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Australia at night. Satellite image of the Earth at night, set against a background of stars, centred on the island continent of Australia. North is at top. City lights (yellow) show areas of dense population. Most of Australia is an uninhabited desert, with the main population centres in the south-east and along the eastern coast. Antarctica (bottom centre) is uninhabited. Other population centres include New Zealand (lower right), Pacific islands (far right), Japan (top centre) and South-East Asia (upper left). New Guinea (above Australia) is less developed than Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to its west. Image data obtained in 2001 by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/NASA/NOAA)