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For about 50,000 years[13] before the first British settlement in the late 18th century,[14][15] Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians,[16] who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups.[17][18] After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia’s eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. The population of 24 million[5] is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.[19]
Australia has the world’s 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income (IMF).[20] With the second-highest human development index globally, the country ranks highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and civil liberties and political rights.[21] Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the Pacific Islands Forum.The name Australia (pronounced [əˈstɹæɪljə, -liə] in Australian English[22]) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis (“southern land”) a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times.[23] The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in “A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Sir Richard Hakluyt”, published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name “Austrialia del Espíritu Santo” (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit)[24][25][26] for an island in Vanuatu.[27] The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south.[28] The first time that the name Australia appears to have been officially used was in a despatch to Lord Bathurst of 4 April 1817 in which Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledges the receipt of Matthew Flinders’ charts of Australia.[29] On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted.[30] In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.[3province”—it was never a penal colony.[44] Victoria and Western Australia were also founded “free”, but later accepted transported convicts.[45][46] 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.[47]
The indigenous population, estimated to have been between 750,000 and 1,000,000 in 1788,[48] declined for 150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectious disease.[49] Thousands more died as a result of frontier conflict with settlers.[50] A government policy of “assimilation” beginning with the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 resulted in the removal of many Aboriginal children from their families and communities—often referred to as the Stolen Generations—a practice which may also have contributed to the decline in the indigenous population.[51] The Federal government gained the power to make laws with respect to Aborigines following the 1967 referendum.[52] Traditional ownership of land—aboriginal title—was not recognised until 1992, when the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the legal doctrine that Australia had been terra nullius (“land belonging to no one”) before the European occupation.[53]
Colonial expansion
A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s[54] and the Eureka Rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an early expression of civil disobedience.[55] Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government, managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.[56] The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs,[57] defence,[58] and international shipping.
Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides state legislation only in areas that are set out in Section 51 of the Australian Constitution; state parliaments retain all residual.