Jone


 * Australia ** toc

**Australia** (pronounced [|/əˈstreɪljə/]) is a country in the Southern Hemisphere. It consists of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Australia's official name is "The Commonwealth of Australia". The name "Australia" arrives from the Latin word "Australis" which means southern. The land is also known as the "Land Down Under". The mainland of Australia is divided into five provinces: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

=History=

The Discovery of Australia[[image:Australia,_General_Info(3).JPG width="221" height="787" align="right"]]
It is estimated that the first humans that came to Australia arrived for more then 42-48,000 years ago [3], and spread across the entire continent. The first recorded European to discover Australia was the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. During the 17th century the Dutch charted most of the western and northern coastline. They called the continent New Holland. Even though the Dutch discovered the continent, they never did an attempt at settlement. 164 years after Janszoon discovered Australia, the English captain James Cook charted the eastern side of Australia, named it New South Wales and claimed it for Great Britain [4]. Cook's discoveries made it possible to establish a new penal colony [Def. 1] . A settlement was started at Port Jackson in New South Wales, under the lead of Captain Arthur Phillip, the 26th of January 1788, later known as Australia's national day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825. The rest of Australia was officially claimed by Great Britain in 1828.

The End of Convict Transport
The separate colonies where created from New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria 1851 and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was not founded until 1911, when it was excided from South Australia. Unlike New South Wales, South Australia was founded as a "Free province" which means they didn't receive the criminals from Great Britain, but was founded by free people who moved "down under" of free will. The transport of prisoners to New South Wales was stopped in 1848.

The Indigenous Australians
When the Europeans arrived, the population of the indigenous Australians was estimated to be 350,000 [5]. The following 150 years, the population declined steeply. This is mainly because of diseases [6]. "The Stolen Generation" (Removal of Aboriginal [Def. 2] children) may have contributed to the decline of the indigenous population."The Stolen Generation has been looked upon by historians like Henry Reynolds as a possible genocide by some definitions [7]

The Gold Rush and the Foundation of the Commonwealth
In the early 1850s the immigration to Australia started to take off. This is because it was discovered gold. Already in 1854 the miners at the Eureka Stockade rebelled because of the mining licensed fees. The rebellion was crushed by authorities but was an early expression of civil disobedience.

Between 1855 and 1890 the individual colonies gained their own responsible government, and began to control most of their own affairs, but remained under British rule. Colonial officials in London, continued to control some affairs, like the Foreign affairs, defense and International shipping.

1st of January, 1901. The Federation of the colonies was successful, after a decade of planning, organizing and voting. This became known as the Commonwealth of Australia, and became a dominion [Def 3] of the British Empire in 1907. In addition to the federation of the colonies, "The Federal Capital Territory" (Later renamed "The Australian Capital Territory") where formed from a part of New South Wales to provide a location for the federal capital Canberra, in 1911. Melbourne seated the government from 1901 to 1927, While the city was built. In 1914 they joined World War I, with support from both the Liberal Party and the Labor Party. The fought in many major battles on the Western Front [8]. Australia also joined World War II. When the British were defeated in Asia in 1942, and of fear out of a Japanese invasion, Australia turned to the United States of America as a new ally. Australia and USA have been military allies since 1951.

=See Also= New Zealand

=Definitions=

[Def. 1] Penal colony - A penal colony is a colony where criminals are deported to. More information. [Def. 2] Aboriginals - Aboriginals is the native inhabitants of Australia. More information. [Def. 3] Dominion - A country under British sovereignty. More Information.

=Reference=

[a] CIA World Factbook (NA) Rank 6 [b] CIA World Factbook (est. July 2009) Rank 54
 * 1) Demonyms - Names of Nationalities Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 2) Demonyms, or what you call a person from... Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 3) R. Gillespie. "Dating the First Australians" (2002) Radiocarbon 44:455-472. Dating the First Australians Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 4) The Birth of the Commonwealth of Nations Know-britain.com. Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 5) L. Smith (1980), The Aboriginal Population of Australia, Australia National University Press, Canberra Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 6) Smallpox Through History Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 7) Tatz, Collin (1999), Genocide in Australia AIATSIS Research Discussion Papers No. 8. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Retrieved 2009-12-17
 * 8) The First World War, 1914-18 Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2009-12-17

=Links=

Wikipedia.com/Australia Wikimedia Atlas of Australia About Australia from the Department of Foregin Affairs and Trade Government of Australia Entry Point Australian Bureau of Statistics Australia Entry at the World Factbook