Australian Alps

Australian Alps Australia
Mount Feathertop, Victoria
The interim Australian bioregions, with the Australian Alps in red
Area	12,330 km2 (4,760.6 sq mi)
State electorate(s)	Benambra Brindabella Gippsland East Monaro Ovens Valley
Federal division(s)	Eden-Monaro Gippsland
Localities around Australian Alps: NSW South Western Slopes South Eastern Highlands South Eastern Highlands Riverina Australian Alps South East Corner Victorian Midlands South East Coastal Plain South East Corner

The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an interim Australian bioregion,^[1][2] and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of 1,232,981 ha (3,046,760 acres).^[3]

The Australian Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range, the series of mountain and hill ranges and tablelands that runs about 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from northern Queensland, through New South Wales, and into the northern part of Victoria.^[4] This chain of highlands divides the drainage of the rivers that flow to the east into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow west into the drainage of the Murray–Darling Basin (and thence to the Southern Ocean) or into inland waters, such as Lake Eyre, which lie below sea level, or else evaporate rapidly.

The Australian Alps consist of two biogeographic sub regions: the Snowy Mountains, including the Brindabella Range, located in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory; and the Victorian Alps, located in Victoria. The latter region is also known as the "High Country", particularly within a cultural or historical context.