at the Moonlit Sanctuary – on a day trip from Melbourne.
- Go snorkelling, sandboarding and kayaking on Moreton Island from Brisbane.
- Meet gloriously cute quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth with a ferry and bike hire package.
- Kayak with dolphins in Byron Bay.
How close is Australia to Papua New Guinea?
However, a cursory look at the map of Australia makes it very obvious that other countries are closer to Australia than New Zealand. In particular, if you look to the north, there are much closer options.
The closest part of Australia to another country is Saibai Island in the Torres Strait. From Saibai Island, you can see Papua New Guinea.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Saibai Island is effectively a continental island separated from the Papua New Guinea coast. At their closest points, Saibai Island and Papua New Guinea are approximately 3.8km apart.
From the northernmost point of the Australian mainland, Cape York, Papua New Guinea is about 150km away.
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