"Tim923" wrote in message
...
I've been trying to read up about Australia, but most of the books at the
library are for children. How much of the country is considered outback?

http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Media?id=mp000282

Looking at this map, the east coast, southeast, and Perth look busy, but
most of it looks dead. Looks like at least 2/3rds or 4/5ths dead. What
do you think?


Well, very few people live outside the areas you mentioned.

If you click for the political map, you will see the town of Halls Creek
appears on the map. It has a total population of 1,200 people. Its the
biggest population centre for hundreds of kms, so that is why it is shown.
That might give you an indication of just how few people live in these
areas. (My 12" globe of the earth shows Streaky Bay, where I was brought up,
with a total population of 850 people - I bet not too many towns outside of
Australia with populations of less than 1,000 people get mentioned on a $25,
12" globe of the earth!).

The top (northern) quarter of Australia is actually very fertile with good
rain, and could sustain a large population. This part is not dead, its just
empty ...