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Introduction
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. They settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with European maritime exploration. The Dutch were the first known Europeans to reach Australia, in 1606. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales. By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986.
Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories: the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia; the major mainland Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory; and other minor or external territories. Its population of nearly 27 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, which each possess a population of at least one million inhabitants. Australian governments have promoted multiculturalism since the 1970s. Australia is culturally diverse and has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy, which generates its income from various sources: predominantly services (including banking, real estate and international education) as well as mining, manufacturing and agriculture. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.
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Selected biography -
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is the only contemporary art museum in the country with a permanent collection?
- ... that the 2022 Optus data breach affected over a third of Australians?
- ... that in 2010, Lauren Mitchell became the first Australian female artistic gymnast to win a world title?
- ... that Australian Madeleine Steere played water polo professionally in Turkey after studying biomolecular science in the United States?
- ... that Monique Ryan ran for election to the Parliament of Australia after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper calling for an independent candidate?
- ... that the dominant species in the Iron-grass Natural Temperate Grassland of South Australia are often not grasses at all?
- ... that BoysTown was reported as having the largest case of child abuse in Australia's history?
- ... that audience members interrogated suspects in an Australian Cluedo game show based on the board game?
In the news
- 10 June 2024 – Israel–Hamas war
- The United States Consulate General in Sydney, Australia, is vandalized by a pro-Palestinian activist. (NBC News)
- 22 May 2024 – 2024 New Caledonia unrest
- Australia and New Zealand begin evacuating their citizens from New Caledonia amid civil unrest. (AP)
- 9 May 2024 – Australia–Tuvalu relations
- Australia and Tuvalu sign a new security agreement, whereby Australia agrees to protect Tuvalu during natural disasters, pandemics, or military aggression. (AP)
- 5 May 2024 – Terrorism in Australia
- A man is injured in a stabbing at a car park in Perth, Australia. The 16-year-old perpetrator is killed by police officers and is described as a "religious radicalized individual". A possible Islamist motive is behind the attack. (DW)
- 3 May 2024 –
- Mexican authorities locate the bodies of three tourists, one American and two Australians, in Baja California, where they were reported missing in April. Three people have been arrested and are being questioned in relation to the case. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- 28 April 2024 –
- Nicole Kidman becomes the first Australian to earn the AFI Life Achievement Award for her contribution to American cinema. (Rolling Stone)
Selected pictures -
On this day
![Charles Sturt c. 1849](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/CharlesSturt.jpg/80px-CharlesSturt.jpg)
- 1792 – Major Sir Thomas Livingston Mitchell, surveyor and explorer of south-eastern Australia, was born.
- 1869 – Explorer Charles Sturt died.
- 1884 – The South Australian government of John Bray lost a no confidence motion over the introduction of a new tax and Bray was replaced as premier by the opposition leader John Colton.
- 1906 – The town of Roma, Queensland becomes the first town in Australia to be lit and powered by natural gas, however the gas reserve only lasts ten days.
- 1936 – Charles Perkins, Aboriginal activist is born.
- 1950 – Butter rationing ends.
- 1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer dies.
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Consider joining WikiProject Australia, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to Australia. The project page and its subpages contain suggestions on formatting and style of articles, which can be discussed at the project's notice board. To participate, simply add your name to the project members page.
As of 15 June 2024, there are 203,407 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 596 are featured and 878 are good articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.48% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.21% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etcetera, there are 519,162 pages in the project.
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