Outback
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The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a number of climatic zones, including tropical and monsoonal climates in northern areas, arid areas in the "red centre" and semi-arid and temperate climates in southerly regions. The total population is estimated at 607,000 people.
View across sand plains and salt pans to Mount Conner, Central Australia
Tourism sign post in Yalgoo, Western Australia
MacDonnell Ranges in the Northern Territory are found in the centre of the mainland
Fitzgerald River National Park in Western Australia
The bush
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"The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with hinterland or backwoods respectively, referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this area may be mostly indigenous to the region, although exotic species will often also be present.
The Australian bush
Frederick McCubbin's 1889 painting Down on His Luck shows a swagman camping in the bush. McCubbin and other members of the Heidelberg School art movement depicted the bush in many of their paintings, contributing to its mythological status within Australian culture.
New Zealand's bush is variable in appearance, but generally the term connotes densely forested areas, like this one around Lake Gunn in Fiordland.
Icons of the Australian bush: bracken, corrugated iron, eucalyptus leaves, banksia, bramble, felt hat, billy, stockwhip and elastic-side boots