A Brief History of Australia

The first humans to arrive in Australia traveled there from Southeast Asia by land bridges and short sea crossings between 65,000 and 50,000 years ago. These early people were the ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians, who have the oldest continuous culture on Earth.

The first European to make land in Australia was a Dutch navigator named Willem Janszoon in 1606. In the following years, the Dutch charted all the western and northern coastlines and named the continent "New Holland." Although there were no attempts at settling the new continent, many men were stranded there, either after surviving shipwrecks or being marooned, making them the first Europeans to permanently inhabit Australia.

Europeans first started settling Australia in the late 18th century, after Captain James Cook claimed the east coast, which he called "New South Wales," for Britain in 1770. Most of the early European settlers were convicts, sent to Australia to serve under the "free settlers" (willing immigrants). After being freed many chose to continue living there. During this time the indigenous population declined due to new illnesses brought by the settlers and violent frontier wars, and many were dispossessed of their traditional lands.

On 1 January, 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. In 1902 Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (formerly annexed by Queensland) and the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea). In 1949 the two territories were unified and became the Territory of Papua New Guinea, and then in 1975 the territory gained independence from Australia.

After 1907 Australia became one of several self-governing dominions under the British Empire. From 1901 to 1927, Melbourne served as the nation's temporary capital while Canberra was being built. Australia was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920, and then the United Nations in 1945.

In 1914, Australia joined the Allies and participated in World War I. ANZAC Day, commemorating the beginning of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, rivals Australia Day as the nation's most important date.

Australia also fought in World War II, again with the Allies. After the shocking British defeat in Singapore in 1942, as well as the bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australia, many Australians feared that a Japanese invasion was imminent. This led the Australian government to look to the United States as its principal ally and security partner, instead of the United Kingdom. Since 1951, Australia has been allied with the United States under the ANZUS treaty.

In the decades after World War II, living standards in Australia rose significantly, and the country started receiving larger numbers of immigrants, much like the United States. Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and fought in the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972. Following the late 1960s, Indigenous Australians were included in the census, and their ancestral lands were recognized by law.

Australia's trade relations became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming Australia's largest trading partner.

After the September 11 attacks, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and the Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several major cities were locked down, which impeded free movement across the country.