澳大利亚 àodàlìyà

Inspired by Dear Dim Sum's post about “Old Gold Mountain” I started thinking about hanzi for countries and cites. So I had a look at the hanzi for Australia.

澳

大

利

亚 

àodàlìyà

Pulling it apart

澳 ào means deep bay / cove / harbor. For a mnemonic I am thinking Botany Bay in Sydney, one of many deep harbours in Australia.

大 means dà big, great, vast, large, high. Second mnemonic the vast Simpson Desert.

利 lì means gains, advantage, profit, merit. Third mnemonic is that coal (and other raw materials) Australia sells to China for profit.

亚 yà means Asia; second. Final mnemonic is that geographically Australia is part of Asia. 

澳大利亚 àodàlìyà