Portal:Australia
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Introduction
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 -
Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a 154-hectare (380.5-acre) entertainment precinct, with the adjacent Village Roadshow Studios and nearby Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast, among other sites operated by Village Roadshow. Movie World is Australia's only film-related theme park and the oldest of the Warner Bros. parks worldwide (the others are at Madrid and Abu Dhabi). As of 2016, it receives a yearly average of 1.4 million visitors. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Faith Yvonne Leech (31 March 1941 – 14 September 2013) was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100–metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Australian communist Harry Stein was personally invited by Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ to tour South Vietnam?
- ... that the only ever hijacking of a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft began at Baucau Airport, East Timor, in 1975?
- ... that an Australian High Court case found a hotel chain to have used third-party contractors to avoid paying employees their required benefits?
- ... that even though Australian citizens are no longer British subjects, they can still vote in elections and stand for parliament in the United Kingdom?
- ... that in 1939, a teenage Robin Ordell became the youngest radio announcer in Australia?
- ... that Towa Tei's "Sometime Samurai" remained unfinished for eight years until Australian singer Kylie Minogue re-recorded the song in 2004?
- ... that the Greco-Australian dialect, a variety of Modern Greek, blends words with English roots into the Greek language?
- ... that Eva Duldig, who was interned by Australia during the Second World War, later represented the country at the Wimbledon Championships?
In the news
- 28 April 2024 –
- Nicole Kidman becomes the first Australian to earn the AFI Life Achievement Award for her contribution to American cinema. (Rolling Stone)
- 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)
Selected pictures -
On this day
- 1770 – Captain James Cook arrives and names Botany Bay, aboard HM Bark Endeavour.
- 1910 – The Second Fisher Ministry is sworn in after the Labour Party defeats the sitting Commonwealth Liberal Party at the 1910 federal election, with Andrew Fisher (pictured) becoming Prime Minister of Australia for a second time.
- 1941 – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake, the strongest recorded in Australia, hits near the station of Meeberrie in the Murchison district of Western Australia.
- 1952 – The ANZUS Treaty, a military alliance between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, comes into force.
- 1954 – The Soviet Union's embassy in Canberra is closed as a result of the Petrov Affair.
- 1988 – As part of the Bicentenary, Queen Elizabeth II opens the National Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland.
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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 29 April 2024, there are 202,713 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 593 are featured and 881 are good articles. This makes up 2.97% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.49% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.23% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etcetera, there are 517,238 pages in the project.
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