Portal:Australia
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Introduction
View from Connors Hill in Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia -
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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 has a total area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had the oldest living culture in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. 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 democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne, both with a population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. It has a highly developed economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.
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The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground (at the time known as the Association Ground), during a match between New South Wales, captained by Dave Gregory, and a touring English team, captained by Lord Harris. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 1916 – 21 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being the head of a reformist and socially progressive government that ended with his controversial dismissal by the then-governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office by a governor-general. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Turkish international soccer player Rojin Polat was named member of the "2021 All Schools Merit Girls Team" in New South Wales, Australia?
- ... that Australian train driver Bill Morrow received the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize alongside Fidel Castro?
- ... that the memorabilia of Jennie Scott Griffiths, a Texan who died in California, are housed in the National Library of Australia?
- ... that the Australian Light Weight Air Warning Radar was once loaded using canoes and later manhandled up a 200-foot cliff?
- ... that Australia-born rugby union player Jason Jones-Hughes was the subject of a protracted legal battle over his international eligibility after Wales called him up for the 1999 Rugby World Cup?
- ... that convict James Davis escaped custody in Australia and lived with Aboriginal Australians for 13 years?
- ... that Mabel Freer was deported from Australia because she could not speak Italian?
- ... that an Australian wildlife conservationist has trapped and killed more than 1,450 feral cats?
In the news
- 24 December 2024 – 2024–25 Australian bushfire season
- Residents of the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia, evacuate due to bushfires, with more than 41,000 hectares (100,000 acres) already burnt by the bushfires. (BBC News)
- 23 December 2024 –
- A man is arrested and charged with animal cruelty for shooting and killing 98 kangaroos on a military base in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia. (news.com.au)
- 20 December 2024 – Australia–Solomon Islands relations
- Australia agrees to provide Solomon Islands with financing, training, and infrastructure support worth AU$190 million (US$118 million) over four years to strengthen its police force as part of a renewed security partnership between the two countries. (France 24)
- 16 December 2024 – 2024 Australia heat wave
- Walpeup, Victoria, Australia, reports a temperature of 47.1 °C (116.8 °F), the hottest temperature reported in the state since 2019. Extreme heat wave and fire risk warnings are also issued for areas across Australia. (The Guardian) (ABC News Australia)
- 15 December 2024 – Australia–Indonesia relations
- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces that the remaining five members of the Bali Nine drug-trafficking group, who were serving life sentences in Indonesia, have returned to Australia following an agreement between the two countries to end their imprisonment. (CNN)
- 9 December 2024 – Australia–Nauru relations
- Australia and Nauru announce a joint security treaty that will see Australia sending Nauru AU$100 million (US$64 million) in direct support over five years in exchange for Nauru consulting Australia before signing any bilateral agreements with other countries. (DW) (Nikkei Asia)
Selected pictures -
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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. -
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: 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. -
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. -
Blue Lake.
Blue Lake is a large lake located in an extinct volcanic caldera in Mount Gambier. It is known as Waawor in the local Aboriginal language. During summer and the surrounding months, the lake takes on a vibrant blue colour, returning to a colder steely-grey colour for winter. The exact cause of this phenomenon is still a matter of conjecture but it is generally considered likely that it revolves around the warming of the surface layers of the lake during the summer months to around 25 degrees celsius, causing calcium carbonate to precipitate out of solution and enabling micro-crystallites of calcium carbonate to form. This results in a scatter of the blue wavelength of sunlight. The movement of planktonic life-forms within the lake during the seasons and during the day may also play a part in the visibility changes.
Photo credit: Aaron Allen -
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 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. -
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. -
An Eastern Banjo Frog, found in eastern Australia.
The Eastern Banjo Frog, Limnodynastes dumerilli, is a frog species from the family Myobatrachidae. It is native to eastern Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand. The frog is also commonly called the "pobblebonk" after its distinctive "bonk" call, which is likened to a banjo string being plucked.
Photo credit: Fir0002 -
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: 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 Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial found in the wild only on the Australian island of Tasmania. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. Its large head and neck allow it to generate the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal. -
Brisbane CBD and the Story Bridge, with CityCat cruising the Brisbane River.
The Story Bridge is a crossing of the Brisbane River in the Queensland capital of Brisbane. It is a six lane dual-carriageway connecting Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. Designed by John Bradfield, the bridge was opened in 1940 at the height of the Great Depression. It is a Brisbane landmark, and a focus of the Riverfestival.
Photo credit: Stuart Edwards -
The Big Picture, opening of the Parliament of Australia, 9 May 1901, painted by Tom Roberts.
The Commonwealth Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building, the only building large enough to house the 14,000 guests. Thereafter, from 1901 to 1927 it met in Parliament House, Melbourne, which it borrowed from the parliament of the state of Victoria (which sat in the Exhibition Building). On 9 May 1927 the Parliament moved to the new national capital at Canberra, where it met in what is now called Old Parliament House. Intended to be temporary, this building in fact housed the Parliament for more than 60 years. The permanent Parliament House, Canberra was opened in 9 May 1988. The scene of the opening of the first Parliament was immortalised in The Big Picture, a painting by Australian artist Tom Roberts. -
Photo credit: Fir0002The Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion) is a birdwing butterfly of the Papilionidae family. It is Australia's largest butterfly, and is native to the tropical north of Queensland. -
The notice reads "£8000 Reward - Robbery and Murder."
A notice of an £8000 pound reward for the capture of the Kelly gang, which included Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne, Steve Hart, Kate Kelly.
Source: National Archives -
The Art Gallery of South Australia from North Terrace.
The Art Gallery of South Australia located in Adelaide is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of almost 45,000 works of art, making it the second largest state art collection in Australia (after the National Gallery of Victoria).
Photo credit: K. Lindstrom -
Photo credit: Frank HurleyA group of Australian infantry wearing Small Box Respirators (SBRs) at the Third Battle of Ypres in September 1917. After the introduction of poison gas in World War I, countermeasures were developed. SBRs represented the pinnacle of gas mask development during the war, a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter (hanging around the wearer's neck in this picture), which in turn contained granules of chemicals that neutralised the gas. The SBR was the prized possession of the ordinary infantryman; when the British were forced to retreat during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, it was found that while some troops had discarded their rifles, hardly any had left behind their respirators. -
Photo credit: John O'NeillFuel dumping is a practice used by aircraft that are equipped to jettison fuel in the event of certain types of emergency situations. This RAAF F-111 aircraft is performing a dump-and-burn fuel dump at the Australian International Airshow, a procedure where the fuel is intentionally ignited using the plane's afterburner. This type of fuel dumping is also referred to as "torching" or a "zippo". -
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 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. -
Photo credit: LiquidGhoulThe head of a Coastal Carpet Python, the largest subspecies of Morelia spilota, a non-venomous Australian python, showing its forked tongue, a feature common to many reptiles, who smell using the tip of their tongue. Having a forked tongue allows them to tell which direction a smell is coming from.
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On this day
- 1696 – Flemish captain Willem de Vlamingh arrives at, and names Rottnest Island
- 1835 – Mary Gilbert gives birth to her son, James Port Phillip Gilbert, the first European child born in the Port Phillip settlement of Melbourne.
- 1890 – Sir John Forrest becomes the Premier of Western Australia and the first Premier in Australia
- 1928 – The Jazz Singer becomes the first sound film screened in Australia. It premieres at the Lyceum Theatre in Sydney.
- 1960 – Cricketer David Boon is born in Launceston, Tasmania.
- 1994 – Cricketer Shane Warne takes a Test match hat-trick against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
General images
The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.
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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) -
The verandah is the dominant feature of this Federation Filigree-style pub in Ravenswood. (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) -
An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia) -
Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia) -
Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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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. -
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Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians) -
A group of Australian men wearing speedos (from Culture of Australia) -
A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia) -
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An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia) -
The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia) -
Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (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) -
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Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia) -
Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia) -
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (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) -
The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (from Culture of Australia) -
William Wentworth (1790–1872) was among the first to articulate a vision of Australian nationhood. (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) -
Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia) -
Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia) -
Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia) -
A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag and billy can (from Culture of Australia) -
House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia) -
The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (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 Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia) -
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (from Culture of Australia) -
Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia) -
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A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia) -
PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia) -
Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788 (from Culture of Australia) -
Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (from Culture of Australia) -
The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia) -
Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia) -
The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. (Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s). (from Culture of Australia) -
Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia) -
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Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia)
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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 29 December 2024, there are 206,270 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 596 are featured and 885 are good articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.33% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.18% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 426,736 pages in the project.
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