Australia is a country found in the Southern Hemisphere. It is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is in the continent of Oceania and covers a vast area of the continent.Its neighbors are Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Its capital territory is Canberra and biggest city is Sydney. Australia covers an area of 8.686.850 km?,with 8.617.930 km? covering land 80.920 km? water. It doesn’t have any terrestrial borders with any other country but instead has a 25.760 kilometer long coastline.

Etymology

The word Australia has derived from the Latin Australis, meaning “from the south” or “of the south”. In the time of the Roman civilization it was known as the unknowncountry in the south (terra australis incognita) and had its place in Middle Age geography. But it does not disclose any actual knowledge of a continent. The term “terra australis incognita” comes from the Latin counterpartsof the words; of the south (australis), unknown (incognita) and land (terra). On the 14^th of May, 1606, Pedro Fernandes de Queir?s set foot on Vanuatu, claimed all of the terrestrial property in the name of the Kingdom of Spain named the continent: Austrial?a del Esp?rituSanto.The word Australische is of Dutch origin and was used to name, by the Dutchmen of Batavia, newfound lands in the south.The first usage of the word “Australia” in the English language was in the translation of thenovel: Les Aventures de Jacques Sadeur dans la D?couverte et le Voyage de la Terre Australe by Gabriel de Foigny, which was written in French. Later, in 1765 when Alexander Dalrymple translated Luis V?ez de Torres’book on his travels to New Guineas southern coast in 1606, to English he used the same word.

Dalrymple also used the word in his work: An Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean (1771), in which he described the Oceanic region. In1793, George Shaw and Sir James Smith published “Zoology and Botany of New Holland”, in which they described Australia, Australasia and New Holland. The name Australia became popular when Matthew Flinders circumnavigatedthe continents coast and used the word in his work: A Voyage to Terra Australis (1814). Despite the fact that he represented the British Kingdom, Flinders used the word in his work and it became a term used by a wide audience.

Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie subsequently used this name in his written messages to England. In 1817, Macquarie proposed the official acceptance of this nameand in 1824, the British Empire officially name the continent Australia.

History

The first settlements in Australia are estimated at having taken place between 42.000 and 48.000 years ago. The first Australians were the predecessors of the Native Australian Aborigines. They came to Australia via terrestrial routes or short sea ventures from Southeast Asia. Most of these people were people of nature who had complex verbal cultures and an utmost respect for spirits and nature.They lived according to the mythological Dreamtime beliefs.

Other inhabitants of the island, the Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically Malaysian by origin. These people have settled on the Torres Strait Islands and in the northern extremitiesof Queensland. Their cultural habits differ distinctly from that of the Aborigine. Officially, the first European to see mainland Australia was Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon. Janszoon sighted the Cape York peninsula in 1606.During the 17^th century, the Dutch drew a map of the whole of Australia’s western and northern coastlines, naming these places NewHolland. They did not show any effort in settling on this land. In 1770, Captain James Cook voyaged to Australia’s eastern coastline and mapped it out. He announced the addition of New South Wales to Britain’s land. Discoveriesmade in the expeditions to the land enabled it to be colonized with criminals and prisoners at a rapid rate.

The British Overseas Territories movement was initiated on the 26^th of January, 1788 when Port Jackson was colonized by Captain Arthur Phillip. This date was declared as Australia Day, Australia’s national day fromthe onwards. Modern Tasmania, under the name of Van Diemen’s Land’s colonization was initiated in 1803. Abel Tasman, who had discovered Tasmania in 1642, had given it the name “Anthoonij van Diemenslandt” in honourof Anthony van Diemen, governor general of the South Indian Colonies of Holland. Van Diemen’s Land became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom, in 1829 had control over Australia’s western region. Many new andseparate colonies sprung up in New South Wales; South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859). Northern Territory was established as a part of the South Australian state in 1863.

South Australia was established as a free colony and has never been used as a penal colony where criminals and prisoners were made to work
The importation of criminals to the island was done through 1840 until1864 in intervals.

It is estimated that the native population was around 350.000 when the Europeans started to settle. Their numbers have dropped dramatically in the ensuing 150 years. The maincause of this is epidemic diseases carried by the settlers and cultural breakdown.

Local children were stolen from their families and recruited, this lead historians to name whole generations of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders as the Stolen Generations.These historians also advocate the usage of the term genocide to define what had taken place, as the local communities were disbanded and the population had decreased greatly.

For the purpose of creating a peaceful and problem-free society the recruitment carried out during those times is defined as having been a breach of human rights. Some refutethese comments on Aboriginal history and claim that they have been exaggerated for political and spiritual reasons. This debate is known in Australia as the History Wars. Following the 1967 referendum, the federal governmenthad obtained the right of legislation to write a law regarding the Aborigines. The Aborigines’ propriety of land was not recognized until the Australian Supreme court Mabo vs. Queensland trial. Following this trial, theproprietary notion was changed and it was established that the island had no owners during the European invasion.

In the 1850s, the Gold Rush started and the first uprising, the Eureka Stockade, broke out in 1854 due to the prices of mining permits. Between 1855 and 1890 the 6 colonieswere individually granted the right to be autonomous states and they started to handle their own matters. The colonial office in London was still used to handle important foreign affairs, issues of security and defense andinternational marine and commerce management.

On the 1^st of January, 1901, the Federation of Australia obtained the right to vote andbe elected following a ten year plan. Thus, the Royal Australian State, under rule of the United Kingdom was born. After the proposal of Canberra to become the new Federal Capital, it was established in 1911 and became theACT, the Australian Capital Territory. Melbourne was the capital city between 1901 and 1927. In 1911 the Northern Territory, was placed under control of the Royal Australian State.

Australia joined World War I voluntarily. Many Australians see the defeat of the ANZAC’s (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) in the Gallipoli War as the birth date of thenation and remember it with respect.

This date, at the same time is the country’s first major military event. Like the Gallipoli War, the Kokoda Track Campaign is seen by many as bearing importance in the historyof the nation.

Legal connections between Australia and the United Kingdom were officially detached in 1942, when the Statute of Westminster 1931 was passed. In 1942, the shocking defeat ofthe United Kingdom in Asia and the threat of impending invasion of Australia by Japan was the reason for closer relations with the United States of America, a country they saw as a new ally and protector. Since 1951 Australia,with the ANZUS Treaty, has been the USA’s official military ally. After WWII, Australia supported all European immigrations.
In 1970, the law that only allowed for the immigration of Europeans was terminated and immigrations from Asia and all other parts of the world were supported. As a result ofthis, Australia’s demographic makeup, culture and image changed radically.

The final legal connection between Australia and the UK were broken off in 1986 with the Australia Act. The dominance of the UK over the Australian states and the judicial applicationsmade to the Parliament of the United Kingdom were cancelled.

Despite this, Australian voters after the 1999 referendum, with a majority of with 55%, voted against the notion of Australia becoming a republic state. Since the Whitlam Governmentof 1972, there has been a growing concept of Pacific-Asian belongings. Although it is purely symbolical, the country continues to be run by a constitutional monarchy, subject to Queen Elizabeth II,.