Commonwealth of Australia

Looking for information about Australia? Here we will make available much needed information about this big country. Here we will provide the past and present information about Australia and help improve your knowledge about this bravura country. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s begin!

Officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, it is one of the famous countries in the world. Australia is a continent on which the country of Australia is located. Australia covers a vast area and it is the 6^th largest country in the world in terms of land area. Australia consists of six states. Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Some of the famous Australian cities include Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. Sydney is the most populous city of Australia. Approximately about 80% of the population of Australia lives on the eastern coast. Australia is the largest producer of bauxite, not only this Australia is also well known for mining and assembly of wool.  The Australian symbol is called Golden Wattle.

Now let’s take a look at the history of Australia.

It dates back to more than 50,000 years when the first people entered Australia. The native people are known as Australian Aborigines. At the time of British settlements at Sydney Cove, around 300,000 Aboriginal people dwelled in Australia who spoke about 250 languages. When the Europeans arrived in Australia they grabbed the land as their own and kicked out the native people. Many natives were thrown out of their homes and several were killed in the process. In 1788, the British arrived in Australia. The British laws in those days were harsh and the jails were full of prisoners. Many of the prisoners were sent to British colonies in America but because America got independence and was free from the British control, the British government was in search of a new land with less population.

Under the leadership of Captain Phillip, a fleet of ships carrying sailors, prisoners and some settlers reached the Botany Bay. It was 26^th January, 1788 when the British flag was raised and New South Wales was claimed under the name of King George III. This fresh settlement was named Sydney. Early years of settlement were quite tough. The British didn’t chose the prisoners according to some criteria for sending to the new colony. The prisoners had no knowledge of farming, building, cooking etc. It became evident that everyone in the new settlement would die of malnutrition and starvation. However, with the passage of time things started to improve and the new settlers were able to build huts, grow crops etc. The colony started to grow over the period of time.

Up till 1901, Australia was not a recognized nation and was six separate colonies which were ruled by the British. The six colonies voted together to unite and create a new country. Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 which consisted of six states. These states were New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. In 1911 site for the capital city of Canberra was attained. Australia was still under the control of Britain. In 1914, when the World War I started, Australia fought alongside the Britain against Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The Australian forces were sent to Gallipoli to fight the Ottoman kingdom. Australian soldiers fought valiantly but were crushed by the Ottoman forces, the Turks. This battle is still remembered in Australia every year as the ANZAC Day. Australians also fought on the Western front and approximately 60,000 Australians were killed.  In the times of Great Depression in 1930s, Australia suffered a lot and united with Britain to fight against the Nazi Germany in 1939. During World War II in 1941, many Australian soldiers were captured by the Japanese in the Fall of Singapore. Later Japan started to attack Australia but the United States Navy stopped the Japanese and rescued the Australians.  After the war, Australia became a good comrade of the US.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Australia became one of the richest countries in the world because of its mining and wool industry. In 1973, the famous Sydney Opera House was inaugurated and opened. During the decades of 1970s, 80s and 90s many actors, singers and movies of Australia became famous in the world. In the year 2000, Sydney hosted the Summer Olympics.  Australia has a beautiful sports culture and people who are above the age of 15 years take part in the structured sports activities. Australia has very strong cricket team. Some of the cricketing greats include Don Bradman, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Glen McGrath and Adam Gilchrist. Currently the Australian Cricket is in the news for the ball tampering issue. The ball tampering issue included the current Australian captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. All three top players have been banned for months by Cricket Australia. Smith and Warner have been banned for 12 months and Bancroft is banned for 9 months. However, ups and downs are part of life. Apart from cricket, Australia has very strong teams of hockey, rugby and netball.  Australia is also home to different animals which included Kangaroo, Koala etc.

Today, Australia is a beautiful, serene, calm and rich country. Australia is also a popular tourist destination. Julia Gillard took charge as the first female prime minister of Australia in 2010. Aussies are friendly and energetic people. 

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