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Introduction
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the south-east.
The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies were established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. This began a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and culminating in the Australia Act 1986.
Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories. Australia's population of nearly 27 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. It is ethnically diverse and multicultural, the product of large-scale immigration, with almost half of the population having at least one parent born overseas. Australia's abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy, which generates its income from various sources including services, mining exports, banking, manufacturing, agriculture and international education. Australia ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights.
Featured article -

Blackrock is a 1997 Australian teen drama thriller film produced by David Elfick and Catherine Knapman, directed by Steven Vidler with the screenplay by Nick Enright. Marking Vidler's directorial debut, the film was adapted from the play of the same name, also written by Enright, which was inspired by the murder of Leigh Leigh. The film stars Laurence Breuls, Simon Lyndon and Linda Cropper, and also features the first credited film performance of Heath Ledger. The film follows Jared (Breuls), a young surfer who witnesses his friends raping a girl. When she is found murdered the next day, Jared is torn between revealing what he saw and protecting his friends. (Full article...)
Selected biography -
Danie Mellor (born 13 April 1971) is an Australian artist who was the winner of 2009 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Born in Mackay, Queensland, Mellor grew up in Scotland, Australia, and South Africa before undertaking tertiary studies at North Adelaide School of Art, the Australian National University (ANU) and Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. He then took up a post lecturing at Sydney College of the Arts. He works in different media including printmaking, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Considered a key figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art, the dominant theme in Mellor's art is the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian cultures. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Bill Dunn, an Indigenous Australian pastoralist approaching retirement, sold his station at half-price to the Jigalong community despite receiving full-price offers from non-Indigenous people?
- ... that Edward Thonen, one of the miners killed in the Eureka Rebellion, had gained notoriety in England as a jewellery thief prior to his emigration to Australia?
- ... that constable Joseph Luker, the first police officer killed on duty in Australia, was a former convict?
- ... that Kate Baker arranged to republish the Australian novel Such Is Life by Joseph Furphy after locating half of the original manuscript under some lumber in the offices of The Bulletin?
- ... that Australian soprano Ada Baker toured India and China before becoming a singing teacher in Perth in 1889?
- ... that Bessie Anstice Baker, a convert to Catholicism, was the first Australian woman to receive a Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal?
- ... that Australian rules football coach Sampson Hosking named himself in Port Adelaide's team at the age of 48?
- ... that Australian politicians may face the pub test?
In the news

- 28 November 2023 – Regulation of electronic cigarettes
- The Australian government announces a ban on the import of disposable electronic cigarettes, effective January 1, 2024, in an effort to reduce nicotine addiction in children and young adults. (BBC News)
- 27 November 2023 –
- The Australian government dismisses Mike Pezzullo as Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs for breaching the public service code of conduct, following an investigation into Pezzullo's alleged encrypted communications with other politicians. (AFP via New Vision)
- 26 November 2023 – 2023 ATP Tour
- In tennis, Italy wins its first Davis Cup title since 1976 after defeating Australia 2–0 in the finals. (The Guardian)
- 19 November 2023 –
- Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns following a network outage in Australia that took down its phone and internet services nationwide for 14 hours earlier this month. (The Guardian)
- 19 November 2023 – 2023 Cricket World Cup
- In cricket, Australia wins a record sixth World Cup title after defeating host nation India by six wickets in the final. India's Virat Kohli is named player of the tournament. (AFP via France 24)
- 12 November 2023 – 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong calls on Israel to stop its attacks on hospitals, expressing concern about the number of civilian deaths from Israel's assault on Gaza, saying that "international humanitarian law does require the protection of hospitals, of patients and of medical staff". (Sydney Morning Herald)
Selected pictures -
On this day
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- 1811 – During a tour of Van Diemen's Land, Governor Macquarie gave directions for the layout of Hobart.
- 1820 – Campbelltown, New South Wales is established.
- 1838 – The first annual Royal Hobart Regatta is held.
- 1876 – SS Georgette runs aground near Busselton, Western Australia; Grace Bussell and Sam Isaacs help to rescue the passengers.
- 1942 – The corvette HMAS Armidale is attacked and sunk by Japanese aircraft off Timor.
- 1973 – Australia grants self-government to Papua New Guinea.
- 1976 – Douglas Nicholls is appointed the 28th Governor of South Australia becoming the first indigenous Governor of an Australian state.
- 1982 – The Commonwealth introduced the Freedom of Information Act.
- 1984 – The Bob Hawke-led Australian Labor Party is returned to power at federal election.
- 1987 – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as Premier of Queensland after 19 years in power. He is replaced by Mike Ahern.
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Consider joining WikiProject Australia, a WikiProject dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics related to Australia. The project page and its subpages contain suggestions on formatting and style of articles, which can be discussed at the project's notice board. To participate, simply add your name to the project members page.
As of 1 December 2023, there are 199,694 articles within the scope of WikiProject Australia, of which 585 are featured and 876 are good articles. This makes up 2.96% of the articles on Wikipedia, 5.49% of all featured articles and lists, and 2.26% of all good articles (see WP:AUSFG). Including non-article pages, such as talk pages, redirects, categories, etcetera, there are 507,146 pages in the project.
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