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The first settlers in Australia are thought to have
arrived around 50,000 years ago. This would have most
likely been at a time when the sea levels were low,
the land was more humid and animals larger. Although
much of Australia became populated, the central dry
areas didn't attract settlers until around 25,000 years
ago. The population grew proportionately quicker around
10,000 years ago as the climate improved. At the time
of British settlement at Sydney Cove it is estimated
that 300,000 aboriginal people, speaking around 250
languages inhabited Australia. The Europeans found no
political structure in Australia and thus made it their
own land and drove the indigenous people out.
The first records of European mariners sailing into
'Australian' waters occurred around 1606, which involved
their observations of the land known as 'Terra Australis
Incognita' (unknown southern land). The first ship and
crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal
people was the Duyfken captained by Dutchman, Willem
Janszoon. Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and English explorers
observed the island before 1770, when Captain Cook explored
the east coast and claimed it for Great Britain On January
26, 1788 (now celebrated as Australia Day), the First
Fleet under Capt. Arthur Phillip landed at Sydney, and
formal proclamation of the establishment of the Colony
of New South Wales followed on February 7.
The six colonies that now comprise the states of the
Australian Commonwealth were recognized in the following
order: New South Wales, 1788; Tasmania, 1825; Western
Australia, 1830; South Australia, 1836; Victoria, 1851;
and Queensland, 1859. Settlement had preceded these
dates in most cases. Discussions between Australian
and British representatives led to adoption by the British
Government of an act to constitute the Commonwealth
of Australia in 1900. The first federal Parliament was
opened at Melbourne in May 1901 by the Duke of York
(later King George V). In May 1927, the seat of government
was transferred to Canberra, a planned city designed
by an American, Walter Burley Griffin.
Immigration has been a key to Australia's development
since the beginning of European settlement in 1788.
For generations, most settlers came from the British
Isles, and the people of Australia are still largely
of British or Irish origin, with a culture and viewpoint
similar to those of Americans. However, since the end
of World War II, the population has more than doubled;
non-European immigration, mostly from the Middle East,
Asia, and Latin America, has increased considerably
since 1960 through a wide-ranging, planned immigration
program. From 1945 through 2000, nearly 5.9 million
immigrants settled in Australia, and about 80% have
remained; nearly two of every seven Australians are
foreign-born. Britain and Ireland have been the largest
sources of post-war immigrants, followed by Italy, Greece,
New Zealand, and the former Yugoslavia.
Worldtravel4indians.com provides information on History
of Australia and different ideas about tours to Australia.
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