Australia: From Yesteryear Into the 21st Century

Geologists believe the nation-continent of Australia once was part of the great land mass or “supercontinent” called Gondwanaland. The mass began to separate gradually into the continents as we know them about 200 million years ago.

The Commonwealth of Australia today consists of six states: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. It controls a number of South Pacific and Indian Ocean islands and 5 million square miles of Antarctica.


Australia’s First Inhabitants

Aboriginal people first inhabited Australia more than 50,000 years ago. Aborigines lived by hunting, fishing and foraging wild plants. Moving about in small tribes, they eventually spread throughout the continent. They became closely attuned with nature and learned to survive even in the bleak outback.

Asian sea traders undoubtedly visited coastal Australia many centuries ago. Medieval maps indicate a vague island-continent in the south seas labeled Terra Australis. However, the continent was practically unknown to Europeans until their explorers set forth globally during the 15th and 16th centuries.


Arrival of the Europeans

The first permanent European settlement in Australia was made in what is now Sydney in 1788. It was a penal colony—a place where English criminals where shipped, banned from British society. This system of convict removal was known as “transportation.” By 1852, when England ended the practice, more than 150,000 criminals had been sent to Australia.

About a fifth of the transports were women. Many of the country’s early settlements were based on populations of convicts and convict descendents. They typically were of lower classes, poorly educated but hardy, forced to exist in harsh conditions.

While most settlers were English and Irish, many arrived from other countries: Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia, The Netherlands, Greece and the United States. For years, interactions between whites and Aborigines were tragic, often violent. Aboriginal groups living near the new settlements contracted foreign diseases, sometimes at epidemic levels. Fighting erupted over land control.

By the mid-1800s, settlers were entrenched. Many of the Aborigines who survived the fighting and diseases agreed to help them work their ranches and farms; this enabled the Indigenous Australians to remain near their ancestral homelands. Renewed conflicts began in the 1850s, however, when gold discoveries brought a new wave of Europeans.


Australia During the 1900s

The Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1901. Its government is based on those of Great Britain and the United States.

Canberra became the capital in 1908. The Australian government in 1911 created a small, separate federal district in lower New South Wales. Called the Australian Capital Territory, it is a 930-square-mile tract surrounding Canberra. Outside the city, most of the ACT consists of a national forest and farmland.

A constant British ally, Australia sent soldiers to key battlegrounds during the Boer War (1899-1902), World War I (1914-18) and World War II (1939-45). Militarily, the country is famous for its Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), who valiantly, tragically distinguished themselves during World War I.

By the beginning of the 20th Century, most Aborigines had been driven from the continent’s best territory. Some survived in distant locations, others on reserves near major white population centers. Some facets of their traditional culture and language have faded as a result of gradual merging with European-based society.

Not until the 1960s were Aboriginal people given voting and other political rights. Australia’s government in recent decades has committed heavy funding to improvement programs for the Aborigines. Still, most of them face issues of poverty, low-class housing, poor health, unemployment and limited education.


Australia’s Emerging Role in the World

Australia is rich in resources. Its first industries were ocean-based (whaling and sealing). Within a few decades of British settlement, sheep ranches made wool the country’s main export; wool and beef production continue to be mainstays of the economy. Meanwhile, farmers began developing the country’s status as a major producer of wheat and other grains.

Mineral resources—iron ore, copper, lead, gold, silver, bauxite and zinc—have added a vital dimension to the country’s economy. The Industrial Age spurred a variety of factories. Ship, airplane and automotive industries became prominent.

Manufacturing expanded after World War II. Australia has become known for its exports of chemicals, textiles, metal and electrical equipment, food products and paper.

The country’s history defines its modern population. The majority are of British and Irish descent. Other European ethnic groups also are prominent. People from China, India and other Asian countries make up about seven percent of Australia’s population. Aborigines comprise about two percent (more than 400,000) of the people.