Australia, island continent located southeast of Asia and forming, with the nearby island of Tasmania, the Commonwealth of Australia, a self-governing member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The continent is bounded on the north by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, and the Torres Strait; on the east by the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea; on the south by the Bass Strait and the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Indian Ocean. The commonwealth extends for about 4,000 km (about 2,500 mi) from east to west and for about 3,700 km (about 2,300 mi) from north to south. Its coastline measures some 25,760 km (about 16,010 mi). The area of the commonwealth is 7,682,300 sq km (2,966,200 sq mi), and the area of the continent alone is 7,614,500 sq km (2,939,974 sq mi), making Australia the smallest continent in the world, but the sixth largest country.

The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states�New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia�and two territories�the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The external dependencies of Australia are the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Territory of Cocos Islands (also called the Keeling Islands), the Coral Sea Islands Territory, the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island.

The first people to live in Australia, called Aborigines, migrated there about 40,000 years ago. The continent remained relatively unknown by outsiders until the 17th century. The first European settlement by British convicts occurred in 1788 at Botany Bay in southeastern Australia. Australia grew as a group of British colonies during the 19th century, and in 1901 the colonies federated to form a unified independent nation.

Australia lacks mountains of great height; it is one of the world�s flattest landmasses. The average elevation is about 300 m (about 1,000 ft). The interior, referred to as the outback, is predominantly a series of great plains, or low plateaus, which are generally higher in the northeast. Low-lying coastal plains, averaging about 65 km (about 40 mi) in width, fringe the continent. In the east, southeast, and southwest, these plains are the most densely populated areas of Australia.

In the east the coastal plains are separated from the vast interior plains by the Great Dividing Range, or Eastern Highlands. This mountainous region averages approximately 1,200 m (approximately 4,000 ft) in height and stretches along the eastern coast from Cape York in the north to Victoria in the southeast. Much of the region consists of high plateaus broken by gorges and canyons. Subdivisions of the range bear many local names, including, from north to south, the New England Plateau, Blue Mountains, and Australian Alps; in Victoria, where the range extends westward, it is known as the Grampians, or by its Aboriginal name, Gariwerd. The highest peak in the Australian Alps, and the highest in Australia, is Mount Kosciusko (2,228 m/7,310 ft), in New South Wales.

A section of the Great Dividing Range is in Tasmania, which is located about 240 km (about 150 mi) from the southeastern tip of the continent and is separated from it by Bass Strait. The waters of the strait are shallow, with an average depth of 70 m (230 ft). The major islands in the strait are the Furneaux Group and Kent Group in the east, and King, Hunter, Three Hummock, and Robbins islands in the west.

The western half of the continent is a great plateau, about 300 to 450 m (about 1,000 to 1,500 ft) above sea level. The Great Western Plateau includes the Great Sandy, Great Victoria, and Gibson deserts. Western Australia has, in its northern half, several isolated mountain ranges, including the King Leopold and Hamersley ranges. The interior is relatively flat except for several eroded mountain chains, such as the Stuart Range and the Musgrave Ranges in the northern part of South Australia and the Macdonnell Ranges in the southern part of the Northern Territory.

The central basin, or the Central-Eastern Lowlands, is an area of vast, rolling plains that extends west from the Great Dividing Range to the Great Western Plateau. In this region lies the richest pastoral and agricultural land in Australia. Uluru (Ayers Rock), in the center of Australia in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, is believed to be the largest monolith in the world. It is 9 km (6 mi) around its base and rises sharply to some 348 m (1,142 ft) above the surrounding flat, arid land. Other mountain ranges of limited size in the central part of Australia are the Flinders Ranges and Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. The area along the south central coast is called the Nullarbor Plain. The Nullarbor is a vast, arid limestone plateau that is virtually uninhabited. It has an extensive system of caverns, tunnels, and sinkholes that contain valuable geological information about life in ancient Australia. Extinct volcanic craters are located in the southeastern part of South Australia and in Victoria.

The coastline of Australia is generally regular, with few bays or capes. The largest inlets are the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north and the Great Australian Bight in the south. The several fine harbors include those of Sydney, Hobart, Port Lincoln, and Albany.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest known coral formation in the world. It extends some 2,010 km (some 1,250 mi) along the eastern coast of Queensland from Cape York in the north to Bundaberg in the south. The chain of reefs forms a natural breakwater for the passage of ships along the coast.

Australia was once part of the enormous landmass Gondwanaland, which earlier formed part of the supercontinent Pangaea. Much of its geological history is remarkably ancient; the oldest known rock formations date from 3 billion to 4.3 billion years ago.

The great plateau of western Australia is underlain by a vast, stable shield of Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks, ranging in age from 570 million to 3 billion years old. These form the core of the ancestral continent, which, with Antarctica, had split off from Gondwanaland during the Jurassic Period, less than 200 million years ago, and had begun drifting eastward (see Plate Tectonics). Australia began to assume its modern configuration by the Eocene Epoch, some 50 million years ago, when Antarctica broke away and drifted southward.

The thick sedimentary rocks of the Great Dividing Range were deposited in a great north-south trending geosyncline during an interval that spanned most of the Paleozoic Era (570 million to 225 million years ago). Compressive forces buckled these rocks at least twice during the era, forming mountain ranges and chains of volcanoes.

The Great Dividing Range separates rivers that flow east to the coast from those that flow across the great plains through the interior. The most important of the rivers that flow toward the eastern coast are the Burdekin, Fitzroy, Hunter, and Nepean-Hawkesbury. The Fitzroy River forms a large drainage basin in Queensland. The Murray-Darling-Murrumbidgee network, which flows inland from the Great Dividing Range, drains an area of more than 1 million sq km (400,000 sq mi) in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The Murray River and its main tributary, the Darling, total about 5,300 km (about 3,300 mi) in length. The Murray River itself forms most of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. Considerable lengths of the Murray, Darling, and Murrumbidgee rivers are navigable during the wet seasons.

The central plains region, also known as the Channel Country, is interlaced by a network of rivers. During the rainy season these rivers flood the low-lying countryside, but in dry months they become merely a series of water holes. The Victoria, Daly, and Roper rivers drain a section of Northern Territory. In Queensland the main rivers flowing north to the Gulf of Carpentaria are the Mitchell, Flinders, Gilbert, and Leichhardt.

Western Australia has few major rivers. The most important are the Fitzroy (separate from the Fitzroy in Queensland), Ashburton, Gascoyne, Murchison, and Swan rivers.

Because of Australia�s scarce water resources, dams have been constructed on some rivers to supply cities with water and to support irrigation farming. The Snowy Mountains Scheme (1949-1972) and the Ord River Scheme (1960-1972) are the two largest water-conservation projects. The Snowy Mountains Scheme, in the southeastern highlands in New South Wales, is an enormous, multipurpose engineering project that was financed by the federal and state governments to supply water for irrigation, domestic and livestock use, and for the generation of hydroelectricity. The Ord River Scheme is an irrigation project in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. During its construction the scheme attracted criticism from economists, environmentalists, and agriculture scientists, and today questions remain about its viability.

Most of the major natural lakes of Australia contain salt water. The great network of salt lakes in South Australia�Lake Eyre, Lake Torrens, Lake Frome, and Lake Gairdner�is the remains of a vast inland sea that once extended south from the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the dry season many of the salt lakes become salt-encrusted swamp beds or clay pans. Lake Argyle, created by the construction of the Ord River Scheme, is Australia�s largest artificially created freshwater lake.

Great areas of the interior, which otherwise would be useless for agriculture, contain water reserves beneath the surface of the land. These artesian water reserves, usually found at a great depth, are tapped by drilling to provide water essential for livestock. Artesian water reserves underlie about 2.5 million sq km (about 1 million sq mi) of Australia. The Great Artesian Basin, extending from the Gulf of Carpentaria into the northern part of New South Wales, includes more than 1.7 million sq km (700,000 sq mi). Other artesian basins are in the northwest, southeast, and along the Great Australian Bight.

The climate of Australia varies greatly from region to region, but the continent is not generally subject to marked extremes of weather. The climate ranges from tropical (monsoonal) in the north to temperate in the south. The tropical region, which includes about 40 percent of the total area of Australia, essentially has only two seasons: a hot, wet period with rains falling mainly in February and March, during which the northwestern monsoons prevail; and a warm, dry interval characterized by the prevalence of southeastern winds. Many points on the northern and northeastern coast have an average annual rainfall of 1,500 mm (60 in); in parts of Queensland average annual rainfall exceeds 2,500 mm (100 in). On the fringe of the monsoonal region are the drier savanna grasslands, where the low, unreliable rainfall is supplemented by artesian water. In central and northern Australia average summer temperatures range between 27� and 29�C (80� and 85�F). The deserts of central and western Australia, making up more than two-thirds of the area, have an annual rainfall of less than 250 mm (10 in).

The warm, temperate regions of southern Australia have four seasons, with cool winters and warm summers. Because Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, seasons there are the reverse of those in the Northern Hemisphere. January and February are the warmest months, with average temperatures varying between 18� and 21�C (65� and 70�F). June and July are the coldest months, with an average July temperature of about 10�C (about 50�F), except in the Australian Alps, where temperatures average 2�C (35�F). The eastern coastal lowlands receive rain in all seasons, although mainly in summer. The warm, temperate western and southern coasts receive rain mainly in the winter months, usually from prevailing westerly winds. Tasmania, lying in the cool temperate zone, receives heavy rainfall from the prevailing westerly winds in summer and from cyclonic storms in winter. Over the greater part of the lowlands, snow is unknown; however, in the mountains, particularly the Australian Alps in southern New South Wales and the northern part of Victoria, snowfall is occasionally heavy.

All of the southern states are exposed to hot, dry winds from the interior, which can suddenly raise the temperature considerably. In most years, parts of the continent experience drought conditions and smaller localities are ravaged by floods and tropical cyclones. Southeastern Australia, including Tasmania, has among the highest incidences of serious bushfires in the world, along with California in the United States and Mediterranean Europe. In 1994, notably, bushfires swept through New South Wales and destroyed several hundred homes in suburban Sydney.

Australia is rich in mineral resources, notably bauxite, coal, diamonds, gold, iron ore, mineral sands, natural gas, nickel, petroleum, and uranium. Readily cultivatable farmland is at a premium because much of the land is desert. Australia, however, has become one of the leading agricultural producers in the world by applying modern irrigation techniques to vast tracts of arid soil.

The continent of Australia has a distinctive flora that includes many species not found elsewhere. Of the 22,000 species of plants in Australia, more than 90 percent occur naturally there. Some 840 species are threatened with extinction, and 83 have become extinct since the beginning of European settlement. Approximately 2,000 plant species are introduced, or nonnative, species. Most have been associated with the development of agriculture and grazing, or with the establishment of large plantations of pines for commercial softwood. The spread of weeds and other aggressive introduced plants into areas of original vegetation is a serious environmental challenge.

Australia�s vegetation is predominantly evergreen, ranging from the dense bushland and eucalyptus forests of the coast, to mulga and mallee scrub and saltbush of the inland plains. The tropical northeastern belt, with its heavy rainfall and high temperatures, is heavily forested. Palms, ferns, and vines grow prolifically among the oaks, ash, cedar, brush box, and beeches. Mangroves line the mud flats and inlets of the low-lying northern coastline. The crimson waratah, golden-red banksias, and scarlet firewheel tree add color to northern forests.

Along the eastern coast and into Tasmania are forests of pine, which ranks second to the eucalyptus in terms of economic importance. The Huon and King William pines are particularly valuable for their timber, but the Huon pine is now considered rare and is usually protected. In the forest regions of the warm, well-watered southeastern and southwestern sectors, eucalyptus predominates; more than 500 species are found, some reaching a height of 90 m (300 ft). The mountain ash, blue gums, and woolly butts of the southeast mingle with undergrowth of wattles and tree ferns.

The jarrah and karri species of eucalyptus, which yield timber valued for hardness and durability, and several species of grass tree are unique to Western Australia. The wild flowers of the region are varied and spectacular. In the less dense regions of the interior slopes grow red and green kangaroo paws, scented Boronia, waxflowers, bottle brushes, and smaller eucalypti, such as the stringbark, red gum, and ironbark. More than 500 species of acacia are indigenous to Australia. The scented flower of one acacia, the golden wattle, is the national flower of Australia and appears on the official coat of arms. In the interior region, where rainfall is low and erratic, characteristic plants are saltbush and spinifex grass, which provide fodder for sheep, and mallee and mulga shrubs.

The most valuable native grasses for fodder, including flinders grass, are found in Queensland and northern New South Wales. During occasional seasonal floodings, rapid and luxuriant growth of native grasses and desert wildflowers occurs, and water lilies dot the streams and lagoons.

Unique and primitive forms of animal life exist in Australia. Seven families of mammals and four families of birds are classified as native to the country. About 70 percent of the birds, 88 percent of the reptiles, and 94 percent of the frogs are unique to Australia. Seven of the more than 750 known species of birds have become extinct since the beginning of European settlement, and another 35 are endangered or vulnerable. Of mammals, 19 are extinct and 63 are threatened. Environmentalists have argued for more rigorous conservation policies to protect Australia�s unique animal life.

One striking aspect of mammal life in Australia is the absence of representatives of most of the orders found on other continents. However, the primitive, egg-laying mammals known as monotremes are found most abundantly in Australia. One of them, the platypus, a zoological curiosity, is an aquatic, furred mammal with a bill like that of a duck and with poisonous spurs. It lives in the streams of southeastern Australia. Another monotreme of Australia is the spiny anteater, or echidna.

Most native mammals are marsupials, the young of which are nourished in an external marsupium, or abdominal pouch. The best-known marsupials of Australia are the kangaroos, which include about 50 species. The kangaroo is vegetarian and can be tamed. The large red or gray kangaroo may stand as high as 2 m (7 ft) and can leap up to 9 m (30 ft). The wallaby and kangaroo rat are smaller members of the kangaroo family. The phalangers are herbivorous marsupials that live in trees; they include the possum and the koala, a popular fur-bearing animal that is protected throughout Australia. Other well-known marsupials are the burrowing wombat, bandicoot, and pouched mouse. The carnivorous Tasmanian devil, principally a scavenger, is found only on the island of Tasmania.

Rodents, bats, and the dingo, or warrigal, belong to a different order of mammals. The dingo is a doglike night hunter that also preys on sheep; it does not bark, but howls.

When Europeans settled in Australia, they brought in many species of animals. The wild descendants of these introduced animals pose serious environmental threats. For example, the European rabbit was brought in mainly for sport in the mid-19th century. These rabbits quickly reached plague proportions in Australia�s receptive environment with no natural predators, and their total population has reached as many as 500 million. The damage they cause includes soil erosion, the destruction of habitat for native species, and large commercial production losses. Rabbits, as well as foxes and cats, have been targeted for massive national efforts in biological control and regional eradication programs. Other destructive animals include pigs, goats, cattle, horses, and camels. In the monsoonal areas of tropical Australia, the Asian water buffalo has increased its population over a vast territory; it is responsible for erosion and the disruption of delicate swamp habitats.

The continent contains a variety of reptile life. It has two species of crocodiles, the smaller of which is found in inland fresh waters. The larger, fierce saurian crocodile of the northern coastal swamps and estuaries attains lengths of 6 m (20 ft). There are more than 500 species of lizards, including the gecko, skink, and the giant goanna. About 100 species of venomous snakes are found in Australia. The taipan of the far north, the death adder, the tiger snake of southern Australia, the copperhead, and the black snake are the best known of the poisonous snakes.

The waters surrounding Australia support a wide variety of fish and aquatic mammals. Several species of whales are found in southern waters, and seals inhabit parts of the southern coast, the islands in Bass Strait, and Tasmania. The northern waters supply dugong, trepang, trochus, and pearl shell. Edible fish and shellfish are abundant, and the oyster, abalone, and crayfish of the warmer southern waters have been exploited commercially. Australian waters contain some 70 species of shark, several of which are dangerous to humans. The Queensland lungfish, sometimes called a living fossil, is a primitive fish that breathes with a single lung instead of gills.

Most insect types are represented in Australia, including flies, beetles, butterflies, bees, and ants. The giant termites of northern Australia build huge, hill-like nests up to 6 m (20 ft) in height. Australia has earthworms in abundance, including the giant earthworms of Victoria, which range from 0.9 to 3.7 m (3 to 12 ft) in length, the longest in the world.

Australia is the home of 751 known species of birds, ranging from primitive types, such as the giant, flightless emu and cassowary, to highly developed species. The fan-tailed lyrebird has great powers of mimicry. The male bowerbirds build intricate and decorative playgrounds to attract females. The kookaburra, or laughing jackass, is noted for its raucous laughter. Many varieties of cockatoos and parrots are found; the budgerigar is a favorite of bird fanciers. The white cockatoo, a clever mimic, is more common than the black cockatoo. Black swans, spoonbills, herons, and ducks frequent inland waters. Smaller birds include wrens, finches, titmice, larks, and swallows. Gulls, terns, gannets, muttonbirds, albatrosses, and penguins are the most common seabirds. The muttonbird, found mainly on the islands of Bass Strait, is valued for its flesh.

All types of soils are found in varying quantities throughout the continent. Although more than 40 percent of the land consists of desert and sandy plains, suitable in places only for light grazing of sheep, soil resources are a significant factor in the Australian economy. Traditionally, the base of Australia�s exports has been supplied by those who farm and graze the land, although the proportion of foreign earnings from farming has declined in recent years.

Phosphate additives have been used extensively as soil fertilizers for many years; large areas of marginal land have been made more productive by the use of trace elements, such as zinc, copper, and manganese, and some new lands have been opened up to production. Criticism of the accumulating side effects of soil additives increased during the 1970s and 1980s, when it was demonstrated that soil acidification was affecting vast areas. During the same period, water runoff from fertilized soils was linked with periodic outbreaks of toxic blue-green algal blooms in the Murray-Darling Basin. Elsewhere, wind erosion in the semiarid pastoral and agricultural regions and water erosion in the wetter, deforested southeastern regions pose major problems. A local movement called Landcare won significant government support to address these problems. The ecological and economic threats to the soil and water are being countered by a wide range of technical and educational programs.

Australia has been an island continent for 200 million years, separated by vast seas from the rest of the world. Because of this isolation, its plants and animals have evolved into some of the strangest species on Earth. No other region has such a diversity of living things unique to its shores.

The isolated development of Australia�s native species and biomes has made them fragile and vulnerable to destruction by invading species. Humans have introduced plants and animals from around the world. The first introduced species may have been the dingo, which was probably brought as a domestic animal by aboriginal immigrants from Asia tens of thousands of years ago. These new species have frequently pushed out native species. Famous examples are European rabbits and the North American prickly pear cactus.

Some of the world�s most unique habitats, located in Australia, are environmentally threatened. Overuse by tourists and divers and increased industrial shipping in nearby waters has damaged the health of the Great Barrier Reef. The wet tropical forests of northern Queensland are coveted by the timber industry and tourist developments. Preservation of tropical forests remains an active and sensitive environmental issue in Australia.

Australia has an extensive system of terrestrial national parks and reserves, which are administered by the individual states. A number of marine and estuarine reserves have also been designated, including the massive Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The system includes 11 World Heritage Sites and 12 biosphere reserves designated under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. Australia�s protected land comprises 7 percent (1997) of the country.

Australia has few permanent rivers, and a great deal of farm water comes from wells that tap a few large underground artesian basins, most of which supply saline water of marginal quality. Salinization and alkalization of soil is common. Soil erosion and desertification due to poor farming practices occurs, especially on overgrazed land. Kangaroos compete with cattle for forage in some regions�the kangaroos are sometimes harvested as a game species for sport and to reduce their numbers.

Australia has developed as a major industrial power with a high standard of living and has thus experienced the accompanying problems of water, soil, and air pollution near its cities. The country is a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Many environmental policies are quite stringent, however, such as those governing the recycling and disposal of household waste. The country�s greatest environmental asset is its relatively low population�only about 19 million people�giving Australia one of the lowest overall population densities of any country.

Internationally, Australia has ratified numerous environmental agreements to protect the environment and prevent climate change, including agreements to preserve Antarctica�s pristine state. Regionally, Australia cooperates with other South Pacific nations in protection of the marine environment. Agreements to protect migratory birds have been made with Japan and China.

People of European descent make up 95 percent of Australia�s inhabitants. The majority have a British or Irish heritage, but about 18 percent of the total population have other European origins. Asians, including Middle Easterners, account for 4 percent of the population. Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders make up 1 percent of the population. In 1991 the largest overseas-born groups were from Great Britain and Ireland (22.5 percent), other European countries (30 percent), and Asia and the Middle East (21 percent). Before World War II (1939-1945) more than 90 percent of the people were of British or Irish origin. Since then, more than 2 million Europeans from other countries have migrated to Australia. Since 1975, about 125,000 Southeast Asians have been admitted to the country, most as refugees.

English is the official language of Australia. Aboriginal and other minority languages are spoken in ethnic communities.

The first Australians were the Aborigines. Aboriginal folklore claims that the Aborigines were always in Australia. However, most anthropologists believe that the Aborigines migrated from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years ago, probably during a period when low sea levels permitted the simplest forms of land and water travel. A rise in sea level subsequently made Tasmania an island and caused some cultural separation between its peoples and those on the mainland.

These original Australians were essentially hunter-gatherers without domesticated animals, other than the dingo, which was introduced by the Aborigines between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. The Aborigines employed a type of �firestick farming� in which fire was used to clear areas so that fresh grazing grasses could grow, thereby attracting kangaroos and other game animals. Aborigines also may have harvested and dispersed selected seeds. Those widespread operations may have been responsible for extensive tracts of grassland. There is evidence of careful damming and redirection of streams and of swamp and lake outlets, possibly for fish farming.

Although the Aborigines were nomadic or seminomadic, their sense of place was exceptionally strong and they had an intimate knowledge of their home landscapes. A growing historical record points to the existence of some permanent or semipermanent stone villages. The most recent 3,000 years of Aboriginal history were characterized by accelerating changes based on the use of stone tools, the exploitation of new resources, the growth of the population, and the establishment of long-distance trading.

By the time of the first notable European settlement in 1788, Aboriginal people had developed cultural traits and ecological knowledge that showed an impressive adaptation to Australia�s challenging environments. They also had developed many complex variations between regional and even local communities. The total Aboriginal population at that time was about 300,000. More than 200 distinct languages existed at the beginning of the 19th century. Bilingualism and multilingualism were common characteristics in several hundred Aboriginal groups. These groups�sometimes called tribes�were linguistically defined and territorially based.

During the first century of white settlement, there were dramatic declines in the Aboriginal population in all parts of the country. The declines resulted from the introduction of diseases for which the Aborigines had little or no acquired immunity; social and cultural disruptions; brutal mistreatment; and reprisals for acts of organized resistance. By the 1920s, the Aboriginal population had declined to 60,000.

Until the 1960s the Aboriginal population was mainly rural. Over the next two decades Aborigines began moving in greater numbers to urban areas. In many country towns, Aboriginal families were viewed negatively as fringe dwellers. In the larger cities, small, but highly volatile, ghetto-like concentrations caused the Aborigines to begin demanding greater political rights.

In fact, the Aborigines� social and political status was so low that they were omitted from the official national censuses until 1971, following the overwhelming passage of a 1967 referendum that granted the government power to legislate for the Aborigines and to include them in the census count. At the 1991 census, 238,590 Australian residents were counted as Aborigines and 26,902 as Torres Strait Islanders; the two groups are not clearly distinguished, and the term Aboriginal often is used for both groups. Their greatest concentrations were in New South Wales and Queensland (each with 26.4 percent of the national total), Western Australia (15.7 percent) and the Northern Territory (15 percent).

More than 70 percent of the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders live in urban areas. Traditional ways of life are still maintained in small enclaves in the more remote locations, especially in the north and center of the continent. Every region of the country is represented by its own Aboriginal land council, and most regions run cultural centers and festivals. A shared desire to reassert their claim to land rights has united the widely separated communities, and Aboriginality is now widely expressed in art, popular music, law, literature, and sport.

In terms of social and economic disadvantage�unemployment, family income levels, welfare dependence, infant mortality rates, and average life expectancy�the Aboriginal population still fares badly in comparison with the Australian population as a whole. Its recent renaissance has brought victories in many spheres, and the confirmation of Aboriginal ownership and control of extensive areas of northern and central Australia has introduced a new dimension into the economic, political, and social life of the nation.

Australia is the most sparsely populated of the inhabited continents. According to the 1991 census, Australia had a population of 16,849,496. The 2001 estimated population is 19,357,594, giving the country an overall population density of 3 persons per sq km (7 per sq mi).

The country is heavily urbanized. Some 85 percent of the population lives in cities, about two-thirds in cities with 100,000 or more residents. The most rapidly growing areas are the coastal zones near and between the mainland capitals in the east, southeast, and southwest. In fact, four out of every five Australians live on the closely settled coastal plains that make up only about three percent of the country�s land area. The fastest-growing region is southeastern Queensland.

Australia�s population was growing at 1 percent annually in 2001. The principal reasons for this growth were the continued high level of immigration and the associated increase in the numbers of younger people in the childbearing and childrearing age groups.

The Commonwealth of Australia comprises six states and two territories. The states and their capitals are New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), Queensland (Brisbane), South Australia (Adelaide), Western Australia (Perth), and Tasmania (Hobart). The territories and their chief cities are the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) and the Northern Territory (Darwin).

The major cities of Australia are Sydney, a seaport and commercial center; Melbourne, a cultural center; Brisbane, a seaport; Perth, a seaport on the western coast; and Adelaide, an agricultural center. Canberra, the national capital, is much smaller in population.

Australia has no single established church, and its constitution guarantees freedom of worship. The population is predominantly Christian. The largest single denominations are the Roman Catholic church (26 percent of the population) and Anglican Church Australia (26 percent). Another 24 percent belong to other Christian denominations, such as the Uniting Church (founded in 1977 with the merging of the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists), the Baptist Union, the Lutheran Church of Australia, the Church of Christ, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Jewish, Buddhist, and Muslim worshipers make up a small portion of the population. The number of Buddhists and Muslims is increasing, reflecting the changing immigration patterns since the 1960s. A significant share of Australia�s population say they are nonreligious.

Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the individual states. In each state administration, the training and recruiting of teachers are centralized under an education department. Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15 in all the states except Tasmania, where the upper age limit is 16. Most children start their schooling at the age of 5. State schools provide free secular education; students may attend religious classes offered by the clergy of various denominations. About 72 percent of students attend state schools. In addition to the state school system there are private schools, which are usually denominational and charge tuition fees. The majority of the private schools are Catholic. Some private schools, which in some states are called public schools as in Britain, accept day students and boarders. Schooling is provided at kindergartens and play centers for children from 2 to 6 years of age. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation conducts broadcasts for kindergarten children unable to attend such centers. Special provisions are made for children in isolated areas. These include Schools of the Air�where children use two-way radios, television sets, video and cassette recorders, and computers to participate in classroom instruction�and correspondence schools.

Most children transfer from the primary to the secondary school level at the age of 12. Secondary schools, known as high schools and junior technical schools, provide five- or six-year courses that enable students to prepare for state examinations for university entrance. The commonwealth government conducts the educational program for all children in the territories. In 1995 Australia had nearly 10,000 primary and secondary schools, with an annual enrollment of 1.9 million primary students and 2.4 million secondary students.

The commonwealth government maintains training colleges for the defense services, the Australian Forestry School in Canberra and the School of Pacific Administration in Sydney, which conduct training programs that are attended primarily by civil service administrators from Papua New Guinea. The government also maintains the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Australian Maritime College, and the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

In the early 1990s Australia had 37 universities, including two significant private institutions, and a large number of colleges offering advanced education in specific subject areas. Their combined annual enrollment in 1997 was 1,041,648. Among the leading universities are the Australian National University (founded in 1946), in the Australian Capital Territory; Macquarie University (1964), the University of New South Wales (1948), and the University of Sydney (1850), in New South Wales; the University of Queensland (1910); the University of Adelaide (1874), in South Australia; the University of Tasmania (1890); La Trobe University (1964), the University of Melbourne (1853), and Monash University (1958), in Victoria; and the University of Western Australia (1911).

Most Australians enjoy or aspire to middle-class suburban lifestyles in their homes. Apartments�called flats�were not common until recent years. They became more prevalent because of reduced family sizes, the adoption of more cosmopolitan modes of living, a trend toward rented accommodation, and state government efforts to revitalize the inner cities and maximize expensive infrastructural investments in transportation, water supplies, and other services. These developments were accompanied to some extent by an increased sophistication, especially in the capital cities.

Australian fashion generally follows Western styles of dress, but is distinctive for the lightweight, colorful casual wear that reflects the absence of harsh winters. Food and drink preferences are influenced by global fashions, but also mirror the rise of ethnic diversity and the country�s capacity to produce most kinds of food, wine, and other beverages in abundance.

Popular culture is dominated by an emphasis on leisure activities and outdoor recreation. Great pleasure is taken in traditional backyard barbecues, bush picnics, and a wide range of organized sports, including soccer, Australian Rules football, cricket, tennis, baseball, basketball, volleyball, netball (a game similar to basketball, played by women), athletics, cycling, boating, swimming, horseback riding, and horse racing. Fishing and gardening are popular activities.

Initially, the way of life in Australia substantially reflected the heritage of the British settlers. Customs were modified as the settlers adapted to the new country and its exceptionally fine climate. A culture evolved that, although based on the British tradition, is unique to Australia. The increasing sophistication of Australian culture has been promoted by government subsidies for the arts and the provision of improved facilities. Many cities and towns have built or expanded art galleries and performing art centers. The architecturally stunning Sydney Opera House is the best known of the modern venues. Opera, ballet, and dance companies, symphony orchestras, artists, playwrights, and writers are supported by the Australia Council. The federally funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation controls independent television and radio stations. Australia also has many other media companies, newspapers, and magazines that contribute to local culture, although some are now owned by foreigners.

The development of library services after World War II was facilitated by state subsidies to local authorities. The establishment of library schools by the National Library of Australia, the Library of New South Wales, and the State Library of Victoria has raised the level of professional training of librarians. The Library Association of Australia conducts a comprehensive examination and certification system for professional librarians.

The National Library of Australia (1960), in Canberra, serves as the library of the nation, the library of the federal parliament, and the national copyright-depository library. In the early 1990s its holdings exceeded 4.7 million volumes. It has extensive collections of both Australiana and general research materials and provides bibliographical and reference services to the federal government departments. The State Library of New South Wales (1826) is the oldest and largest of the state public libraries and contains a noted collection of Australiana. The State Library of Victoria (1854) includes collections on painting, music, and the performing arts. All states maintain public libraries that are, in effect, state reference libraries. Rural areas are well served, except for the most remote locations. However, recent economic conditions have caused cutbacks in spending that reduced many rural services. Each state parliament is served by a library, and important research collections are maintained at the various university libraries. The major scientific libraries are those of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, the Central Library of which is in Melbourne. Important special libraries are maintained by industrial concerns and by national and state government departments.

Australia has a variety of museums. The Australian Museum (1827) in Sydney features notable collections on natural history and anthropology; the National Maritime Museum (1991) is also in Sydney. The National Gallery of Victoria (1859) in Melbourne houses excellent exhibits of European and Australian paintings, as do the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1874) in Sydney; the Queensland Art Gallery (1895) in Brisbane; the Art Gallery of South Australia (1881) in Adelaide; and the Art Gallery of Western Australia (1895) in Perth. Also of note are the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (1880) of the Powerhouse Museum and the Nicholson Museum of Antiquities (1860) in Sydney; the Queensland Herbarium (1874); the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (1852) in Hobart. Museum Victoria (formerly the Museum of Victoria), a complex of museums in Melbourne, incorporates the collections of former National Museum of Victoria (1854) and Science Museum of Victoria (1870). The Museum Victoria complex includes the Melbourne Museum, a cultural and natural history museum; Scienceworks, a science and technology museum; and the Immigration Museum and Hellenic Antiquities Museum. Melbourne�s renowned Royal Botanic Gardens houses the National Herbarium, a research center with specimens and original documents dating back to the mid-19th century. The Australian National Gallery opened in Canberra in 1982, and the federal capital also will be the site of an ambitious new national museum that is scheduled for completion in 2001.

See Australian Literature.

Long before the arrival of Europeans, the Australian Aborigines executed elaborate paintings on rock and bark. The value of early paintings by European immigrants lies primarily in their importance as a record of the settlement of the country. Not until the 1880s did the first generation of white Australian artists, unhampered by the restrictions of European discipline, capture the unique Australian scenery, its light, and atmospheric color. This group of painters was known as the Heidelberg School; it included Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, and Sir Arthur Streeton. From the early 1940s the work of Australian artists reflected a gradual transition from the generally accepted traditional school to the modern style. Australian painters of the 20th century included Sir William Dobell, known for his portraits; George Russell Drysdale, noted for depictions of the isolated inhabitants of the interior of the country; and Frederick Ronald Williams, whose landscapes and seascapes were notable for their quality of light. The work of Sidney Nolan, based on themes derived from Australian history and folklore, has achieved world renown, as has that of Arthur Boyd. Modern Aboriginal artists, drawing on traditional styles and themes, found receptive audiences in Europe and North America in the late 20th century.

The oldest music in Australia is the music of the Australian Aborigines. In Aboriginal societies, music plays a central role in both social and sacred life. During social gatherings called corroborees, singing and dancing provide the major form of entertainment. In sacred ceremonies, songs serve as the vital link to the realm of Aboriginal spirits called Dreamtime. The Aborigines believe that, long ago, the Dreamtime spirits sang songs that created all living things on Earth. Today these songs are sung in sacred ceremonies to ensure the survival and propagation of all plant and animal life.

The history of European-based music in Australia begins with the British settlers, who were influential in initiating public concerts. Today, each major city has a symphony orchestra, affiliated with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distinguished artists and conductors from many countries regularly tour Australia. Australia has made notable contributions to the world of music through sopranos Nellie Melba and Joan Sutherland, composer-pianist Percy Grainger, and composers Arthur Benjamin, John Henry Antill, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, and Peter Sculthorpe. Classical ballet was brought to Australia by famed native-born dancer and choreographer Sir Robert Helpmann, who was one of the founders of the Australian Ballet.

Beginning in the 1970s there was a resurgence of the motion picture industry, and films produced in Australia, dealing with Australian themes, such as Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Australian director Peter Weir, attracted audiences throughout the world. Romanticized accounts of life in the Australian bush proved successful at home and overseas, as films such as The Man From Snowy River (1982) and Crocodile Dundee (1986) enjoyed great success. See Motion Pictures, History of: The Cinema of Australia and New Zealand.

Australia is an outstanding producer of primary products. The country is self-sufficient in almost all foodstuffs and is a major exporter of wheat, meat, dairy products, and wool. Australia usually produces more than 25 percent of the world�s yearly output of wool. The volume of manufacturing grew rapidly between the 1940s and 1970s, and mining became a leading sector in the economy during the 1960s. The value of exports from the mining and manufacturing sectors now exceeds that of the agricultural sector. In 1998 the estimated annual federal budget included $87.9 billion in revenues and $88.5 billion in expenditures. Gross domestic product, which measures the value of all goods and services produced, was $404 billion in 1999.

Despite the great expansion in mining and manufacturing after 1940, the prosperity of much of the country continues to be dependent on livestock raising and crop farming. The pastoral industry was established in the early days of settlement, when the first Spanish merino sheep were introduced from South Africa. The industry was a significant factor in Australian economic and historical development. Australia currently is the major world producer and exporter of wool, particularly fine merino, although income from wool exports is now less than one-tenth of the total export income of the country. In 2000 the annual production of wool was 672,000 metric tons. About half the country�s wool is produced in New South Wales and Western Australia.

In the past the country�s great rabbit population hampered sheep raising by foraging on grazing land. Although rabbits accompanied the First Fleet that arrived in Australia in 1788, their first significant arrival occurred in 1859 at the behest of a landowner, Thomas Austin. The shipment of two dozen wild rabbits was released on his property near Geelong, Victoria. Within three years the rabbits had assumed the proportions of a potential pest. Subsequently, the rabbit population was estimated to have reached some 500 million, or about 50 times the human population of Australia. The viral disease myxomatosis, which attacks rabbits, was introduced in 1936 and proved an effective control for about 20 years. The rabbit population increased markedly thereafter and is again an economic and environmental threat.

Queensland is the leading cattle-producing state, containing more than two-fifths of the estimated 25.6 million head of cattle in Australia in 2000. The country produces both beef and dairy cattle. Dairying is concentrated in Victoria and Tasmania. Irrigation is heavily relied on in much of the fruit-growing and dairying regions. In some areas the rising incidence of soil salinization threatens production. Experiments with biotechnologies may reduce the impact of salinization and the use of expensive water resources.

Although only 7 percent of the total area of Australia is under crop or fodder production, this acreage is of great economic importance. Wheat crops occupy about 45 percent of cultivated acreage, and other grains occupy about 25 percent. The bulk of the wheat crop is grown in the southeastern and southwestern regions of the country. Production in 2000 was 22.2 million metric tons. Oats, barley, rye, hay, and fodder crops also are important. Rice and cotton are grown in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (in New South Wales) and in the Northern Territory. Sugarcane production is confined to the fertile coastal fringe of Queensland and the Richmond River district of northern New South Wales. Some 36.5 million metric tons of sugarcane were produced in 2000. Many types of fruit are grown, including grapes, oranges, apples, bananas, pears, pineapples, peaches, and nectarines. The major wine-producing areas are in the Barossa Valley of South Australia, the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, and parts of northeastern, southern, and western Victoria. Special varieties of grapes are grown, especially in the Murray Valley, for the production of raisins.

Forests cover 21 percent of Australia. The main forest regions, found in the moist coastal and highland belts, consist predominantly of eucalyptus, a hardwood. Eucalyptus wood is widely used in the production of paper and furniture. The jarrah and karri species, which grow in Western Australia, are noted for the durability of their woods. Queensland maple, walnut, and rosewood are prized as cabinet and furniture woods. About one-quarter of the country�s forests are permanently preserved in state reservations. Because of the deficiency in coniferous forests, the country imports large quantities of softwoods. State, federal, and private pine forests have been established to help overcome this deficiency by raising extensive stands of Monterey pine.

Australian waters contain a great variety of marine life, but the annual catch is relatively small�214,227 metric tons in 1997. More than 85 percent of the yearly value of exported fishery products is made up of various shellfish, principally scallops, shrimp, spring and green rock lobsters, oysters, and abalone. Marine fishes marketed include orange roughy, sharks and rays, skipjack tuna, mullet, southern bluefin tuna, and escolar. Pearls and trochus shells have been harvested off the northern coast since the 1800s. Darwin, Broome, and Thursday Island are the main pearling centers, but cultured pearls are now more significant. The cultured pearl industry is dominated by Japanese-Australian ventures. Australia was a principal whaling nation until the late 1970s, when it agreed to halt most whaling activities in cooperation with an international effort to maintain the whale population.

The mining industry, long an important factor in the social and economic growth of Australia, holds great promise for the future development of the country. The gold discoveries of the 1850s were responsible for the first wave of immigration and for settlement of inland areas. Today, Australia is self-sufficient in most minerals of economic significance, and in a few cases is among the world�s leading producers. Annual Australian production of coal, oil, natural gas, and metallic minerals was valued at about $12.4 billion in the early 1990s. Metallic minerals accounted for more than two-fifths percent of the total, with gold and iron ore the most significant components. Western Australia had the largest share of total mineral production, especially of metallic minerals.

Australia accounted for some 13 percent of the world�s gold production in 1997. About three-fourths of the nation�s output (302,580 kg/667,100 pounds in 1999) is mined in Western Australia, notably near Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Most of the gold is exported to Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Australia is also the world�s largest producer of diamonds, producing about two-fifths of the global total. Production of gem-quality diamonds was 13,403,000 carets in 1999. Much of it came from the giant Argyle Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. About 95 percent of Australia�s iron-ore production also takes place in Western Australia, in the Pilbara region. Iron-ore reserves also exist at Iron Knob in South Australia; on Cockatoo Island in Yampi Sound off Western Australia; in northwestern Tasmania; and in Gippsland, Victoria. Almost all of the iron ore is exported; Australia is now Japan�s major supplier of iron ore. Other markets include China, Germany, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Australia is the world�s largest bauxite and alumina producer and the fourth largest aluminum producer. The major bauxite mines are located to the south of Perth in Western Australia; and in the Northern Territory on the Gove Peninsula. Important uranium mines are located in the Northern Territory (Ranger Mine) and at Olympic Dam in South Australia. All uranium is exported.

Hard, or black coal, mining is heavily concentrated in New South Wales and Queensland. The lignite, or brown coal, industry is located in Victoria, where it is used to produce electricity. Other major minerals in Australia include nickel, mined near Kalgoorlie-Boulder; copper, mined at Mount Lyell in Tasmania, Mount Isa in Queensland, and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory; zinc, mined at Broken Hill in New South Wales; and manganese, mined at Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory. Titanium and zircon are recovered from the beach sands of southern Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia. Queensland, New South Wales, and Tasmania are the main tin-producing states, and tungsten concentrates are mined on King Island in the Bass Strait. Petroleum has been discovered in Western Australia, in southern Queensland, and offshore in Bass Strait. Total production in 1999 was 228 million barrels. Natural gas is also extracted, with annual production of 31.1 billion cubic meters (1,100 billion cubic feet).

After World War II ended in 1945, the introduction of new industries and the development of existing ones caused substantial expansion of manufacturing activity in Australia. In 1998 manufacturing contributed 13 percent of the country�s yearly gross domestic product. Principal branches of the manufacturing sector by value of production are metals and metal products, food products, transportation equipment, machinery, chemicals and chemical products, textiles and clothing, wood and paper products, and printed materials.

Manufacturing facilities are concentrated in New South Wales (especially in Sydney and Newcastle) and Victoria (primarily in the Melbourne metropolitan area). New South Wales is noted for the production of iron and steel, jet aircraft, construction equipment, synthetic fibers, electronic equipment, power cables, and petroleum and petrochemical products. In Melbourne, industrial activity includes the manufacture and assembly of machinery and motor vehicles and the production of food and clothing. Geelong, located near Melbourne, is known for its wool mills and motor works. South Australia, traditionally a pastoral and agricultural state, after 1950 developed several important manufacturing centers, including Adelaide and Whyalla. Brisbane and Townsville, in Queensland, have significant numbers of factories. Tasmanian industry, assisted by inexpensive hydroelectric power, includes electrolytic zinc mills, paper mills, and a large confectionery factory. Hobart and Launceston are the primary manufacturing centers in Tasmania.

Tourism grew rapidly in the late 20th century, and it now represents one of the most dynamic sectors in the Australian economy, accounting for 500,000 jobs in the early 1990s. Australia had 4.5 million visitors in 1999, and they spent $7.5 billion.

The strong growth in domestic tourism has tapped the expanding range of attractions in each state and territory�amusement and theme parks, zoos, art galleries and museums, certain mines and factories, national parks, historic sites, and wineries. Some of the most popular attractions are Queensland�s spectacular Great Barrier Reef, the Northern Territory�s Kakadu National Park, and the famous beach resorts in the Brisbane, Cairns, and Sydney regions.

In 1998 some 90 percent of the electricity produced annually in Australia was generated in thermal facilities, the majority of which burned bituminous coal or lignite. The country also has several hydroelectric plants, notably the major Snowy Mountains Scheme (primarily serving Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney) and a number of smaller facilities in Tasmania. Australia�s total annual production of electricity was 192 billion kilowatt-hours. Natural gas is commonly used for domestic heating and cooking. Australian researchers are studying the prospects for solar and wind energy uses. In the early 1990s, domestic production of crude oil and concentrate was worth about $3 billion and the production of natural gas was valued at approximately $1.7 billion. Some $2 billion worth of petroleum refinery products and crude oil was imported.

The unit of currency in Australia is the Australian dollar, divided into 100 cents and coined in 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, and $2 pieces. The Australian dollar is freely traded on international currency markets. (A$1.55 equals U.S.$1; 1999 average).

The first Australian bank was established in Sydney in 1817. The banking system now includes the Reserve Bank of Australia, established in 1911, which handles the functions of central banking, including note issuance; the components of the Commonwealth Banking Group, including the Commonwealth Development Bank and the Commonwealth Savings Bank; and three other major banks: the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corporation, and the National Australia Bank. A number of privately owned or state-owned banks operate, as well as many foreign banks. The Australian Stock Exchange conducts trading in six cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

Under Australian tariff policy, protection is afforded essential Australian industries, and preferential treatment is granted to imports from certain Commonwealth countries. Customs duty is levied also for revenue purposes. Some modification of the preferential-treatment policy has been made by Australia, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the mid-1990s, the value of goods imported exceeded the value of exports.

The leading purchasers of Australia�s exports are Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia. In addition, new markets are being developed in Asia for Australian wheat and other surplus commodities. Major suppliers of imports are the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, China, and New Zealand. Principal exports included metal ores, coal, gold, nonferrous metals, meat and meat products, textile fibers (mainly wool), petroleum and petroleum products, and cereals. Leading imports were road vehicles and other transportation equipment, machinery, office equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, and textiles. In 1999 imports were valued at $69.1 billion, exports at $56.1 billion. Australia is also an important exporter of agricultural and medical research services, especially to the wider Asian region.

Each Australian colony established its own rail network prior to becoming a state within the federation; as a result, the gauge varies from one state to another. A general program for standardization of railroad gauges throughout Australia is in progress. Railroad lines total about 9,458 km (5,877 mi) of track, almost all of it owned and operated by both the federal and state governments.

Australia has about 913,000 km (about 567,312 mi) of roads. About one-third are paved, including about 16,000 km (about 9,900 mi) of state highway. The capital cities are connected by inexpensive bus services. Some 601 motor vehicles are registered for every 1,000 people. A comprehensive network of airline service links major cities and even remote settlements. Domestic lines carry nearly 18 million passengers yearly. Because of the long distances between cities and the country�s ideal flying conditions, Australians are especially accustomed to air travel. Qantas Airways, Ltd., the country�s largest airline company, provides service to domestic and international locations. International airports are located near each of the mainland capitals and near Cairns and Townsville. Coastal and transoceanic shipping is vital to the Australian economy. Major ports include Melbourne, Sydney, and Fremantle, in Western Australia.

Australia maintains contact with the rest of the world by such means as satellite, submarine telegraph cable, radio-telephone, and phototelegraph services. Since 1975 the Australian Telecommunications Commission has been responsible for telecommunications services within Australia; the Australian Postal Commission manages the postal services. In 1999 there were 520 telephone mainlines for every 1,000 people. Government and commercial radio and television systems operate concurrently. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is a statutory authority operating 108 medium-wave and 358 FM radio stations. Commercial stations number 149; unlike the national stations, these carry advertising. Television programs are transmitted within range of 99 percent of the population by the ABC�s national television network and by some 45 commercial stations. Australia has about 530 newspapers, some 65 of which are dailies with a combined daily circulation of 5.4 million. The Australian is the national general newspaper; among the other large-circulation metropolitan dailies are the Sydney Morning Herald; The Age and Herald-Sun News Pictorial (both published in Melbourne); Courier-Mail (Brisbane); Advertiser (Adelaide); and West Australian (Perth).

Under the Australian constitution, industrial controls on labor are divided between the commonwealth and the states. Federal power is confined to disputes extending beyond the limits of any one state, and it is exercised through the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and through arbitration and conciliation commissioners. Compulsory arbitration has been established at a federal and state level. Arbitration and conciliation courts or boards have the power to make awards binding on employer and employee. The trade union movement, with more than 3 million members, is strongly organized at local, state, and federal levels and is an economic and political power. About 53 percent of all Australian wage and salary workers belong to trade unions. Workers receive unemployment and sickness benefits, compensation for job-incurred injuries, basic wages and marginal awards, and general social and health benefits. A basic or minimum wage was established by law in 1907. Between 1921 and 1953 the basic wage was automatically adjusted to quarterly rises and falls in the cost of living. The commonwealth terminated this automatic adjustment in September 1953, but several states later reintroduced the procedure. In 1999 the labor force in Australia was 9.7. The unemployment rate was 8 percent.

Australia, a federal parliamentary democracy, is an independent self-governing state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The constitution of Australia, which became effective in 1901, is based on British parliamentary traditions, and includes elements of the United States system. The head of state is the British sovereign, and the head of government is the Australian prime minister, who is responsible to the Australian Parliament. All powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states. Australia is a founding member of the United Nations (UN).

Formally, executive authority in Australia is vested in the governor-general, who is appointed by the British monarch in consultation with the Australian prime minister. The British monarch is also the royal head of Australia, but has no real power in the government and serves as a symbolic head of state. The governor-general acts only on the advice of the Federal Executive Council, made up of the ministers of state. Federal policy in practice is determined by the ministers of state under the leadership of the prime minister. Together they form the cabinet, which meets without the governor-general. The prime minister is the head of the majority party in parliament. The ministers are responsible for the individual departments of the federal government, and these departments are administered by permanent civil servants.

National legislative power in Australia is vested in a bicameral parliament, made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate consists of 76 members (12 from each state and 2 from each territory). Senators are popularly elected under a form of proportional representation; senators from states are elected to six-year terms and senators from territories are elected to three-year terms. According to the Australian constitution, the House should have about twice as many members as the Senate. The number of members from each state is proportional to its population, but must be at least five. As of the 2001 elections the House has 150 members, all of whom are directly elected to three-year terms. The prime minister can ask the governor-general to dissolve parliament and call new elections at any time; the prime minister also determines the date of parliamentary elections every three years. Australia has universal and compulsory suffrage for all citizens over the age of 18.

Three political parties dominate in the Australian parliament: the two-party ruling coalition of the Liberal Party of Australia (LP) and the smaller National Party of Australia (NP), and the leading opposition party, the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Numerous other parties include the Australian Democrats (DEM) and the Australian Greens (GRN). Traditionally, the ALP is associated with trade unions, the LP is aligned with business interests and supports free enterprise, the NP is more conservative, and the DEM and GRN are more progressive.

A bicameral system of government exists in each state except Queensland, which has only one house. The British sovereign is represented in each state by a governor. Governmental affairs are handled by a cabinet, the head of which is known as the premier. Within each Australian state, hundreds of local government authorities are responsible for traffic and building regulation; maintenance of streets, bridges, local roads, water and sewerage, parks, libraries, and hospitals; and similar functions. Among these authorities are shire councils, borough councils, and town and city councils. Legislation granting power to local authorities exists in each state.

The government of Australia has played an important role in advancing social services. Programs of assistance for people who are sick, aged, widowed, or unemployed exist. A maternity allowance is paid to mothers irrespective of income, and an endowment for all children under 16 years of age is payable to the parent or other person with custody. Medical and hospital benefits are paid by the federal government.

The Flying Doctor Service provides medical service for people in remote areas. The service covers two-thirds of Australia, with physicians operating from bases equipped with radio stations for communicating with distant ranches and settlements, and a hospital, air-ambulance, and nursing staff. Australia has 400 people for every physician and 118 people for every hospital bed.

At the head of the judicial system of the commonwealth is the High Court of Australia, consisting of seven members appointed by the governor-general in council. There are lesser federal courts and state supreme courts.

The system of national defense employed by Australia dates from the integration of the separate colonial forces following the country�s federation in 1901. A small amount of compulsory military service (strictly within Australia) was introduced in 1911. The Royal Australian Navy received its first ships in 1913. Australians were on active service with the Royal Flying Corps in World War I (1914-1918); the Royal Australian Air Force was not established until 1921. Australians twice rejected compulsory military service during World War I, yet volunteered in huge numbers out of proportion to the small population. The first enemy attack on Australian territory was the aerial bombing of Darwin by the Japanese early in World War II (1939-1945). Australian forces have taken part with distinction in the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Sudan campaign (1897-1899), the Boer War (1899-1902), World Wars I and II, the Korean War (1950-1953), the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), the Vietnam War (1959-1975), and the Persian Gulf War (1991). Conscription was reintroduced for home defense during World War II, then in the postwar years until 1960, and again in 1965 to support the Vietnam effort. Public outrage over the Vietnam War caused conscription to be abolished once more in 1972.

In 1999 the Australian armed forces totaled 50,600. The army numbered 24,150; the navy, 12,500; and the air force, 13,950. Although small, the armed forces are equipped with modern weapons.

With the United States and New Zealand, Australia was a signatory of the ANZUS Treaty (1952) for mutual defense and support in case of attack. When New Zealand refused in the mid-1980s to allow ships capable of nuclear attacks to use its ports, the United States suspended defense obligations with the country. The Australia-United States alliance under ANZUS remains in full force, and Australia also maintains its own defense agreements with New Zealand.

The Aborigines were the first inhabitants of Australia. Most anthropologists believe they migrated to the continent at least 40,000 years ago, and that most of the continent was occupied 30,000 years ago. Although Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Arab seafarers may have landed in northern Australia well before ad 1500, Australia was essentially unknown in the West until the 17th century.

Although Australia was not known to the Western world, it did exist in late medieval European logic and mythology: A great Southland, or Terra Australis, was thought necessary to balance the weight of the northern landmasses of Europe and Asia. Terra Australis often appeared on early European maps as a large, globe-shaped mass in about its correct location, although no actual discoveries were recorded by Europeans until much later. Indeed, the European exploration of Australia took more than three centuries to complete; thus, what is often considered the oldest continent, geologically, was the last to be discovered and colonized by Europeans.

In the 15th century Portugal�s systematic drive southward along the west coast of Africa, seeking trade with India, rekindled European interest in finding the as yet undiscovered Terra Australis. Portuguese mariners may have charted the east coast of the continent in as early as the 16th century, but they preferred to concentrate on India, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Australia remained undiscovered by the West for other reasons as well. One was that the continent�s location was off the Oceanic-island trading corridor of the Indian and South Pacific oceans. In addition, the winds in the Southern Hemisphere tend to veer northward in the direction of the equator west of Australia, whereas east of the continent the strong head winds discourage sailing into them.

In the 16th and early 17th centuries, Spain, having established its empire in South and Central America, began a series of expeditions from Peru into the South Pacific. Encouraged by the discovery of the Solomon Islands (northeast of Australia) by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1567, Spanish New World officials launched several expeditions in hopes of finding gold. After the failure of these voyages to find either precious minerals or significant new landmasses, Spain abandoned its interest in Terra Australis after 1605.

Portugal�s involvement in India, and Spain�s disenchantment, allowed the rising power of the Netherlands to establish a string of trading centers from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to Indonesia during the 17th century. The Dutch, stationed chiefly in the Indonesian ports of Bantam and Batavia (Jakarta), quickly made the discovery of Australia a reality. Helped by better sailing ships and greater knowledge of global wind systems, they were able to overcome the challenges in the southern Pacific. In 1606 Willem Jansz sailed into Torres Strait, between the Australian mainland and New Guinea. (The strait was later named for a Spanish explorer, Luis Vaez de Torres, who sailed into the same area in the same year and determined that New Guinea was an island.) In 1616 Dutch sailor Dirk Hartog followed a new southern route across the Indian Ocean to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). Winds blew his ship, the Eendracht, too far to the east and Hartog landed on an offshore island of Western Australia, becoming the first known European to set foot on Australian soil. Before sailing north to Batavia, he left a pewter plate on the island inscribed with a record of his visit.

Encouraged by Jansz�s voyages, Dutch governors-general at Batavia commissioned expeditions into the southern oceans. The most successful was that of Abel Tasman, who in 1642 moved into the waters of southern Australia, discovering the island now known as Tasmania. Tasman then sailed farther east and north to explore New Zealand. Dutch ships sailing to Indonesia often sailed off course, and their crews landed on the western and northern coasts of Australia. Despite their increasing knowledge of the continent, which they called New Holland, the Dutch did not follow up their oceanic discoveries with formal occupation; in their contacts, they found little of value for European trade. Thus, the way was open for the later arrival of the English.

At first England�s involvement in Australia appeared likely to go the way of the Spanish and Dutch, but in the late 17th century the English launched two expeditions. The first one, in 1687 to 1688, was led by a buccaneer, William Dampier, who landed in the northwest. When he returned to England, he urged further voyages in pursuit of the continent�s supposed wealth. The second expedition�along the western coast in 1699�resulted in a rather dismal assessment of the land�s potential. English interest in the continent declined accordingly.

The 18th century in Western Europe ushered in the Age of Reason, when philosophers and scientists stressed the value of global discovery, of learning more about the Earth and in collecting unusual flora and fauna from around the world. These inquiries fit well with Britain�s growing power as a maritime empire.

In 1768 Captain James Cook left England on a three-year expedition to the Pacific that also took him to Australia. Cook landed at Botany Bay on the eastern coast. He charted the region and named it New South Wales. It was he and his staff, including botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who later supported settlement in Australia. Cook�s two additional voyages in the 1770s added information on the Australian landmass and cemented Britain�s claims to the continent.

French interest was less sustained than that of the British. Marion Dufresne, on his 1772 voyage, concentrated upon charting and describing the less hospitable western coast and Tasmania, and later French explorers investigated Australia�s southern coast. By then, however, the British had established their first settlement and had claimed the eastern half of the continent.

Even with Britain�s sustained efforts, Australia�s coasts were not fully explored until the 19th century. Matthew Flinders was the first to circumnavigate the continent from 1801 to 1803. He charted most of the coastline, but it was midcentury before the continent�s major interior features were known.

Australia was portrayed as a remote and unattractive land for European settlement. However, it had some social and strategic value for a nation with rising crime rates and commercial interests in the Pacific and East Asia. Britain moved quickly after the American Revolution ended in 1783 to establish its first settlement in Australia, since it could no longer ship British convicts to America. Food shortages, harsh penal laws, and the general displacement of people during the early stages in the Industrial Revolution in Britain added to its criminal population. Leading social reformers of the day assumed that the best way to eliminate crime was to remove these criminals from society. In 1786 the British government announced its intention to establish a penal settlement at Botany Bay in Australia.

On May 13, 1787, retired Royal Navy captain Arthur Phillip set sail from Portsmouth with the First Fleet. The 11 ships of the fleet arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788 with more than 1,450 passengers, including 736 convicts, 211 marines, 20 civil officials, and 443 seamen. Finding the bay a poor choice, Phillip moved the fleet north to Port Jackson, which he discovered to be one of the world�s best natural harbors. Here he began the first permanent settlement on January 26, now known as Australia Day. The settlement was named Sydney for Britain�s home secretary, Lord Sydney, who was responsible for the colony. As the appointed governor of the New South Wales colony, Phillip was responsible for a large portion of Australia (from the eastern coast to as far west as the 135th meridian), but his human resources were limited. In particular, he lacked the horticulturalists, skilled carpenters, and engineers needed to develop a self-supporting colony. His major concern, until his departure in 1792, was ruling virtually single-handedly over the small penal settlement.

Three major problems confronted the early governors: providing a sufficient supply of foodstuffs; developing an internal economic system; and producing exports to pay for the colony�s imports from Britain. Land around Sydney was too sandy for suitable farming, and the colony faced perpetual food shortages through the 1790s. Natural food sources were largely limited to fish and kangaroo. Phillip established farms on the more fertile banks of the Hawkesbury River, a few miles northwest of Sydney, but this land was often flooded or still used by the Aborigines. Needed food supplies came mainly from Norfolk Island, nearly 1,600 km (about 1,000 mi) away, which Phillip had occupied in February 1788. The island later served as a jail for the more hardened criminals.

In 1792 the Royal Marines were replaced with the New South Wales Corps, which had been specifically recruited in Great Britain. Given grants of land, members of the corps became the colony�s best and largest farmers, but they also posed a serious threat to the governors by their power over the economy. With a sharp eye for enhancing their income, they specialized in controlling the price of rum, which served largely as the colony�s internal means of exchange.

Captain John Hunter, Phillip�s successor as governor, who arrived in 1795, tried in vain to gain control of the rum traffic. The next governor, Captain Philip G. King, who served from 1800 to 1806, was no more successful. Both governors also had to house additional arrivals, and in 1804 King had to use the corps to put down a rebellion by Irish convicts.

In 1806 Captain William Bligh replaced King. The captain had gained notoriety earlier, when the crew of his ship, the Bounty, had mutinied in the Pacific. Bligh threatened the corps with the loss of their monopoly. He was met with the so-called Rum Rebellion, and on January 26, 1808, officers of the corps arrested him. Bligh was later sent to London, where he successfully defended his policies, but he was not restored to his governorship. The Rum Rebellion thus gave the leaders of the corps the immediate victory. Meanwhile, one of its ringleaders, John Macarthur, had found the solution to the colony�s lack of valuable exports: in 1802 he had shown British manufacturers samples of Australian wool. It was only after 1810, however, with the breeding of the merino sheep, with its long staple wool, that sheep grazing gradually developed into a major economic activity.

Bligh�s replacement, Lachlan Macquarie, served as governor from 1809 to 1821. The most talented governor since Phillip, he also became the most powerful. The New South Wales Corps was sent home, and because the economy had improved, the government gained stability. Macquarie began an extensive public works program, employing the ex-convict Francis Greenway to design churches, hospitals, and government buildings in Sydney. The population of the colony also increased after Britain�s defeat of Napoleon in 1814. The arrival of more free settlers brought more claims to farmland on which more convicts could serve as laborers.

These two new groups of colonists, however, reflected a growing tension within New South Wales. As convicts completed their sentences or were eligible for release due to good behavior, they wanted land and opportunities. They were known as the emancipists, and their leaders urged that they be given more rights. The free settlers, like the corps before them, maintained that convicts, even after their release, should not be treated as equals. They were known as the exclusives. Macquarie, as had Bligh, tended to support the emancipists, granting them land and appointing them to minor offices. The exclusives, therefore, became critical of both Macquarie and the emancipists.

Macquarie�s government was expensive, and most of the burden had to be carried by the British treasury. Overseas punishment, however, did not appear to have reduced the number of convicts, and many wondered if New South Wales was the proper solution to Britain�s crime problems. In 1819, the British Colonial Office sent Judge John Thomas Bigge to inspect and report on Macquarie�s administration. He recommended slashes in government expenses but assumed that New South Wales should continue as a convict settlement. He also, however, recognized the colony�s growing importance to the British Empire as a home for wealthy free settlers, and he popularized the name Australia for the southern continent. Bigge�s reports resulted in a major change in the constitution for New South Wales in 1823. By an act of Parliament the governor�s autocratic powers were reduced with the appointment of a nominated Legislative Council.

In 1825, by an executive order of the British government, the island settlement of Van Diemen�s Land (present-day Tasmania) became a separate colony. A penal colony had been established there in 1803 out of fear that France was ready to claim the island. Although settlements south and north of Sydney had been attempted in the same period, only Van Diemen�s Land became a large permanent settlement.

The convicts�and reaction to them�became the major theme of early Australian history. Although the sending of convicts to New South Wales was abolished in 1850 and to Van Diemen�s Land in 1852, Britain had sent more than 150,000 to the two colonies. Approximately 20 percent were women, and about one-third were Irish; the majority came from the poorer classes of British towns. Many had been repeatedly convicted of petty crimes, and many of the females had been prostitutes. Most of the convicts were poorly educated; only about half of them could read or write. A minority of the prisoners were from the upper class and were serving sentences for crimes such as forgery; these convicts were often able to use their training in business and in government offices. In general, however, because they were unskilled and unaccustomed to the rigors of colonial or prison life, the convicts were an exceptionally difficult population with which to build a new society.

Until the 1830s, colonial officials endorsed harsh punishments for convicts who committed crimes in the colony. Flogging was a common penalty�up to 200 lashes for crimes of theft. Although most convicts were fed and clothed by the government, many were sent out to work for others. Those with cunning and skills might accumulate wealth, and a few became the founders of prominent colonial families.

Although seals were hunted before 1820 in the rich waters of Bass Strait, it was wool that connected Australian society with its counterpart in Britain. Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William C. Wentworth opened up a route through the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in 1813, and westward settlement of New South Wales was begun. Their explorations, followed by the southerly treks of Hamilton Hume and William Hovell in 1824 and Major Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (later Sir Thomas) in 1836 into what was later called Victoria, spurred the transfer of flocks and herds to inland pastures. By 1829 the government had become concerned about the dispersal of the sheep farmers, or graziers, who were known as squatters, since they obtained licenses to �squat� on the land they wanted rather than buying it. Efforts to control squatting failed, in part because of the continuing demand from British textile mills for more wool.

Like England, the Australian colonies were officially Anglican in religion. The authorities, however, neglected religious instruction, and the Anglican faith was not the religion of the bulk of the population; Roman Catholicism (maintained by the Irish) and Methodism vied with the official religion. Many of the early settlers tended to remain indifferent to religious creeds.

Education was also neglected by the government, which generally provided only a few schools for orphans. Wealthier colonists employed tutors for their children. The colony did develop a lively press, beginning in 1803 with the publication of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. The Gazette�s editor, George Howe, also published the first books in Sydney, including a volume of poetry (1819) by Judge Barron Field. Earlier, David Collins, who had been with Arthur Phillip on the First Fleet, had published in London the first history of Australia, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales (2 volumes, 1798-1802). In 1824 William C. Wentworth, born in the colony, began publication of The Australian, a more opinionated newspaper that campaigned for the emancipists.

From the 1820s to the 1880s, Australia underwent major processes that laid the foundation for its present society. Among these were the establishment of new colonies along the coasts, the expansion of sheep and cattle raising in the interior, and the discovery of gold and other minerals in the eastern colonies.

As a prelude to increased British interest, Captain James Stirling (later Sir James) explored the Swan River on the western coast in 1827 and led a group of British investors in the establishment of Western Australia in 1829. Underfinanced, Stirling�s new settlement of free settlers at Perth stagnated. In 1850 the colony requested convicts to increase its labor supply and received about 10,000 until 1868. Only with the discovery of gold in the 1890s, however, was the fortune of Western Australia reversed.

South Australia, with its capital of Adelaide, was established in July 1837. It was the plan of Edward Wakefield, a British reformer who wanted to create new colonies reflecting British cultural values. By selling land rather than giving it away (the past British practice), Wakefield hoped to use the income to sponsor the immigration of laborers to meet the needs of colonial farmers. By controlling land prices, he assumed he could regulate colonial expansion. The new colony eventually succeeded as a society of small grain farmers. Like each of the other colonies, it failed to recognize the rights of the Aborigines.

Australian soils and climate, with the recurrent droughts, were better suited for large-scale grazing than for farming, and the most successful and dramatic transformation of the Australian continent occurred in the 1830s and 1840s, as squatters established huge sheep runs. Paying only 10 pounds a year for a license, squatters could claim virtually as much land as they wanted.

The expansion of sheep grazing resulted in the colonization of the Port Phillip district, which in 1850 became the colony of Victoria, with its capital at Melbourne (founded in 1836). To the north, graziers also gave the outlines to another colony, Queensland (with its capital at Brisbane), which was separated from New South Wales in 1859.

From 1830 to 1850 wool exports rose from 2 million pounds to 41 million pounds. With new immigrants and the growth of the capital cities, each of which served as the major port for its region, the Australian colonies began to agitate for more control over their governmental systems.

The transfer of more authority from Britain to the colonies was helped by Britain�s adoption of free trade in the late 1840s. Free trade, which meant that Britain would buy from the lowest-price supplier and sell in the most profitable market, eliminated�at least in principle�the need for colonies. Thus, in 1850, without having to unite into a common front, the eastern colonies received new constitutions. Victoria, South Australia, and Van Diemen�s Land (which changed its name to Tasmania in 1854) were given legislative councils, with two-thirds of the membership to be elected. New South Wales had been granted the same provision in 1842.

By the mid-1850s each of the four eastern colonies refashioned its governmental system and gained control over its land policy. The new systems vested power in a cabinet or council of ministers responsible to the legislature and provided a popularly elected assembly as a part of that legislature. Voting by ballot (instead of by the raising of hands) and other innovations made the new governments quite democratic. The new constitutions reflected the interests of the urban populations, who wanted to reduce the political power of the graziers, but the graziers still managed, during the 1850s and 1860s, to gain more security in their landholdings.

The gold rush of the 1850s sped up the development of the social and political systems. In April 1851, Edward Hargraves found gold at Summer Hill Creek in New South Wales. With the recent experience of the California gold rush in mind, others joined in the rush, which quickly became centered in Victoria at Mount Alexander, Ballarat, and Bendigo. Gold was later found elsewhere in New South Wales and Queensland.

In the following ten years, Australia exported more than 124 million pounds worth of gold alone. By 1861 the Australian population had reached almost 1.2 million, a threefold increase over the 1850 population of 400,000. Americans as well as Britons and Canadians joined the immigrants to the eastern colonies. In Victoria, miners quickly became irritated with the high cost of mining licenses and restrictions on their right to search for gold. Before the fees were reduced, a small band of miners staged an uprising at the Eureka stockade at Ballarat in December 1854.

Both miners and colonists responded with alarm to the influx of Chinese immigrants attracted by gold. In 1856 Victoria restricted the entry of Chinese. Eventually, the exclusion of all but European settlers gave the colonies a �White Australia� policy that was defended vigorously whenever there appeared to be new threats to Australian jobs or culture. On occasion it seemed that Queensland, which began to import Polynesian laborers (called Kanakas) for sugarcane plantations in the 1860s, might remain at odds with the other colonies, but it eventually conformed; the plantations were replaced by small-scale sugar farms run by whites, and the White Australia policy continued to provide an emotional link among the colonists.

In the 1860s the goldfields began to decline. Although wool exports kept the colonies fairly prosperous, colonial debate soon centered on the role of government in the economy. In particular, railroad construction, due to costs and the absence of internal market centers, became a government activity. In 1866 Victoria, followed by South Australia and Tasmania, adopted a policy of high tariffs on imported goods in order to protect its own small industries and markets. New South Wales (and Queensland to a lesser extent) continued to stay with a free-trade policy.

Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, the arguments over free trade versus protection divided the press, the political parties, and the colonies. This, together with the continuing jealousies among them, hindered any significant attempts at cooperation and possible union among the six colonies until the 1890s.

Phillip�s initial settlement at Sydney brought him into contact with Australian Aborigines, many of whom used the surrounding lands as their campsites and hunting domains. Only a few major confrontations took place between the colonists and the indigenous population in the first decade. With the settling of Van Diemen�s Land (Tasmania), however, Aboriginal communities began to be destroyed on a large scale. Unable to overcome colonial arms and fears, and despite the official British policy of protection, the 5,000 Aborigines of the island were then reduced to a mere handful. On the mainland, where the graziers sought lands for their sheep runs, the Aboriginal communities of hunters were forced to retreat into the drier interior.

In principle, the official colonial policy throughout the 19th century was to treat the Aborigines as equals, with the intention of eventually converting them to Christianity and European civilization. Governor Macquarie even established a school for Aboriginal children. Such acts, however, stressing good intentions, were infrequently supported and always underfinanced. In fact, moving from a policy of protection to one of punishment was typical of the early colonial government.

The culture clash between whites and Aborigines was especially severe on the frontier. In the 1830s and 1840s, as the frontier pushed inland, some Aborigines were employed on sheep stations, and others were used for police patrols, but even some active church efforts to serve and educate the Aborigines did not stabilize race relations. White settlers poisoned and hunted Aborigines and abused and exploited Aboriginal women and children.

Forced to survive on even scantier supplies of food, the Aborigines were steadily reduced in number. By the 20th century their traditional lifestyles were confined to the Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales. Not until the 1950s did their population begin to inch back to its pre-European level and the federal government begin to review and correct past treatment.

The rapid increase of Australia�s population from 1830 to 1860 contributed to the growth of the six capital cities. Unable to support dense settlements within their interior, the colonies became increasingly urbanized around the initial points of colonization. With the decline of gold mining in Victoria and New South Wales in the 1860s, even the prospectors drifted to the cities. By the end of the century, Sydney and Melbourne were among the world�s largest cities, even though Australia as a whole still had a small population.

Each capital served as the major port for its respective colony. Perceiving others as rivals, each city�and colony�tended to emphasize its own identity. Contacts between individual colonies were secondary to their ties with Britain, and rivalries among them were common; thus, Victoria and New South Wales each used a different gauge for their railroads. (Standardization was begun only in the 1960s.)

All the colonies, however, shared a culture that was heavily influenced by the capital cities. In the 1850s it was merchants and professionals who agitated for political reform and the making of new constitutions. Small urban manufacturers and early trade union leaders aided in the formation of cabinet governments and the passage of legislation favorable to the urban populations. Victoria�s workers pioneered the eight-hour day movement in 1856. Following the lead of New South Wales, the colonial political systems tended to keep the graziers and other families of wealth from controlling colonial life. Wool and the ever-occurring mineral discoveries nevertheless provided the economic base on which that way of life was based.

Enjoying midcentury prosperity, Sydney and Melbourne set the pace in cultural activities. Each founded a university and undertook major efforts in building museums, art galleries, and stately homes for the wealthier classes. Sporting events, especially cricket matches and soccer games, complemented the activities of clubs and societies. Joined by Adelaide, with its even stronger streak of British liberalism, the three cities succeeded in gaining free, compulsory primary educational systems for the colonies by the 1860s. Each city also had several major newspapers that championed its colony�s uniqueness.

Despite intense loyalty to Britain, the colonists soon began to romanticize their frontier images of sheep shearer, farmhand, and miner. The image was that of an individual struggling against authority as well as the environment. By the 1880s and 1890s folktales and ballads were a major part of Australia�s popular culture. Even earlier, the distinctive Australian slang had come into being as another variant of English.

Although British authors remained far more popular than Australian writers, colonial contributions to the arts kept pace with the increasing economic and social development of the six colonies. Two writers, Catherine Helen Spence, author of Clara Morison (1854), and Marcus Clarke, author of For the Term of His Natural Life (1874), produced distinctive novels that dealt with local themes. See also Australian Literature.

Australia held a special fascination for 19th century scientists, and large numbers of botanists, zoologists, anthropologists, and geologists found ample material there for research. By the 1860s, Australians had also completed the initial exploration of the interior, including the deserts in the Northern Territory.

Federation of the Australian colonies came late and without the display of nationalism that characterized similar movements elsewhere. The idea of unification appeared as early as 1847 in proposals by Earl Grey, Britain�s colonial secretary. In the 1850s John Dunmore Lang, a Scottish Presbyterian cleric in New South Wales, formed the Australian League to campaign for a united Australia. Conferences among colonial governments in the 1860s also considered closer cooperation and unification. With the formation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, British officials began to expect a similar effort among Australians. No plan, however, received serious attention, due to the intense rivalries among colonial societies.

In the 1880s the prospect of European�as distinct from British�colonization of the Pacific triggered fears of Australia�s lack of defense. Queensland, anticipating German moves, claimed Papua on New Guinea in 1883 but, unable to support this claim, had to urge Britain to rule the territory and to claim other islands. Concerned that they might not be able to direct British policy in their interests and aware of the emergence of new powers in Europe, the Australian colonies created a Federal Council in 1885, but the refusal of New South Wales to participate doomed this effort at unification.

Other developments during the 1880s, however, served to keep the idea of unification alive. Debate over the White Australia policy demonstrated the need for uniform immigration rules. As more Australian workers unionized, trade unions became more centralized, suggesting the attractiveness of a single economic and political system. Unstable economic conditions and outright depression by 1892 contributed to the development of labor parties that could defend worker interests. It was evident to the laborites that unification would permit the standardization of labor laws.

New South Wales began the movement to replace the Federal Council in 1889, when its premier, Henry Parkes, announced that the colony would support a new form of federalism. A conference in Sydney in 1891 laid the basis for a constitutional convention, which did not, however, meet until 1897 to 1898. Further disputes followed, but eventually all six colonies approved. The Commonwealth of Australia was accordingly approved by the British Parliament in 1900 and became a reality on January 1, 1901.

The federal constitution reflected both British and American practices�that is, parliamentary government, with cabinets responsible to a bicameral legislature, was established, but only specifically delegated powers were given to the government. The new House of Representatives, like the British House of Commons, was based on popular representation, but the new Senate, like its American counterpart, preserved the representation of the colonies, which now became states. As neither Sydney nor Melbourne was an acceptable federal capital, in 1911 the Australian Capital Territory was established for a new capital, Canberra�again based on the Washington, D.C., model.

Central to the history of Australia in the 20th century was the development of both a national government and a national culture. Commonwealth governments, led by architects of federation such as Alfred Deakin, quickly established a protective tariff to foster internal development, designed procedures for setting minimum wages in industry, and preserved the white immigration policy. Nevertheless, Australians tended to retain their old colonial identities, and the political parties at the national level tended to be loosely defined.

World War I (1914-1918), much more than federation itself, began the transformation of Australian life from that of six colonies to a united state aware of its new identity. Responding to the allied call for troops, Australia sent more than 330,000 volunteers, who took part in some of the bloodiest battles. Suffering a casualty rate higher than that of many other participants, Australia became increasingly conscious of its contribution to the war effort. At Gallipoli (now Gelibolu), an Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) tried in vain to launch a drive on the Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles. The date of the fateful landing, April 25, 1915, became equated with Australia�s coming of age, and as Anzac Day it has remained the country�s most significant day of public homage.

In 1915 William M. (�Billy�) Hughes became prime minister and leader of the Labor Party. Representing Australia at councils in London, Hughes personified Australian energies. When he failed to carry the electorate in two attempts to supplement volunteers with conscripted men, Hughes remained in power by forming the Nationalist Party, much to the annoyance of his Labor colleagues. He attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, acquiring German New Guinea as a mandated territory and establishing Australia�s right to enter the League of Nations. The powers designated to the federal government in the constitution proved sufficient to allow a strong central government.

After an internal backlash within the Nationalist Party forced the retirement of Hughes in 1923, Stanley M. Bruce became prime minister. The Country Party, founded in 1920 as a patriotic, conservative movement to protect the interests of farmers and graziers, joined the Nationalist coalition, although it kept its own identity. The chief opponent of the coalition was Labor, which had to redefine its social policies. To maintain wartime levels of production and expansion the government sought to build up the basic industries, but the depression of 1929 cut deeply into the health of the Australian economy, increasing public and private debts at a time of massive unemployment.

Recovery from the depression, led from 1929 to early 1932 by James H. Scullin and the Labor Party, was extremely uneven. Deflationary economic policy contributed to economic effects that were far more harsh than those felt elsewhere in the world. Disagreement on government policy broke Labor again in 1931, and for the rest of the 1930s the United Australia Party, composed of former Nationalists and disenchanted Laborites, held the reins of power. The party was led by Joseph Aloysius Lyons.

From its first assumption of responsibility in foreign affairs, Australia had been guided by its cultural and political ties with Britain. Emphasis was therefore placed on following Britain�s leadership in solving the problems of the depression. Chief among these was an attempt to redirect more trade between Britain and the dominions. As early as the 1920s, however, Japan and the United States were among Australia�s best customers for its wool crop. Against its own interests, but motivated in part by fear, Australia sought to reestablish British trade at the expense of its relations with Japan. In the League of Nations and within the Commonwealth of Nations, Australian governments also tended to support appeasement and other policies in an effort to prevent war with the Fascist powers.

When war came again in Europe in 1939, Australia dispatched its small armed forces to assist in Britain�s defense. After the Pacific war between Japan and the United States broke out in 1941 and Britain was unable to provide sufficient support for Australia�s defense, the new Labor government of John Curtin sought alliance with the United States. Until the liberation of the Philippines, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur and his staff used Australia for their base of operations. Although casualties were lighter than in World War I, Australians were more psychologically affected because of their fears of a Japanese invasion. Again Australian industry was transformed by the needs of war. The economy was redirected toward manufacturing, and heavy industries ringed the capital cities. Postwar development built further on the foundations established during the war.

Prime Minister Curtin died in 1945, but the new Labor government under Joseph B. Chifley strengthened Australia�s relationship with the United States in the ANZUS pact for mutual assistance (with New Zealand as a third partner). As a charter member of the United Nations, Australia also agreed to the decolonization of the islands in the Pacific, including the preparation of Papua New Guinea for independence (achieved in 1975).

In 1949 Robert Menzies became prime minister, ushering in a long era of political stability. During the war, the old United Australian Party had disintegrated. In its stead arose the Liberal Party, which attracted those who opposed Labor�s internal policies. Menzies, prime minister until 1966, gave Australia centralized and personal leadership. He stressed the sentimental linkage with the British crown but took more active interest than his predecessors in Pacific and South Asian affairs. Under the Colombo Plan, Asians began studying in Australian institutions in the 1950s. The White Australia policy was gradually discarded, and since the early 1970s the entry of immigrants has been based on criteria other than race. A national referendum in 1967 granted full citizenship to Aboriginal Australians.

Militarily, Australia fulfilled its commitment to the Western alliance by fighting in the Korean War, participating in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) from 1954 until its dissolution in 1977, and fighting in the Vietnam War as a staunch ally of the United States. Meanwhile, Australia adjusted its domestic and foreign policies, which included recognizing its growing ties with Japan.

From 1966 to 1972, the Liberal Party, with the assistance of the Country Party, provided several prime ministers who sought to extend the Menzies era, but in 1972, uniting after years of internal disputes, the Labor Party under Gough Whitlam again came to power. Whitlam�s plans for increased social services, however, were in conflict with both the traditional rights of the states and declining economic prosperity; the Liberal-Country coalition was returned to power under Malcolm Fraser in 1975. He reinstated the domestic and foreign policies followed by the earlier Liberal Party governments and laid a foundation for Aboriginal land claims.

Fraser�s coalition survived the 1980 election with a much reduced majority. Further shaken by defections from Liberal Party ranks and by foreign trade scandals, Fraser suffered a sharp defeat in the elections of March 1983. His Labor successor, Bob Hawke, sought to promote labor-management cooperation and stimulate the economy; his foreign policy was staunchly pro-American. Labor retained its majorities in the elections of December 1984, July 1987, and March 1990. In December 1991, with Australia mired in recession and Hawke�s popularity waning, Labor chose Hawke�s former treasury minister, Paul Keating, as party leader and prime minister. Pledging to change Australia to a federal republic and underlining the need for a reorientation toward Asia, Keating led Labor to victory in the March 1993 election.

Labor suffered a sweeping defeat in the parliamentary elections of 1996, despite opinion polls that showed a small majority of Australians favored a federal republic with an Australian president, not the British monarch, as head of state. Campaigning on a platform of economic reform, and aided by a growing perception that the ALP had lost contact with the voters, the Liberal Party formed a coalition with the smaller National Party and succeeded in electing a majority of candidates to both houses of parliament. Coalition leader John Howard became prime minister. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, voters again elected a majority of Liberal and National coalition candidates to the House and Senate. In 1998 Howard convened a constitutional convention, which voted to change Australia�s form of government to a republic, with a president elected by parliament as the head of state. In the November 1999 national referendum on the subject, 55 percent of Australians voted to retain the existing system. Many observers believed that the vote failed not because Australians wished to keep the British monarch as head of state, but because they disapproved of the proposed political system and would have preferred one that provided for a publicly elected president.

Legislative elections in November 2001 returned a majority of seats to the Labor and National coalition, giving Howard a third term as prime minister. In the aftermath of unpopular taxation reforms earlier in the year, Howard made a political comeback in the months preceding the election with his hardline policies on illegal immigration. Howard gained popular support, but also drew international criticism, by rejecting the admission into Australia of asylum seekers arriving on boats from Afghanistan and some Middle Eastern countries. Election analysts also cited the international crisis of the United States-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan as a reason Australian voters were reticent to vote for a change in leadership. Australia was a key supporter of the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign.

Australia�s cultural life in the 20th century can be divided into two distinct periods. From 1901 to World War II, Australians continued to reflect the basic tenets of their British origins. Cultural activities were dominated by the city populations within the framework of the old colonial divisions. The housing of the federal government in Melbourne until Canberra was built may have contributed to the preservation of the older orientation. Certainly, few writers and commentators addressed Australian-wide themes or problems.

World War I produced a new Australian identity and the first form of mass nationalism. Proud of their accomplishments in the war, yet humbled by its horror, Australians commemorated their experiences. The war hero was portrayed in larger-than-life monuments, with features suggestive of the individualism and gangliness of the Australian common man. Wartime literature, notably the works of the official war correspondent C. E. W. Bean, as well as social organizations, deemphasized old class lines and gave credence to the commonality of all Australians.

Australians expected the 1920s and 1930s to reflect a new nationalism in international affairs; yet they themselves tended to reassert their provincialism both within the League of Nations and the British Commonwealth. World War II therefore administered a shock to Australian culture. Recognizing their immediate dependency on U.S. military support and their need to understand better their own place in the world, Australians in fact launched a cultural revolution.

First to be changed was the ethnicity of Australian culture. Beginning in 1946, thousands of immigrants were transported from eastern and southern Europe to the Australian suburbs. This migration rivaled the earlier transportation of convicts and made the Australian population more cosmopolitan in fact as well as in orientation. The prosperity of the 1950s encouraged new efforts in education. Almost overnight the number of universities in each state increased threefold, the governments providing free university-level education to all those who were qualified.

In the 1960s, government and private attempts were made to integrate Aborigines socially and culturally, including granting them the right to vote in 1967. However, much effort was still needed to address their problems.

At the same time Australians began to dissent more vigorously from the assumptions held by those in political power. Reaction to the Vietnam War was in part responsible, as public outcry over the military draft instituted in 1964 eventually ended conscription eight years later. But a generation gap also seemed to divide the Australians. The qualities of Australian life were reexamined in new periodicals and newspapers, on college and university campuses, and in town halls. Although such soul-searching had waned by the mid-1970s, the experience clearly contributed to the dissolution of older attitudes. Among the larger cultural issues with which Australia grappled in the 1980s and early 1990s was the question of Aboriginal land rights. Like other colonial countries such as Canada, Australia was challenged to address the land claims of the indigenous inhabitants of the country, who had been largely ignored for centuries. In 1992, in the historic Mabo case, the High Court of Australia ruled that the people of the Murray Islands, in the Torres Strait, held title to their land, thereby acknowledging that Australia was occupied at the time of European settlement. In 1993 the government passed an act allowing Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to file land claims.