Portal:Australia
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Introduction
Kangaroos on a beach -
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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 -
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.Fort Glanville Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia located in Semaphore Park, a seaside suburb of Adelaide consisting of a functional 19th century fort listed on the South Australian Heritage Register and some adjoining land used as a caravan park. The fort was built after more than 40 years of indecision over the defence of South Australia. It was the first colonial fortification in the state and is the best preserved and most functional in Australia. Fort Glanville was designed by Governor Major General Sir William Jervois and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scratchley, both important figures in early Australian colonial defence. When built it was designed to defend both Semaphore's anchorage and shipping entering the Port River from naval attack. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Peter Geoffrey Edwards, AM (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian diplomatic and military historian. Educated at the University of Western Australia and the University of Oxford, Edwards worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Australian National University and the University of Adelaide before being appointed Official Historian and general editor of The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975 in 1982. The nine-volume history was commissioned to cover Australia's involvement in the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and Vietnam War. Edwards spent fourteen years at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) writing two of the volumes, while also researching, editing, and dealing with budget limitations and problems with staff turnover. Since leaving the AWM in 1996, Edwards has worked as a senior academic, scholar and historical consultant. In 2006 his book Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins won the Queensland Premier's History Book Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Ged Kearney represented Batman in the Parliament of Australia from 2018 to 2019?
- ... that Scottish painter Gordon Coutts left Australia without paying maintenance to his estranged wife, but was arrested in New Zealand?
- ... that the blind cave eel is the longest cavefish in Australia?
- ... that David Dexter, who wrote the New Guinea volume in the series Australia in the War of 1939–1945, was a commando who served in East Timor and New Guinea?
- ... that Nicole Kidman is the first Australian to win the Academy Award for Best Actress?
- ... that the only ever hijacking of a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft began at Baucau Airport, East Timor, in 1975?
- ... that in the 1980s, Amanda Villepastour, now an ethnomusicologist at Cardiff University, was the keyboardist in Australian new wave band Eurogliders?
- ... that Lowe Kong Meng imported goods for Chinese miners during the Victorian gold rush and became one of the wealthiest men in Victoria?
In the news
- 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)
- 15 April 2024 – 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations
- Former Australian political staffer Bruce Lehrmann loses his defamation case against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for broadcasting an interview with Lehrmann's former coworker Brittany Higgins in which she claimed that Lehrmann raped her. (The Guardian)
- 15 April 2024 – 2024 Wakeley church stabbing
- Four people are injured, including bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, in a mass stabbing at a church in Sydney, Australia. The perpetrator is arrested. A mob clashes with police outside the church while trying to attack the detained suspect. (Sky News Australia)
- 13 April 2024 – 2024 Bondi Junction stabbings
- Six people are killed and seven others are injured in a mass stabbing at a shopping center in Sydney, Australia. The perpetrator is shot and killed by police. (The Guardian) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- 13 April 2024 – 2024 Cook by-election
- Simon Kennedy of the Liberal Party of Australia wins the by-election in the seat of Cook, succeeding former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (ABC News Australia)
Selected pictures -
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Photo credit: Fir0002Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg at corner 6 of the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, during one of the race's safety car periods. This first race of the 2008 Formula One season was won by McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Heidfeld and Rosberg finished second and third, respectively. -
Meat pie topped with tomato sauce
An Australian meat pie is a hand-sized pie containing largely minced meat and gravy and often consumed as a takeaway food snack. It is considered iconic and has been described by many, including former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, as Australia's "national dish".
Photo credit: Fir0002 -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is a nocturnal species of Australian frogmouth commonly mistaken for an owl. Males and females look similar, growing to 35–53 cm (14–21 in) long and up to 680 g (1.5 lb) in weight. The Tawny Frogmouth is almost exclusively insectivorous, feeding rarely on frogs and other small prey. It generally sits very still on a low perch and catches food with its beak. -
Government House, the residence of the Governor of Western Australia.
Government House in Perth is the official residence of the Governor of Western Australia and was built between 1859 and 1864. The building is a mansion in the Jacobean Revival style set on 3.2 hectares of English gardens in the centre of the Perth business district, between St. Georges Terrace and the Swan River. The buildings and gardens are listed on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places and are open to the public from time to time. The building has 16 rooms on the ground floor and 25 on the first floor.
Photo credit: Greg O'Beirne -
Photo: Sport the LibraryJeremy Doyle (1983–2011) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Left paraplegic after a car accident, he was classified as a 1 point player. While representing his country Doyle won two gold medals, first at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup and again at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. -
Photo: Steven Rasmussen; edit: KeraunoscopiaAustralian artistic gymnast Lauren Mitchell (b. 1991) performing a layout step-out on the balance beam during the 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London, United Kingdom, on 14 October 2009; at the Championships, Mitchell won two silver medals, one for the balance beam and another for floor exercises. Since her first medal in 2007, Mitchell has placed in the World Championships, World Cup, and Commonwealth Games, and competed in two Olympic Games. -
A family of black swans on the shore of the Swan River with the Perth skyline in background.
Perth is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth largest city in Australia, with a population of 1,477,818 in June 2005, making up almost 75% of Western Australia's population. It is a coastal city, located beside the Indian Ocean, and is situated on the Swan River in the lower south-western portion of the Australian continent.
Photo credit: Nachoman-au -
Photo credit: Fir0002The Ulysses Butterfly (Papilio ulysses) is a large Australian swallowtail with a wingspan of about 14 cm (5.5 in). The top of the butterfly’s wings are an iridescent electric blue; the underside is a more subdued black and brown coloration. When the butterfly is perched the intense blue of its wings is hidden (as seen here), helping it to blend in with its surroundings. -
Photo credit: Fir0002The Common bluetail (Ischnura heterosticta) is a small Australian damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. Most males have blue eyes, blue thorax and a blue ringed tail. The females are green or light brown. -
Photo credit: John O'NeillA Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus), a small Australian butterfly. This specimen, perched on a rose, is approximately 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in size. Females generally have a larger wingspan compared to males (23 and 20 mm or 0.9 and 0.8 in respectively). -
Photo: Benjamint444The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is a large species of frogmouth found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and southern New Guinea. Unlike the owl for which it is often mistaken, the Tawny Frogmouth is not a bird of prey. Instead, it is almost exclusively insectivorous. For defense, it relies on cryptic camouflage, standing still to appear part of a branch. -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe Tasmanian Darner (Austroaeschna tasmanica) is an Australian species of dragonfly in the Aeshnidae family, which includes some of the largest of the dragonflies on the planet. Also referred to as "hawkers", the name "darner" derives from the fact that the female abdomens look like a sewing needle, as they cut into plant stem when they lay their eggs through the ovipositor. -
A Superb Fairy Wren perched on a fence.
The Superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), commonly known as the blue wren in south-eastern Australia, is the best-known of all fairy-wrens and is endemic to Australia. It is common throughout the relatively wet and fertile crescent in the south-eastern corner of the Australian continent, from lower South Australia through all of Victoria, coastal and sub-coastal New South Wales, and Queensland as far north as the Brisbane area, and also in Tasmania. Superb Fairy-wrens occupy a wide range of habitat types and are found in almost any area that has at least a little dense undergrowth for them to shelter in, including grasslands with scattered shrubs, moderately thick forest, woodland, heaths, and domestic gardens.
Photo credit: LiquidGhoul -
Photo credit: Fir0002A female Metallic Ringtail (Austrolestes cingulatus), an Australian damselfly, eating its prey. Each abdominal segment is marked by a pale "ring"; this combined with its glossy metallic coloration give the insect its common name. -
A panorama of the La Trobe Reading Room from ground level looking upwards to the domed roof.
The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in the city of Melbourne. It is sited on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell and Little Lonsdale Streets, in the northern centre of the central business district. The Library's combined collections contain over 1.5 million books and 16,000 serials, including the diaries of the city's founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, as well as the folios of Captain James Cook. -
Photo credit: Noodle snacksThe 26-metre (85 ft) radio telescope at Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Hobart, Tasmania, is the southernmost antenna used in Australia's Very Long Baseline Interferometry network. The facility is owned and operated by the University of Tasmania. -
Photo: John O'Neill; edit: JJ HarrisonBrian Nankervis (b. 1956), an Australian comedian and writer, shown here during a live performance. Nankervis rose to popularity while playing Raymond J. Bartholomeuz on Hey Hey It's Saturday; since 2005 he has been a host of the gameshow RocKwiz. -
Photo credit: John O'NeillA panoramic view across the interior of the Australian Synchrotron (a subatomic particle accelerator) in Clayton, Victoria. Dominating the image is the storage ring, showing the optical diagnostic beamline at front right. In the middle of the storage ring is the booster synchrotron and linac. The yellow, green and red magnets on the trolley (front left) are a demonstration of the bending and focusing magnets used in the storage ring to produce the synchrotron radiation and maintain the electron beam. -
Photo: John O'NeillAn officer of the Victoria Police, the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. The agency was founded in 1835 from an existing colonial police force of 875 men. As of 2011, the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations. -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe Dusky Robin (Melanodryas vittata) is a small passerine bird native to Tasmania. A member of the Australian Robin family, it is not related to European or American Robins. It is a brown-plumaged bird of open woodland, measuring 16–17 cm (6.3–6.7 in) in length. -
Aerial view of Happy Valley Reservoir
The Happy Valley Reservoir is a water reservoir located in Adelaide, Australia. Constructed when the total population of Adelaide numbered 315,200 (1893 census), the Happy Valley Reservoir now supplies over a half a million people, from Adelaide's southern extent to the city-centre.
Photo credit: Ctbolt -
Kiewa Valley
The Kiewa River is a major tributary of the Murray River in Australia and the source of approximately 40% of the Murray's flow. The river's headwaters include Victoria's highest mountain, Mount Bogong, and wind their way north-west about 100 kilometres, gradually slowing before joining the Murray west of Albury.
Photo credit: Mattinbgn
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On this day
- 1890 – A. B. "Banjo" Paterson's poem The Man from Snowy River is first published.
- 1916 – Writer Morris West, the author of The Devil's Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman, is born in St Kilda, Victoria.
- 1924 – An explosion on the SS Singapore, berthed in Port Adelaide, South Australia, kills 13 people.
- 1939 – Robert Menzies becomes Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding interim prime minister Sir Earle Page, who served for three weeks after the death of Joseph Lyons.
- 1970 – Queen Elizabeth II opens the National Carillon (pictured) in Canberra, a gift of the British government commemorating the establishment of the national capital.
General images
The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.
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The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia) -
Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians) -
A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag, and billy can. (from Culture of Australia) -
The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia) -
Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians) -
A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia) -
Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia) -
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House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia) -
Kylie Minogue is hailed as one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia) -
The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia) -
Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia) -
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (from Culture of Australia) -
Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (from Culture of Australia) -
Golden Wattle, Australia's floral emblem and the source of Australia's national colours, green and gold (from Culture of Australia) -
Corroboree at Newcastle by convict artist Joseph Lycett, ca. 1818. Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years. (from Culture of Australia) -
The initial human settlement of Oceania is estimated to have been between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Archaeogenetic results indicate a colonisation of southern Sahul (Australia) before 37,000 years ago and an incubation period in northern Sahul (Papua New Guinea) followed by westward expansions within Australia after about 28,000 years ago. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia) -
William Wentworth was among the first advocates for Australian nationhood, supporting the rights of emancipists and leading the creation of Australia's first parliament (from Culture of Australia) -
PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia) -
Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (from Culture of Australia) -
Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia) -
The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. (Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s). (from Culture of Australia) -
The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia) -
The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia) -
The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia) -
The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia) -
A commemorative statue of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a famous stretcher bearer who was killed in the Gallipoli Campaign. (from Culture of Australia) -
The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (from Culture of Australia) -
St Mary Mackillop established an extensive network of schools and is Australia's first canonised saint of the Catholic Church. (from Culture of Australia) -
Sheep grazing in rural Australia. Early British settlers introduced Western stock and crops and Australian agriculture now produces an abundance of fresh produce. (from Culture of Australia) -
An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (from Culture of Australia) -
A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia) -
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Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia) -
South Australian suffragette Catherine Helen Spence (1825–1910). The Australian colonies established democratic parliaments from the 1850s and began to grant women the vote in the 1890s. (from Culture of Australia) -
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Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. (from Culture of Australia) -
Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia) -
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Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia) -
Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia) -
A group of Australian men wearing speedos. (from Culture of Australia)
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