The first Prime Minister of Australia was Edmund Barton in 1901.

Most of the Australian colonies, having been settled from Britain, became mostly independent democratic states in the 1850s and all six combined as a federation on 1 January 1901. For the history of Australia, see History of Australia. These native Australians are called the Australian Aboriginals. People first arrived in Australia more than 50,000 years ago. These include animals like the kangaroo, the koala, the emu, the kookaburra, and the platypus. Because of this, many animals and plants live in Australia that do not live anywhere else. The continent of Australia, including the island of Tasmania, was separated from the other continents of the world many millions of years ago. Scientifically, perhaps even more important are its two monotreme mammals: the platypus and the echidna.Īustralia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is on the Indo-Australian plate. The national symbols of Australia are the kangaroo and the golden wattle. Its emblem is a flower called the golden wattle.Īustralia is also known for its animals and rich wildlife. The first people to live in the country were the Indigenous Australians: many of them died from smallpox during colonisation.Īustralia is known for its mining (coal, iron, gold, diamonds and crystals), its production of wool, and as the world's largest producer of bauxite. The country is divided up into six states and two territories, and more than half of Australia's population lives in and around the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. When other Pacific islands are included with Australasia, it is called Oceania.Ģ5 million people live in Australia, and about 85% of them live near the east coast.

Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and other islands on the Australian tectonic plate are together called Australasia, which is one of the world's great ecozones. Its capital city is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney.Īustralia is the sixth biggest country in the world by land area, and is part of the Oceanic and Australasian regions. Australia, formally the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country and sovereign state in the southern hemisphere, located in Oceania.

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