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. With an area of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi), 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, and mountain ranges in the south-east.
Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for approximately 65,000 years. The European maritime exploration of Australia commenced in the early 17th century with the arrival of Dutch explorers. In 1770, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. The European population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the time of an 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Politically, Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories. Australia's population of nearly 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while the five largest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. Australia's demography has been shaped by centuries of immigration: immigrants account for 30% of the country's population, and almost half of Australians have at least one parent born overseas. Australia's abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy, which generates its income from various sources including services, mining exports, banking, manufacturing, agriculture and international education.
Featured article -

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialized tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only living group of mammals to do so. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay, KCMG, KBE, CB, VD (21 December 1864 – 1 October 1930), who often spelt his surname M'Cay, was an Australian general and politician. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that in 1999 Jan Fullerton became the first woman to be appointed Director General of the National Library of Australia?
- ... that the specific epithet of Platycephalus endrachtensis is from an old word for Australia?
- ... that the recently restored Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Roebourne is the oldest church in North West Australia?
- ... that the Australian rugby sevens player Dietrich Roache kept the Australian national sprint champion out of the Australian Olympic team with his speed?
- ... that Wendy Solling was a nun, a sculptor and one of the first women ordained in the Anglican Church of Australia?
- ... that Australian brigadier Arthur Blackburn ordered his men to shoot less in the Battle of Leuwiliang, so that when they withdrew, their Japanese enemies would not realize it?
- ... that South Australia became the first place in the world to give women the right to stand for parliament due to an opponent's "great miscalculation"?
- ... that Australian neurosurgeon Jeffrey Rosenfeld led the team developing a wireless device that promises to give limited vision to the totally blind?
In the news
- 11 July 2022 –
- New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet announces that the Australian Aboriginal Flag will be flown permanently above the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is widely regarded as an iconic Australian landmark. The flag will be flown on top of the bridge's arches alongside the national flag, replacing the flag of New South Wales, after the state government decided against accommodating all three flags. (CNN)
- 10 July 2022 – 2022 Wimbledon Championships
- Novak Djokovic of Serbia wins his seventh Wimbledon and overall 21st Grand Slam title after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia in the men's singles final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6 (7–3). (BBC Sport)
- 3 July 2022 –
- Fifty-one people are arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy while trying to emigrate to Australia by sea. Police said that undocumented immigration has increased because of Sri Lanka's economic crisis. (Outlook)
- 17 June 2022 –
- The English men's cricket team achieve the highest ever One Day International score of 498 against The Netherlands, beating their previous world record of 481 against Australia in 2018. (BBC Sport)
Selected pictures -
On this day
- 1895 – The steamship SS Catterthun strikes Seal Rocks, New South Wales, and founders, killing 55 persons.
- 1914 – Enlistment for World War I begins.
- 1918 – Australian forces contribute to one of the greatest advances in World War I at the Battle of Amiens.
- 1973 – Landscape designer Edna Walling died.
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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 August 2022, there are 193,001 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia. Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etcetera, there are 479,184 pages in the project.
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