History of Australia

Australia is one of the continent on this world. Australia has 7,683,300 square kilometers . Australia is one of the smaller continent if it is compared with the other continents on this world. Australia is fourth continent. The location of Australia is 3515 S , 14928 E and south of this world exactly south of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The capital, Canberra, is located in the southeast corner of the nation and lies approximately halfway between the 2 largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. The population of Australia is more 25 million populations. Australia is a commonwealth country because this country was ex-colony of Britain. Australia uses English as a national language. This country has monarchy constitutional as form of government. Australia has special animal such as kangaroo, koala, walabi and etc. The name of Australia is derived from Latin australis has a meaning southern. Legends of Terra Australis Incognita an "unknown land of the South" date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography, although not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. Following European discovery, names for the Australian landmass were often references to the famed Terra Australis. The first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of Australia in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. James Cook's discoveries prepared the way for establishment of a new penal colony. Captain Arthur Phillip led the First Fleet into Port Jacksonon 26 January 1788.[44] This date became Australia's national day, Australia Day although the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was not formally promulgated until 7 February 1788. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825.[45] The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Western Australia (the Swan River Colony) in 1828.

Separate colonies were found from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free province" it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free", but later accepted transported convicts. A campaign by the settlers of New South Wales led to the end of convict transportation to that colony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848. A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an early expression of civil disobedience. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire. The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs, defence, and international shipping. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation, and voting. The Commonwealth of Australia was established and it became a dominion of the British Empire in 1907. The Indigenous Australian or called Aborigin is a human habitation of Australian continent. It was estimated arrived in Australia 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. They usually hunter to find some foods or called hunter-gatherer. They established spiritual and artistic traditions and also utilized stone technologies. At the time of first European contact, it has been estimated the existing population was at least 350,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained. The greatest population density developed in the southern and eastern regions, the River Murray valley in particular. Aborigines lived and utilised resources on the continent sustainably, agreeing to cease hunting and gathering at particular times to give populations and resources the chance to replenish. "Firestick farming" amongst northern Australian people was used to encourage plant growth that attracted animals. Aborigines were amongst the oldest, most sustainable and most isolated cultures on Earth prior to European settlement.