History of Australia

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Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere which consists of the Australian continent, the smaller island of Tasmania and a number of smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Surrounding countries include Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast.

 For 40,000 years before White settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was the homeland of indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After being discovered by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in the year 1770 and was settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales. It is known that formal possession of the land had been taken on 26 January 1788, after this the white population increased at a steady rate following decades; the Australian continent was explored and an group of five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

 It is recorded that on 1 January 1901, the 6 colonies became their own federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was created. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a secure liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth hierarchy. The population is currently about 22.6 million, with around 60 per cent located in and around the mainland state capitals. The main capital cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and the capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Approximately 57 per cent of Australia's population live in either Victoria or New South Wales, and approximately 79 per cent live in the eastern states of Australia.

 A well developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth 13th largest economy and it holds a position 16 in Global Competitiveness Index 2010–2011 rankings made by World Economic Forum. Australia ranks very 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.

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