Australia
|
|
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australian. who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, formally founded on 7 February 1788 (although formal possession of the land had occurred on 26 January 1788). The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22 million, with approximately 60 per cent concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. Approximately 56 per cent of Australia's population live in either Victoria or New South Wales, and approximately 77 per cent live on the mainland's east coast.
A prosperous developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy. Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance such as human development, quality of life, health care, life expectancy, public education, economic freedom and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, OECD, APEC, Pacific Islands Forum and the World Trade Organization.
Etymology
|
|
Legends of Terra Australis Incognita—an "unknown land of the South"—date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography, although not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. Following European discovery, names for the Australian landmass were often references to the famed Terra Australis.
The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in "A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Master Hakluyt" and published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name Austrialia del Espíritu Santo for an island in Vanuatu The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south Australia was later used in a 1693 translation of Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la Découverte et le Voyage de la Terre Australe, a 1676 French novel by Gabriel de Foigny, under the pen-name Jacques Sadeur. Referring to the entire South Pacific region, Alexander Dalrymple used it in An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean in 1771. By the end of the 18th century, the name was being used to refer specifically to Australia, with the botanists George Shaw and Sir James Smith writing of "the vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia or New Holland" in their 1793 Zoology and Botany of New Holland, and James Wilson including it on a 1799 chart.
The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who pushed for it to be formally adopted as early as 1804. When preparing his manuscript and charts for his 1814 A Voyage to Terra Australis, he was persuaded by his patron, Sir Joseph Banks, to use the term Terra Australis as this was the name most familiar to the public. Flinders did so, but allowed himself the footnote:
"Had I permitted myself any innovation on the original term, it would have been to convert it to Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth."
This is the only occurrence of the word Australia in that text; but in Appendix III, Robert Brown's General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the botany of Terra Australis, Brown makes use of the adjectival form Australian throughout,—the first known use of that form. Despite popular conception, the book was not instrumental in the adoption of the name: the name came gradually to be accepted over the following ten years. Lachlan Macquarie, a Governor of New South Wales, subsequently used the word in his dispatches to England, and on 12 December 1817 recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted.In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
History
Human habitation of Australia is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years
ago,possibly with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. These first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern
Indigenous Australians. At the time of European settlement in the late 18th century, most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers, with a complex oral culture and spiritual
values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturalists and hunter-gatherers.
Following sporadic visits by fishermen from the Malay Archipelago, the first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland and the first recorded European landfall on the
Australian continent were attributed to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula on an unknown date in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River on
the western shore of Cape York, near the modern town of Weipa. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern
coastlines of "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English
explorer/privateer landed on the northwest coast of Australia in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip. In 1770, James Cook
sailed along and mapped the east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.Cook's discoveries prepared the way for establishment of a new penal colony. The British Crown Colony of New South Wales was
formed on 26 January 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip led the First Fleet to Port Jackson.This date became Australia's
national day, Australia Day. Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, was settled in 1803 and became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Australia in 1828.
Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in
1859.The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a
"free province"—it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free", but later accepted
transported convicts.A campaign by the settlers of New South Wales led to the end of convict transportation to that colony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848.
Port Arthur, Tasmania was Australia's largest gaol for transported convicts.
The indigenous population, estimated at 350,000 at the time of European settlement, declined steeply for 150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. The
"Stolen Generations" (removal of Aboriginal children from their families), which historians such as Henry Reynolds have argued could be considered genocide, may have contributed
to the decline in the Indigenous population. Such interpretations of Aboriginal history are disputed by conservative commentators such as former Prime Minister John Howard as
exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons.[This debate is known within Australia as the History Wars. The
Federal government gained the power to make laws with respect to Aborigines following the 1967 referendum.[Traditional ownership of land—native title—was not recognised until 1992, when the High Court case Mabo v Queensland (No 2)
overturned the notion of Australia as terra nullius ("land belonging to no one") before European occupation.
A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, and the Eureka Stockade rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854 was an
early expression of civil disobedience. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gained responsible government,
managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs,defence,and international shipping.
The Last Post is played at an ANZAC Day ceremony in Port Melbourne,
Victoria. Similar ceremonies are held in most suburbs and towns.
On 1 January 1901 federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, consultation, and voting. The Commonwealth of Australia was
established and it became a dominion of the British Empire in 1907. The Federal Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Capital Territory) was formed in 1911 as the location for the future federal capital of Canberra.
Melbourne was the temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927 while Canberra was constructed. The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the South Australian government to the federal parliament in 1911.
In 1914, Australia joined Britain in fighting World War I, with support from both the outgoing Liberal Party and the incoming Labor Party. Australians took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front.Of about
416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation—its first major military action.The Kokoda Track campaign is regarded by many as an analogous nation-defining event during World War II.
Britain's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the UK. Australia
adopted it in 1942,but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during
World War II.The shock of the UK's defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the
United States as a new ally and protector. Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally of the US, under the ANZUS
treaty.After World War II Australia encouraged immigration from Europe. Since the 1970s and following the abolition of the
White Australia policy, immigration from Asia and elsewhere was also promoted. As a result, Australia's demography, culture,
and self-image were transformed. The final constitutional ties between Australia and the UK were severed with the passing of the
Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the government of the Australian States, and closing the option of judicial appeals
to the Privy Council in London. In a 1999 referendum, 55% of Australian voters and a majority in every Australian state rejected
a proposal to become a republic with a president appointed by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of the Australian Parliament.
Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, there has been an increasing focus in foreign policy on ties with other Pacific Rim nations, while maintaining close ties with Australia's traditional allies and trading partners.
Politics
Parliament House, Canberra was opened in 1988, replacing the provisional Parliament
House building opened in 1927.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of
Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys
in Australia, (the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level), who by convention act on the advice of her ministers. Supereme executive authority
is vested by the constitution of Australia in the sovereign, but the power to exercise it is conferred by the constitution specifically
to the Governor-General. The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside a Prime Minister's request was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.
The federal government is separated into three branches:
The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;
The executive: the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State;
The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.
In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories
(the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory).The House of Representatives (the lower house) has 150 members
elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of
population,with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats. Elections for both chambers are normally held every three
years, simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, whose terms are not fixed
but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.
The official residence of the Governor-General of Australia
Australia's electoral system uses preferential voting for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT, which, along with the Senate and most state upper
houses, combine it with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every
jurisdiction, as is enrolment (with the exception of South Australia). Although the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General, in practice the party with majority support
in the House of Representatives forms government and its leader becomes Prime Minister.
There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the
states: the Australian Labor Party, and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the
National Party. Independent members and several minor parties—including the Greens and the Australian Democrats—have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.
Following a partyroom leadership challenge, Julia Gillard became the first female Prime Minister in June 2010. The last federal
election was held on 21 August 2010 and resulted in the first hung parliament in over 50 years. Gillard was able to form a minority Labor government with the support of independents.
States and territories
Australia has six states—New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia,
Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia—and two major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the
Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides state legislation only in areas that are set out in Section 51 of the Australian Constitution; state
parliaments retain all residual legislative powers, including those over schools, state police, the state judiciary, roads, public transport, and local government, since these do not fall under the provisions listed in Section 51.]
Each state and major mainland territory has its own parliament—unicameral in the Northern Territory, the ACT, and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states. The states are sovereign
entities, although subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution. The lower houses are known as the Legislative Assembly (the House of Assembly in South Australia and
Tasmania); the upper houses are known as the Legislative Council. The head of the government in each state is the Premier, and in each territory
the Chief Minister. The Queen is represented in each state by a Governor; and in the Northern Territory, the Administrator. In the Commonwealth, the Queen's representative is the Governor-General.
Foreign relations and military
Australian Army soldiers conducting a foot patrol during a joint training exercise with U.S.
forces in Shoalwater Bay (2007).
Over recent decades, Australia's foreign relations have been driven by a close association with the United States through the ANZUS pact, and by a desire to develop relationships
with Asia and the Pacific, particularly through ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2005 Australia secured an inaugural seat at the East Asia Summit following its accession to
the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, in which the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings provide the main forum for cooperation.
Australia has pursued the cause of international trade liberalisation. It led the formation of the Cairns Group and Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation. Australia is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World
Trade Organization,and has pursued several major bilateral free trade agreements, most recently the Australia – United States
Free Trade Agreement and Closer Economic Relations with New Zealand with another free trade agreement being negotiated with Japan.
Along with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore, Australia is party to the Five Power Defence Arrangements, a regional defence agreement. A founding member country of the United Nations, Australia is strongly committed
to multilateralism, and maintains an international aid program under which some 60 countries receive assistance. The 2005–06
budget provides A$2.5 billion for development assistance; as a percentage of GDP, this contribution is less than that
recommended in the UN Millennium Development Goals. Australia ranks seventh overall in the Center for Global Development's 2008 Commitment to Development Index.
Australia's armed forces—the Australian Defence Force (ADF)—comprise the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Australian Army, and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in total numbering 80,561 personnel (including 55,068 regulars and 25,493
reservists). The titular role of Commander-in-Chief is vested in the Governor-General, who appoints a Chief of the Defence
Force from one of the armed services on the advice of the government. Day-to-day force operations are under the command of
the Chief, while broader administration and the formulation of defence policy is undertaken by the Minister and Department of Defence.
In the 2010–11 budget, defence spending was A$25.7 billion,representing the 14th largest defence budget in the world but
accounting for only 1.2% of global military spending.Australia has been involved in UN and regional peacekeeping, disaster relief,
and armed conflict; it currently has deployed approximately 3,330 defence force personnel in varying capacities to 12 overseas operations in areas including East Timor, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan.
Geography and climate
Climatic zones in Australia, based on the Köppen climate classification.
Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the IndianN4 and Pacific oceans, it is separated from
Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. The world's smallest continentand sixth largest country by total area, Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the 'island continent'
and variably considered the world's largest island.Australia has 34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands) and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic
Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory. Macquarie Island, Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44°S, and longitudes 112° and 154°E.
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in
Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the
Australian mainland, although Mawson Peak on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island is taller at 2,745 metres (9,006 ft).
Australia is the flattest continent, with the oldest and least fertile soils; desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback
makes up by far the largest portion of land. The driest inhabited continent, only its south-east and south-west corners have a
temperate climate. The population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world, although a large proportion of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.
Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range that runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and
much of Victoria – although the name is not strictly accurate, as in parts the range consists of low hills and the highlands are
typically no more than 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) in height.The coastal uplands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the
coast and the mountains while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland. These include the western plains of New
South Wales and the Einasleigh Uplands, Barkly Tableland and the Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northern point of the east coast is the tropical rainforested Cape York Peninsula.
Topographic map of Australia
The landscapes of the northern part of the country, the Top End and the Gulf Country behind
the Gulf of Carpentaria, with their tropical climate, consist of woodland, grassland and desert. At the northwest corner of the continent is the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The
Kimberley and below that the Pilbara while south and inland of these lie more areas of grassland, the Ord Victoria Plain and the Western Australian Mulga shrublands The heart of
the country is the uplands of central Australia while prominent features of the centre and south include the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami and
Great Victoria Deserts with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast
The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian
Ocean Dipole and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low
pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors induce rainfall to vary markedly from year to year.
Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical predominantly summer rainfall (monsoon) climate.Just under three quarters
of Australia lies within a desert or semi-arid zone. The southwest corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate.Much of the southeast (including Tasmania) is temperate.
Environment
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country.
Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of
flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.
Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions, Wattles replace them in drier regions and deserts as the most
dominant species.Among well-known Australian fauna are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, and wombat, and birds
such as the emu and the kookaburra. Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world.The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000
BCE. Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after first human settlement,including the Australian megafauna; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them the thylacine.
Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant
and animal species.The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the
Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems;65 wetlands are listed under the
Ramsar Convention, and 15 natural World Heritage Sites have been established.Australia was ranked 51th of 163 countries in the world on the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.
Climate change has become an increasing concern in Australia in recent years, with many Australians considering protection of
the environment to be the most important issue facing the country. Rudd Ministry has initiated several emission reduction
activities;Rudd's first official act, on his first day in office, was to sign the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
Nevertheless, Australia's carbon dioxide emissions per capita are among the highest in the world, lower than those of only a few
other industrialised nations. Rainfall in Australia has slightly increased over the past century, both nationwide and for two
quadrants of the nation,while annual mean temperatures increased significantly over the past decades. Water restrictions are
currently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
