Portal:Australia
Showcase | Content | Interesting facts | Contributing |
Introduction
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.
Featured article -
Australia first competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every games since, with the exception of the 1948 Games in St. Moritz. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Issy Smith VC (c. 18 September 1890 – 11 September 1940) was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to eligible forces of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom. In recognition of his VC, he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Russian Cross of St. George (4th class) by the respective governments. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Anna Burke was the second woman to give birth while a member of the Australian House of Representatives?
- ... that in the 1920s, Australian journalist E. George Marks predicted military conflict in the Pacific between Japan and the United States?
- ... that on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia, the George Roper ran aground and was wrecked?
- ... that St Mary's Anglican Church, Busselton, Australia, has been a part of six dioceses, namely Canterbury, Calcutta, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Bunbury?
- ... that the search for a lost radioactive capsule along a 1,400-kilometre (870 mi) stretch of road in Western Australia was likened to looking for a needle in a haystack?
- ... that the only ever hijacking of a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft began at Baucau Airport, East Timor, in 1975?
- ... that Collingwood coach Robert Harvey gave Anton Tohill his AFL debut in 2021, having played International Rules Series against Tohill's father in the 1990s?
- ... that Australia's most threatened butterfly is confined to a native range of less than 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi)?
In the news
- 30 July 2024 –
- Rex Airlines, Australia's third-largest airline, suspends all domestic Boeing 737 flights and enters voluntary administration. (AFR)
- 30 July 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics
- Several athletes test positive for COVID-19, including Australian swimmer Lani Pallister, forcing her to withdraw from the 1500 metre freestyle swimming event. (Al Arabiya)
- 29 July 2024 –
- Sakina Muhammad Jan becomes the first person to be jailed under Australia's forced marriage laws after ordering her 21-year-old daughter to marry a man who later murdered her. (BBC News)
- 28 July 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Several nations, including the United States, Australia and multiple European nations, release travel advisories urging all their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, and for those residing there to leave as soon as possible in anticipation of an Israeli attack against Hezbollah. (Anadolu Ajansı)
- 13 July 2024 – Australia–Russia relations
- Russia accuses Australia of inciting "anti-Russian paranoia" after Australia charges a Russian-born Australian couple with espionage. (Reuters)
- 10 July 2024 –
- Two Australian tourists and a Filipino woman are killed during a mass stabbing at a hotel in Tagaytay, Philippines. (AP)
Selected pictures -
On this day
- 1915 – The Battle of Lone Pine begins on Gallipoli, seven Australians are awarded the Victoria Crosses for this battle.
- 1919 – Harry Butler made the first air flight over a major body of water in Australia.
- 1951 – Entertainer Daryl Somers is born.
- 1986 – Retailers Coles & Co and Myer Pty Ltd amalgamate.
- 1986 – A record 328 millimetres of rain is dumped on Sydney, New South Wales in a single day. The resulting floods kill six people.
- 1996 – Australian census takes place.
General images
Topics
Categories
More portals
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 6 August 2024, there are 204,120 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 593 are featured and 882 are good articles. This makes up 2.97% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.41% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.2% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 521,330 pages in the project.
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus