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 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 including deserts and tropical rainforests.
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 constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories. Its population of over 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 over 5 million. Australia is culturally diverse and 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.
Featured article -
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.Muckaty Station, also known as Warlmanpa, is a 2,380-square-kilometre (920 sq mi) Aboriginal freehold landholding in Australia's Northern Territory, 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Tennant Creek, and approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) south of Darwin. Originally under traditional Indigenous Australian ownership, the area became a pastoral lease in the late 19th century and for many years operated as a cattle station. It is traversed by the Stuart Highway, built in the 1940s along the route of the service track for the Australian Overland Telegraph Line. It is also crossed by the Amadeus Gas Pipeline built in the mid-1980s, and the Adelaide–Darwin railway, completed in early 2004. Muckaty Station was returned to its Indigenous custodians in 1999. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Issy Smith VC (c. 18 September 1890 – 11 September 1940) was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to eligible forces of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom. In recognition of his VC, he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Russian Cross of St. George (4th class) by the respective governments. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that a newspaper in Kentucky reported that the solar eclipse of November 22, 1900, would pass over Austria instead of Australia?
- ... that Nick Goiran, a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, proposed 357 amendments to a voluntary assisted dying bill?
- ... that "The Potato King of Colorado" survived a shipwreck, mined for gold in Australia, and helped establish an alcohol-free Methodist colony?
- ... that author Ann Howard interviewed more than 100 Australians about their experiences as child evacuees sent inland during World War II when a Japanese invasion seemed imminent?
- ... that Anna Burke was the second woman to give birth while a member of the Australian House of Representatives?
- ... that Zali Steggall, an independent member of the Parliament of Australia, is an Olympic skiing medallist?
- ... 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 politician John D'Orazio helped to secure a three-year trial of daylight saving time in Western Australia?
In the news
- 12 August 2024 –
- One person is killed and several others are injured when a helicopter stolen from Cairns Airport crashes into a hotel in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. (The Guardian)
- 7 August 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics
- French police detain Australian field hockey player Tom Craig for allegedly purchasing cocaine. (DW)
- 6 August 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics
- Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Fourteen-year-old Arisa Trew wins the gold medal in Women's park skateboarding, becoming the youngest Australian to ever win an Olympic gold medal. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- 30 July 2024 –
- Rex Airlines, Australia's third-largest airline, suspends all domestic Boeing 737 flights and enters voluntary administration. (AFR)
- 30 July 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics
- Several athletes test positive for COVID-19, including Australian swimmer Lani Pallister, forcing her to withdraw from the 1500 metre freestyle swimming event. (Al Arabiya)
Selected pictures -
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McHugh lookout, Atherton Tableland, Queensland.
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around 32,000 km² with an avaerage altitude between 600 and 900m AHD. The area was originally explored for its tin and gold deposits, but today is primarily agricultural.
Photo credit: Mike Lehmann -
Kiewa Valley
The Kiewa River is a major tributary of the Murray River in Australia and the source of approximately 40% of the Murray's flow. The river's headwaters include Victoria's highest mountain, Mount Bogong, and wind their way north-west about 100 kilometres, gradually slowing before joining the Murray west of Albury.
Photo credit: Mattinbgn -
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'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. -
Yulara seen from helicopter, August 2004
Yulara is an isolated town in the Northern Territory of Australia. At the 2016 census, Yulara had a permanent population of 1,099 in an area of 103.33 square kilometres (39.90 sq mi). It is 18 kilometres (11 mi) by road from the World Heritage Site Uluru (Ayers Rock) and 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Kata Tjuta (the Olgas).
Photo credit: Manfred Wiesinger -
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 -
Photo credit: Frank HurleyA group of Australian infantry wearing Small Box Respirators (SBRs) at the Third Battle of Ypres in September 1917. After the introduction of poison gas in World War I, countermeasures were developed. SBRs represented the pinnacle of gas mask development during the war, a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter (hanging around the wearer's neck in this picture), which in turn contained granules of chemicals that neutralised the gas. The SBR was the prized possession of the ordinary infantryman; when the British were forced to retreat during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, it was found that while some troops had discarded their rifles, hardly any had left behind their respirators. -
Photo: Sport the LibraryJeremy Doyle (1983–2011) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Left paraplegic after a car accident, he was classified as a 1 point player. While representing his country Doyle won two gold medals, first at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup and again at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. -
Photo credit: Fir0002A female Metallic Ringtail (Austrolestes cingulatus), an Australian damselfly, eating its prey. Each abdominal segment is marked by a pale "ring"; this combined with its glossy metallic coloration give the insect its common name. -
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. -
Photo credit: Fir0002The Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion) is a birdwing butterfly of the Papilionidae family. It is Australia's largest butterfly, and is native to the tropical north of Queensland. -
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. -
Photo: Benjamint444The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) is a large species of frogmouth found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and southern New Guinea. Unlike the owl for which it is often mistaken, the Tawny Frogmouth is not a bird of prey. Instead, it is almost exclusively insectivorous. For defense, it relies on cryptic camouflage, standing still to appear part of a branch. -
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". -
Photo credit: Noodle snacksThe Tasmanian Native-hen (Gallinula mortierii) is a flightless rail between 43 to 51 cm (17 to 20 in) in length, one of twelve species of birds endemic to the Australian island of Tasmania. Although flightless, it is capable of running quickly and has been recorded running at speeds up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). -
Photo: JJ HarrisonThe Dusky Robin (Melanodryas vittata) is a small passerine bird native to Tasmania. A member of the Australian Robin family, it is not related to European or American Robins. It is a brown-plumaged bird of open woodland, measuring 16–17 cm (6.3–6.7 in) in length. -
Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain in the Central Tasmanian Highlands
Cradle Mountain forms the northern end of the wild Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, itself a part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The jagged contours of Cradle Mountain epitomise the feel of a wild landscape, while ancient rainforest and alpine heathlands, buttongrass and stands of colourful deciduous beech provide a wide range of environments.
Cradle Mountain is a feature of the Overland Track. -
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: Noodle snacksA view of the greater Hobart area, as seen from Mount Wellington. The state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania, Hobart is located in the state's south-east, on the estuary of the River Derwent. -
Banknotes of the Australian pound were first issued by numerous private banks in Australia, starting with the Bank of New South Wales in 1817. Acceptance of private bank notes was not made compulsory by legal tender laws but they were widely used and accepted. The Queensland government issued treasury notes (1866–1869) and banknotes (1893–1910) which were legal tender in Queensland. The New South Wales government issued a limited series of Treasury Notes in 1893. The Commonwealth government passed an Act in 1910 which prohibited the issue of banknotes by private banks, and established Commonwealth powers to issue, re-issue, and cancel Australian notes. These notes were initially issued by the Australian Treasury, and then by the Commonwealth Bank from 1920. The Australian pound was replaced by the Australian dollar in 1966.
This note, denominated ten pounds, is part of the 1925 series.
See other denominations: 10 shillings (1918) · £1 (1918) · £5 (1918) · £10 (1918) · £20 (1918) · £50 (1918) · £100 (1918) · Half sovereign (1923) · £1 (1923) · £5 (1924) -
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: 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.
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On this day
- 1963 – Yolngu people petitioned the Australian House of Representatives with a bark petition after the government sold part of the Arnhem Land reserve on 13 March to a bauxite mining company.
- 1984 – The racehorse Fine Cotton is the centre of a substitution scam at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, Queensland.
General images
The following are images from various Australia-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Golden Wattle, Australia's floral emblem and the source of Australia's national colours, green and gold (from Culture of Australia) -
Kylie Minogue is hailed as one of Australia's most successful pop musicians (from Culture of Australia) -
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Skiing in Australia began in Kiandra, a goldmining town in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, in the 1860s. (from Culture of Australia) -
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St Mary Mackillop established an extensive network of schools and is Australia's first canonised saint of the Catholic Church. (from Culture of Australia) -
Cover of Old Bush Songs, Banjo Paterson's 1905 collection of bush ballads (from Culture of Australia) -
Didgeridoo performers (from Culture of Australia) -
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly (from Culture of Australia) -
Founded in 1993, Sydney's Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. (from Culture of Australia) -
Cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1860s (from Culture of Australia) -
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006 (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) -
Governor Arthur Phillip hoists the British flag over the new colony at Sydney Cove in 1788. (from Culture of Australia) -
A typical Queenslander house in Brisbane (from Culture of Australia) -
A group of Australian men wearing speedos. (from Culture of Australia) -
Portrait of Madame Melba by Rupert Bunny (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) -
Anzac Day dawn services are held throughout Australia every April. (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) -
A billycan used for heating water (from Culture of Australia) -
Nan Tien Temple, a Buddhist temple in Wollongong. Multicultural immigration has increased Australia's religious diversity. (from Culture of Australia) -
Noongar traditional dancers in Perth (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Dwellings accommodating Aboriginal families at Hermannsburg Mission, Northern Territory, 1923 (from Aboriginal Australians) -
The first State of Origin shield (from Culture of Australia) -
Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world's first feature film (from Culture of Australia) -
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) -
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An Eastern Arrernte man of the Arltunga district, Northern Territory, in 1923. His hut is decked with porcupine grass. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Historical image of Aboriginal Australian women and children, Maloga, New South Wales around 1900 (in European dress) (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Statue in Fremantle of an Australian rules footballer taking a spectacular mark (from Culture of Australia) -
The SBS building in Melbourne's Federation Square. SBS is Australia's multicultural broadcaster. (from Culture of Australia) -
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) -
The Wiggles performing in the United States in 2007 (from Culture of Australia) -
Donald Bradman is often cited as statistically the greatest sportsman of any major sport. (from Culture of Australia) -
A Luritja man demonstrating method of attack with boomerang under cover of shield (1920) (from Culture of Australia) -
Convict architecture at Port Arthur, Tasmania (from Culture of Australia) -
The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
William Wentworth was among the first advocates for Australian nationhood, supporting the rights of emancipists and leading the creation of Australia's first parliament (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) -
An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm (from Aboriginal Australians) -
Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
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The University of Sydney (from Culture of Australia) -
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The Princess Theatre in Melbourne (from Culture of Australia) -
House in Killara, New South Wales (from Culture of Australia) -
A swagman in bushman's apparel, wearing a brimmed hat and carrying swag, and billy can. (from Culture of Australia) -
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PCA of Orang Asli (Semang) and Andamanese, with worldwide populations in HGDP. (from Aboriginal Australians) -
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) -
Parliament House, Canberra (from Culture of Australia) -
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As of 13 August 2024, there are 204,248 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 593 are featured and 883 are good articles. This makes up 2.97% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.4% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.2% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etc., there are 521,652 pages in the project.
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