Portal:Australia
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Introduction
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign 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. 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.
Featured article -
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), also known as the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay, KCMG, KBE, CB, VD (21 December 1864 – 1 October 1930), who often spelt his surname M'Cay, was an Australian general and politician. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Jack Critchley, state parliamentarian then senator for South Australia, was invalided home from the Western Front with "wry neck"?
- ... that the first judgement of 2022 from the High Court of Australia was considered a loss for a labour hire organisation, but a win for labour hire organisations?
- ... that an exhibition match of Australian rules football was contested in London on 28 October 1916 between two teams of elite footballers also serving in the First AIF?
- ... that in 2010, Lauren Mitchell became the first Australian female artistic gymnast to win a world title?
- ... that audience members interrogated suspects in an Australian Cluedo game show based on the board game?
- ... that the memorabilia of Jennie Scott Griffiths, a Texan who died in California, are housed in the National Library of Australia?
- ... that Daviesia devito and D. schwarzenegger are two Australian peas?
- ... that the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is the only contemporary art museum in the country with a permanent collection?
In the news
- 9 May 2024 – Australia–Tuvalu relations
- Australia and Tuvalu sign a new security agreement, where Australia vows to protect Tuvalu in cases of natural disasters, pandemic 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)
- 19 April 2024 – 2024 Iran–Israel conflict
- The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade tells its citizens to leave Israel, citing a high threat of military reprisals and terrorist attacks. (Times of Israel)
- 16 April 2024 – 2024 Wakeley church stabbing
- Australian police say that the stabbing attack at an Assyrian church in Sydney was an Islamic terrorist act. (Reuters)
Selected pictures -
On this day
- 1824 – Opening of Supreme Court in Tasmania.
- 1972 – Homosexual Law Professor George Duncan "drowns" in the Torrens River, Adelaide.
- 1996 – Prime Minister John Howard announces gun controls in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
- 1996 – Floods in southern Queensland & northern New South Wales kill 5 people & causes more than AUD$55 million in farm losses
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WikiProject
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 9 May 2024, there are 202,901 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 593 are featured and 881 are good articles. This makes up 2.97% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.48% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.22% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etcetera, there are 517,796 pages in the project.
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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