Australia was presumably inhabited 40 to 60 thousand years ago. Humans arrived in Australia by sea at a time when New Guinea and Tasmania were part of the continent, making them the earliest maritime travellers in the world. The population of the continent by people began 42—48 thousand years ago.
The oldest human remains on the continent, the so-called Mungo man, are about 40 thousand years old. These remains are one of the oldest examples of cremation found on Earth, indicating the early existence of religious rituals among Australian aborigines. The first inhabitants of Australia were extremely massive and very large people.
The modern anthropological appearance of the Australian aborigines acquired approx. 4 thousand years ago.
Existing estimates of the size of the indigenous population of Australia before colonization, at the end of the 18th century, vary in the range between 315 and 750 thousand people. This population was divided into approximately 250 peoples, many of whom were in alliances with each other. Each nation spoke its own language, and some even several languages, so that there were more than 250 Australian Aboriginal languages. About two hundred of these languages have now become extinct.
Everyday life and material culture of different peoples differed significantly. The highest population density was in the south and east of Australia, in particular in the Murray River Valley.
The first reliable report on the observation of the Australian territory by Europeans dates back to 1606, when the expedition of the Dutchman Willem Janson on the ship “Duifken” explored the Gulf of Carpentaria and landed on the Cape York Peninsula. In 1616, another Dutchman, Derk Hartog, landed at Shark Bay in Western Australia. The coast of Australia was called New Holland and declared the possession of the Netherlands, but the Dutch never mastered it. However, back in 1606, the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernandez Quiros landed on the New Hebrides and, believing that this is the southern continent, called it the Southern Land of the Holy Spirit. Later that year, Kyros’s deputy, Luis Vaez de Torres, sailed through the Torres Strait and may have seen the northern coast of Australia.
Abel Janszon Tasman, a Dutch navigator, explorer and merchant, received world recognition for his sea voyages in 1642—1644. The first among the famous European explorers reached the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. He also discovered Van Diemen’s Land (later named after him Tasmania, the name of the navigator is also the Tasman Sea). The data collected during his expeditions helped prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent. Thanks to him, the west coast of Australia was displayed on the maps. By the early 18th century, the west coast of Australia had been explored and mapped by Dutch, English and French sailors. No attempts were made to populate the territory.
With the exception of Dutch exploration on the west coast, Australia remained unexplored until the maiden voyage of James Cook. In 1769, Lieutenant James Cook, in command of the HMS Endeavor, travelled to Tahiti to see the transit of Venus across the solar disk. Cook also carried out secret Admiralty instructions to search for the Southern Continent. On April 19, 1770, the crew of the ship Endeavor sighted the east coast of Australia, and ten days later landed at Botany Bay. Cook explored the east coast, and then, together with the ship’s naturalist Joseph Banks, reported a favourable situation for the establishment of a colony in Botany Bay. In 1770, the British expedition of James Cook aboard the ship Endeavor explored and mapped the east coast of Australia, landing for the first time on April 29 at Botany Bay.
British colonization
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip founded the settlement of Sydney Cove, which later became the city of Sydney. This event marked the history of the British colony of New South Wales, and Phillip’s Landing Day is celebrated in Australia as a national holiday, Australia Day. The colony included not only Australia but also New Zealand. The settlement of Van Diemen Land, now known as Tasmania, began in 1803; in 1825 it became a separate colony.
Great Britain formally declared its claims to the western part of Australia in 1829. New South Wales was divided and new colonies created: South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1840, Victoria in 1851, Queensland in 1859. In 1863, the Northern Territory, previously part of the Province of South Australia, was founded.
In 1829, the Swan River Colony was founded, which became the nucleus of the future state of Western Australia. Western Australia was founded as a free colony, but then, due to severe labour shortages, also began to accept convicts. The dispatch of convicts to Australia began to decline in 1840 and ceased completely by 1868.
Colonization was accompanied by the establishment and expansion of settlements throughout the continent. So, at this time, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were founded. Large areas were cleared of forest and shrubbery and were used for agricultural purposes. This had a serious impact on the lifestyle of the Australian aborigines and forced them to retreat from the coasts. The number of aborigines has significantly decreased due to the introduced diseases to which they did not have immunity. In the mid-1800s, the remaining indigenous population was displaced, partly voluntarily, partly forcibly, on missions and reservations.
Self-government and the discovery of gold
Gold Rush began in Australia in the 1850s. In 1854, the Eureka Uprising took place in the gold mines, which became the expression of the national idea. The flag used by the rebels was considered a candidate for the national flag of Australia. The gold rush caused an influx of immigrants to Australia from the UK, Ireland, other European countries, North America and China.
In 1855 New South Wales became the first Australian colony to gain self-government. It remained part of the British Empire, but the government controlled most of the internal affairs. In 1856, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia received self-government, Queensland in 1859 (since its foundation), and Western Australia in 1890. Foreign policy, defence and foreign trade remained in charge of the British government.
The boom brought on by the discovery of gold was followed by prosperous decades, but in the 1890s the Australian economy experienced a recession. Against this background, the growth of the labour movement was observed, and in 1899, in Queensland, local Labourites became the first Social Democratic party in the world to form a local government (soon, in 1904, the Australian Labor Party became the first Labor Party to come to power at the national level).
Federation
On January 1, 1901, after ten years of preparation, the Australian colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, the dominion of the British Empire.
In 1911, the Federal Capital Territory (Australian Capital Territory since 1938) was cut off from New South Wales and construction began on the future new capital, Canberra. From 1901 to 1927, Melbourne was the capital of the Union. In the same year 1911, the Northern Territory was transferred from the control of the state of South Australia to federal administration. (Between 1927 and 1931, it was divided into the territories of Northern and Central Australia). In addition, between the world wars, Australia received from Great Britain some territories that were previously directly subordinate to London: Norfolk Island (1914), Ashmore and Cartier Islands (1931) and claims to the Australian Antarctic Territory (1933).
Australia, due to its strong dependence on exports (the main export products were grain and wool), was significantly affected by the global economic crisis. In 1932, the unemployment rate reached a record high of 29%.
Under the 1931 Westminster Statute, which Australia only ratified in 1942, it became de facto independent from Great Britain. The British king remained the head of state.
After World War II, the Australian government began a massive program to welcome immigrants from Europe. It was believed that the country narrowly escaped the Japanese invasion, and in order to avoid similar problems in the future, measures should be taken to ensure that its population was increased. In addition