Portal:Australia
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Introduction
A view of the Blue Mountains National Park -
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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 country by area 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. They settled on the continent and 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 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 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 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 market 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 Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war. It is a site of annual observances for Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November), and is one of the largest war memorials in Australia. (Full article...)
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Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 1892 – 19 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and then the Institute of Archaeology, London. He wrote twenty-six books during his career. Initially an early proponent of culture-historical archaeology, he later became the first exponent of Marxist archaeology in the Western world. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the dominant species in the Iron-grass Natural Temperate Grassland of South Australia are often not grasses at all?
- ... that St Mary's Anglican Church, Busselton, Australia, has been a part of six dioceses, namely Canterbury, Calcutta, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Bunbury?
- ... that Gil Kim played professional baseball in the Netherlands, China, Australia, Spain, and Venezuela, scouted in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and coaches in Canada?
- ... that Ged Kearney represented Batman in the Parliament of Australia from 2018 to 2019?
- ... that the 2022 Optus data breach affected over a third of Australians?
- ... that the blind cave eel is the longest cavefish in Australia?
- ... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
- ... that Tupou VI was crowned by D'Arcy Wood, an Australian, in order to respect the tradition of native Tongans not touching the king's head?
In the news
- 30 September 2024 – Australia–Tuvalu relations, Climate change in Tuvalu
- Tuvalu's climate minister denounces the Australian Labor government's decision to expand three coal mines as an existential threat to the nation, due to the role of the mines in causing rising sea levels that have forced mass displacement across Tuvalu's low-lying islands. (The Guardian)
- 28 September 2024 – 2024 AFL premiership season
- The Brisbane Lions defeat the Sydney Swans 120–60 in the Australian Football League Grand Final to win their fourth AFL premiership title. (The Guardian Australia)
- 26 September 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Israel rejects proposals from the United States, Australia, and the European Union to initiate a temporary 21-day ceasefire with Hezbollah. (Reuters) (Reuters 2)
- 23 September 2024 – 2024 AFL season
- In Australian football, Patrick Cripps wins his second Brownlow Medal with 45 votes, the most votes since the current voting system was introduced, and also becomes the seventeenth player to win the award more than once. (ABC News Australia)
- 18 September 2024 –
- Alleged Ghost developer and administrator Jay Je Yoon Jung is arrested in Sydney, Australia, on five charges related to the encrypted communication network's development and operation. (The Register)
- 11 September 2024 – Israel–Hamas war protests
- Victoria Police arrest 39 people and fire stun grenades, rubber bullets, and pepper spray at anti-war and pro-Palestinian protestors picketing outside a military weapons expo in Melbourne, Australia. (Al Jazeera)
Selected pictures -
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Photo credit: James Francis HurleySoldiers of an Australian 4th Division field artillery brigade on a duckboard track passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge in the Ypres salient, October 29, 1917. The photo was taken in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, which was one of the major battles of World War I. -
Photo credit: John O'NeillA panoramic view across the interior of the Australian Synchrotron (a subatomic particle accelerator) in Clayton, Victoria. Dominating the image is the storage ring, showing the optical diagnostic beamline at front right. In the middle of the storage ring is the booster synchrotron and linac. The yellow, green and red magnets on the trolley (front left) are a demonstration of the bending and focusing magnets used in the storage ring to produce the synchrotron radiation and maintain the electron beam. -
Alpine Range scenery as viewed just past Mt Hotham.
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia, straddling far southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria. The Alps contain the Australian mainland's only peaks exceeding 2,000 metres AHD and it is only here that snow occurs regularly.
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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. -
Nitmiluk National Park from the air.
Nitmiluk National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located 244 kilometres southeast of Darwin. Established around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls, the park has great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means place of the cicada dreaming.
Photo credit: Brian Voon Yee Yap -
A panorama of the Melbourne skyline from Yarra's Edge, Docklands at twilight.
The Melbourne Docklands is a new inner city suburb and urban renewal project in the Victorian capital of Melbourne. The district, built on former unused docks, covers 2 km² and comprises 7 km of waterfront. It was commenced in 2000, and is expected to be completed by 2015, almost doubling the size of the central business district. Its resident population, to be comprised of primarily hi-rise apartment dwellers, is estimated to reach 20,000, while a further 25,000 will work in the area. The Docklands is already a major attraction, with landmarks such as the Telstra Dome.
Photo credit: Diliff -
Photo: Fir0002A Eurocopter AS350 "Squirrel" helicopter flown by 723 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the section of the Royal Australian Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The FAA is currently an all-helicopter force, operating four separate models in the anti-submarine warfare and maritime support roles. -
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. -
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". -
The Central Basin and Captain Cook water jet looking towards the National Library and Parliament House.
The Captain James Cook Memorial was built by the Commonwealth Government to commemorate the Bicentenary of Captain James Cook's first sighting of the east coast of Australia. The memorial includes a water jet located in the central basin and a skeleton globe sculpture at Regatta Point showing the paths of Cook's expeditions. On 25 April 1970, Queen Elizabeth II officially inaugurated the memorial. When running both pumps simultaneously, the main jet throws approximately six tons of water into the air at any instant, reaching a maximum height of 147 metres. Alternatively the jet can be run on a single pump reaching a lower height of 110 metres. During special occasions it can be illuminated, often with coloured lights. -
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. -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe Metallic Ringtail (Austrolestes cingulatus) is an Australian species of damselfly, so named because of its glossy metallic colouration and the "rings" on each abdominal segment. It is widely distributed in Tasmania, Victoria, eastern New South Wales and south eastern Queensland. -
Sturt's Desert Pea, at Melbourne Zoo
Sturt's Desert Pea is an Australian plant in the genus Swainsona. One of Australia's best-known wildflowers, it is known for its distinctive blood-red leaf-like flowers, each with a bulbous black centre, or "boss". It is native to the arid regions of central and north-western Australia, and its range extends into all mainland Australian states with the exception of Victoria. It is the floral emblem of South Australia.
Photo credit: Fir0002 -
Photo credit: John O'NeillA Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus), a small Australian butterfly. This specimen, perched on a rose, is approximately 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in size. Females generally have a larger wingspan compared to males (23 and 20 mm or 0.9 and 0.8 in respectively). -
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 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. -
Photo credit: ChmouelThe Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Situated on Bennelong Point at Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th-century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. -
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. -
Flinders Street Station, Melbourne, Australia (1927)
Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban rail network of the Victorian capital of Melbourne. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the central business district, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city blocks. This 1927 photo shows a mix of motor vehicles and horse drawn carts on the streets, as well as both electric and non-electric trams. The station opened in 1910, replacing an ad hoc collection of weatherboard train sheds.
Photo credit: Victoria State Transport Authority -
Yarra River from inner-city bridge
The Yarra River is a river in southern Victoria (Australia), originally called Birrarung by the Wurundjeri people who occupied the Yarra valley prior to European settlement. The River's lower reaches travel through central Melbourne. -
Photo credit: Fir0002Two whole Cripps Pink apples and a cross-section of a third. More commonly known by the trademarked name "Pink Lady", this apple cultivar was originally bred by John Cripps by crossing the Australian apple Lady Williams with a Golden Delicious. The apple shape is ellipsoid, it has a distinctive pink hue mixed with a green "background," and taste is tart. -
A Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella) male (top) and female. In this common Australian species of estrildid finch, nest-building and raising children is done collaboratively.
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On this day
- 1907 – The Harvester Judgment delivered by H. B. Higgins giving rise to the legal requirement for a basic wage, which dominated Australian economic life for the next 60 to 80 years.
- 1934 – A grasshopper plague devours 20 tons of grain in two hours in Mildura.
- 1935 – Charles Kingsford Smith, early Australian aviator, dies during a flight from Allahabad, India to Singapore, aged 38.
- 1938 – Australian rules football player Bob Skilton, one of only four players to have won the Brownlow Medal three times, is born.
- 1940 – SS City of Rayville hits a mine in Bass Strait and becomes the first American vessel sunk during World War II.
- 1946 – Guus Hiddink, football coach of Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, is born in Varsseveld.
- 1976 – Brett Lee, cricket fast bowler, is born in Wollongong, New South Wales.
- 1991 – Fremantle Prison is decommissioned.
- 2005 – Police claim to have averted a large scale terrorist attack after arresting 15 people in Melbourne and Sydney.
General images
The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.
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A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia) -
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia) -
Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia) -
Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia) -
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) -
Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
The University of Sydney (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) -
Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia) -
Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia) -
Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia) -
Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia) -
Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (from Culture of Australia) -
Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia) -
A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia) -
The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (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 Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia) -
PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia) -
The Matildas, Australia's national women's football team (from Culture of Australia) -
Men from Bathurst Island, 1939 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia) -
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. (from Culture of Australia) -
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The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
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Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (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) -
House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia) -
Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788 (from Culture of Australia) -
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag and billy can (from Culture of Australia) -
The verandah is the dominant feature of this Federation Filigree-style pub in Ravenswood. (from Culture of Australia) -
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Kylie Minogue, one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia) -
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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) -
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Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia) -
A group of Australian men wearing speedos (from Culture of Australia) -
A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (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) -
An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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The Bulletin, founded by J. F. Archibald (left), nurtured bush poets such as Henry Lawson (right). (from Culture of Australia) -
The surf lifesaving movement originated in Australia. (Pictured: surf lifesavers, Bondi Beach, 1930s). (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) -
The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia) -
William Wentworth (1790–1872) was among the first to articulate a vision of Australian nationhood. (from Culture of Australia) -
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (from Culture of Australia) -
Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (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 8 November 2024, there are 205,562 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 594 are featured and 885 are good articles. This makes up 2.98% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.35% 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 525,970 pages in the project.
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