LESSON: Introduction to Australia

Objective: In this lesson, we will be able to:

 Know about the Nation of Australia

 Appreciate the rich history and geography of Australia
 Understand the implication of Australia’s past and present to its society

I. General information

 Official name: The Commonwealth of Australia

What’s a Commonwealth?

A COMMONWEALTH is a democratic republic under the direct supervision of

another sovereign nation. In this case, Australia is a federal democratic republic
country directly in supervision of (or at least adopting) the constitution of the
United Kingdom.

 Australia as a nation is composed of Mainland Australia, Tasmania, and the other

islands in the territory.
 Canberra is the nation’s capital, with major cities such as Sydney (the biggest city),
Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, and Darwin.
 Australia is under the domain of the monarchy of the United Kingdom as a
commonwealth of the Crown. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II
 Governor General: David Hurley
 Prime minister: Scott Morrison

II. Geography

 Considered the biggest island of the world, Australia has a total land area of
7,692,024 km2
 Australia is part of the continental region called Oceania. It is bordered by the South
Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
 The Australian coastline, the longest in Oceania, is 34,218 km long
 Countries neighbouring Australia include:
o North: Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea
o East: Vanuatu, Solomon Islands
o Southeast: New Zealand
 Australia is composed of seven (67 states namely (capital cities in parentheses):
o New South Wales (Sydney)
o Queensland (Brisbane)
o South Australia (Adelaide)
 o Tasmania (Holbert)
o Victoria (Melbourne)
o Western Australia (Perth)
o Northern Territory (Darwin)

III. History

 Humans have existed in Australian since 65,000 years ago

 Aboriginal Australians are one of the oldest aborigines in the world
 European settlers came to the island of Australia with the Dutch arriving in 1606
 Captain James Cook sailed the east coast of Australia and claimed it for the British
Crown
 The British Crown lost the American colonies in 1783 and had to seek land for a penal
colony. On January 26 1788 the flag was raised in Sydney Cove, Port Jackson. This
date is now commemorated as “Australia Day”.
 European exploration of inner Australian territory started in 1813, thus spreading the
realm of the British Crown to the Australian continent
 The Commonwealth of Australia was established as a commonwealth under the
dominion of the British Crown in January 1, 1909.
 Australia joined World War I in 1914. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
(ANZACs) was defeated at Gallipoli peninsula and it was the birth of nationalism for
the Australians.
 The Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, ending the constitutional link
between the United Kingdom and Australia.
 After World War II the Australian government encouraged immigration from
different countries, thus shaping the social fabric of Australia in the 20th and 21st
Century.