Australia History

The Australian history is estimated to have begun in around 42,000 and 48,000 years ago with inhabitants of around 250 individual nations of Indigenous Australian’s estimated between 318,000 and 750,00 with the majority living in the south-east centred along the Murray River. With the European explorations and settlement’s in around the 18th century, most areas of Australian continent was inhabited by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people where their traditions, customs and language where changing from region to region with spiritual values based on belief of Dreamtime and having reverence for the land.  


Europeans

In March 1606 was the first recorded European contact with Australian coast line where Willem Janszoon the Dutch explorer charted the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland and this lead to more explorations by the Europeans back then it was known as New Holland but in 1688 William Dampier was the first British explorer to land on the Australian North West coast and in 1770 Captain James Cook aboard the Endeavour and extended a scientific voyage to the South Pacific in order to claim Australia for the British Crown where the discoveries prepared the way for establishment of a new penal colony. On 26th of January 1788 arrival of first fleet of 11 ships witch carried about 1500 people half of them convicts entered Australian soil and these are the beginning days of celebrating National Australia Day where the British Crown Colony of New South Wales began a settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillips and following claims of Tasmanian in 1803, Western Australia in 1829, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, Queensland in 1859 and northern Territory founded in 1911.

In the 1850s the gold rush began and soon after in 1868 witch ended the panel of transporting convicts to Australia and immigration started from England, Scotland, Ireland and many other European country’s and were stepping foot on Australian shows for the wool and gold rush and finally the formation of The Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 with the federation of six states under a single constitution. Now Australia is a developed country that continues to grow and change being the six largest country in the world with major cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra

Capital – Canberra
Largest City – Sydney
Government – Federal Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General – Quentin Bryce
Prime Minister – Kevin Rudd

Independence – From the United Kindom
Constitution – 1 January 1901
Statute of Westminster – 11 December 1931
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act – 9 Oct 1942 with effect from 3 Sep 1939
Australian Act – 3 March 1986
Total land area – 7,686,850 km²
Population – 21,884,016 est 2009