Australia

Where the name comes from

Australia comes from Latin australis, “southern”, after Terra Australis Incognita, the “unknown southern land” imagined by European mapmakers.

First people

Archaeology places Aboriginal people in Australia at least 65,000 years ago, and Torres Strait Islander histories also go back tens of thousands of years.^1,2

Known for

Australia is known for animals found nowhere else, such as kangaroos and koalas, and for the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system.³

Outside rule

British colonization began in 1788, but the country’s far longer human history belongs to many distinct First Nations, whose cultures and ties to Country continue today.⁴

The modern country

Federation came in 1901, and Britain’s last law-making powers ended with the Australia Acts in 1986.⁵